Post by Katelynn Loken
Science can be found in all aspects of our lives, from the ground we walk on to the tiny microbes living in our bellies. Science can also influence policymakers, laws, and public health matters, which is why it is so important that our society support people who dedicate their lives to understanding the physical and natural world. The “scientists” are thoroughly trained in research methodologies, analytical skills, and the ability to communicate with other scientists(Brownell et. al 2013) but can struggle with turning their work into digestible information for someone who is not trained in their field. So, what is the best way for the information to be transferred from the most skilled scientists to a member of the general public? Through science communication (scicomm). Scicomm is a skillset that involves bridging the gap between scientists and non-scientists and is something that should be taught at an early stage in undergrad.
Being in my 5th year studying biology, I wish that I had learned about the importance of scicomm earlier in my academic studies. The knowledge of how to communicate scientific research to my friends and family would have served me well during the pandemic. The importance of scicomm can be seen when reviewing the pandemic because of its fast-paced effect on policy making. Thinking back to the mask-mandates, these decisions were based on the science of the virus, but there was still a level of miscommunication between the scientists and the general public. Scicomm is also important because “the public must be able to understand the basics of science to make informed decisions” (Brownell et al. 2013) Thankfully, there are tools that can be utilized to reach an audience of a different educational background, and these tools can be taught through formal scicomm training courses.
From personal experience, my favorite tool from my scicomm course was the readability calculator. A readability calculator is just one of many tools that can help scientists reach their audiences. How it works is you input a chuck of text to the reader and the calculator gives the text a rating of how difficult it is to read. The difficulty score is based on number of words, length of sentences, vocabulary and several other qualities of the writing sample. This is useful because it can help make a college-level essay read at an 8th grade level, which is helpful for editing scientific work into layman’s terms that the general public will understand. The readability calculator is a tool that I would have not known about, had I not taken a scicomm course. I think more people would benefit from knowing about the various tools that can help make their academic work understood by people outside of their disciplines.
Whether scicomm is needed for communication in politics, business, or just for family and friends, I think that people need to learn the skill set of presenting scientific information. Students early in their undergraduate programs would benefit from learning about the various tools, like the readability calculator, and resources that are showcased through a scicomm class.
Katelynn Loken is a senior in the University of Wyoming’s Department of Zoology and Physiology.
references
Lupia A. (2013). Communicating science in politicized environments. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 110 Suppl 3(Suppl 3), 14048–14054. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1212726110
Brownell, S. E., Price, J. V., & Steinman, L. (2013). Science Communication to the General Public: Why We Need to Teach Undergraduate and Graduate Students this Skill as Part of Their Formal Scientific Training. Journal of undergraduate neuroscience education : JUNE : a publication of FUN, Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience, 12(1), E6–E10.
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