
Applications are now open for the Communicating Science 2016 workshop, to be held in Cambridge, MA on June 9-11, 2016! Graduate students at US institutions in all fields relating to science and engineering are encouraged to apply. While acceptance to the workshop is competitive, attendance of the workshop is free of charge and travel support will be provided to accepted applicants. The application will close on March 1st.
Since the first ComSciCon national convention in 2013, we’ve received well over 3,000 applications from graduate students across the country, and we’ve welcomed about 300 of these students to national and local workshops held in Cambridge, MA. You can read about last year’s workshop to get a sense for the activities and participants at ComSciCon events.
Participants will build the communication skills that scientists and other technical professionals need to express complex ideas to their peers, experts in other fields, and the general public. There will be panel discussions on:
Communicating through Media Outlets
Communicating through Policy and Advocacy
Communicating through Creative Outlets and Storytelling
Communicating through Education and Outreach
Communicating with Diverse Audiences
In addition, there will be ample time for interacting with the invited experts and attendees to develop science outreach collaborations. Workshop participants will produce an original piece of science writing and receive feedback from workshop attendees and professional science communicators, including journalists, authors, public policy advocates, educators, and more.
ComSciCon attendees have founded new science communication organizations in collaboration with other students at the event, published more than 40 articles written at the conference in popular publications with national impact, and formed lasting networks with our student alumni and invited experts. In fact, ComSciCon13 was the impetus for founding oceanbites! Visit the ComSciCon website to learn more about our past workshop programs and participants.
I am the founder of oceanbites, and a postdoctoral fellow in the Higgins Lab at Colorado School of Mines, where I study poly- and perfluorinated chemicals. I got my Ph.D. in the Lohmann Lab at the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography, where my research focused on how toxic chemicals like flame retardants end up in our lakes and oceans. Before graduate school, I earned a B.Sc. in chemistry from MIT and spent two years in environmental consulting. When I’m not doing chemistry in the lab, I’m doing chemistry at home (brewing beer).