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Cornell University

Science Communication Workshop

Comm 5660, a workshop for graduate students (and others)

Welcome

[Download .pdf version here]

Comm 5660
Science Communication Workshop

Spring 2025
DATES: Friday, 14 Mar 2025 – Sunday, 16 Mar 2025
[Last update: 13 Mar 2025]

This intensive weekend workshop introduces graduate students and post-docs in the sciences (including natural sciences, engineering, experimental social sciences, etc.) to communicating effectively – especially about controversial topics, such as climate change or evolution – with nonscientists such as policy makers, political stakeholders, the media, and the general public. Activities include role-playing, mini-lectures, hands-on practice writing blog posts and other outreach materials, real-time practice being interviewed for the media, and discussion with invited speakers.

We will begin on Friday afternoon with a panel of speakers talking about opportunities in public communication. After the panel, we’ll have more informal discussion with the panelists, along with pizza and veggies.

On Saturday, we start right out with writing for the public through press releases and blogs.  You’ll get practice.  Plenty of practice.  Sunday is devoted to constructing a message and delivering it in a broadcast media interview. Throughout the weekend we’ll also meet other scientists and science communicators, learning from their experience.

This course is supported by the Department of Communication and the Careers Beyond Academia Program.

Course website

https://blogs.cornell.edu/scicommworkshop/

Some class materials will also be available on Canvas

Instructor

Professor Bruce Lewenstein
462 Mann Library Building
607-255-8310 (office)
b.lewenstein@cornell.edu (e-mail)
Office hours: Tuesdays, 10:30-12:30
and other times happily by appointment

Class location

Kennedy 213

Learning Objectives

After participating in this workshop, students will be able to:

  • Discuss science communication opportunities, both within traditional scientific careers and as standalone careers
  • Begin identifying characteristics of potential audiences for science communication
  • Write drafts of short texts (such as blog posts, tweets [X’s?], skeets, and similar items) for non-scientific audiences
  • Begin planning for media interviews
  • Discuss social, ethical, and scholarly issues associated with science communication

Assignments and grades

You will write some combination of your own press releases, blog posts, and tweets/skeets on the first day of the workshop, and you will both conduct and be the subject of a video interview on the second day. The course is graded S/U and I expect a reasonable effort.

Students with special circumstances

Cornell University (as an institution) and I (as a human being and instructor of this course) are committed to full inclusion in education for all persons. Services and reasonable accommodations are available to students with temporary and permanent disabilities, to students with DACA or undocumented status, to students facing mental health issues, to students with other personal situations (such as family emergencies or religious observances), and to students with other kinds of learning needs. Please feel free to let me know if there are circumstances affecting your ability to participate in class. Some resources that might be of use include:

I would be glad to help you identify other resources if needed.

IN ADVANCE OF THE COURSE:

Come with a brief (100-200 word) written summary of your own research.  You will use this summary as the basis for class activities.  If you are interested in science blogging, set up your own blog site in advance (Google’s Blogger service, http://www.blogger.com/home, is pretty simple to use, but you’re welcome to try another service if you prefer; WordPress, https://wordpress.com/, is also useful if you want a full website). We will discuss in class the use of X (formerly Twitter) or Meta’s Threads and Instagram or Bluesky – you can decide if you want an account on one of them.

You will need a computer or tablet with a keyboard, as you will be looking at things online and writing during the workshop.

Schedule

Friday, 14 March

4:30 pm Panel: Opportunities for public communication of science

6:00(ish) pm   Informal discussion supported by pizza and veggies

Saturday, 23 March

9:00     am       The basics of writing science for the public

10:30   am       Break

10:45   am       Developing and writing your own stories

12:00   pm       Lunch (on your own)

1:00     pm       Practicing science communication
Ben Mirin, PhD, science communicator

2:00     pm       Break

2:15     pm       More time actually writing, sharing ideas and drafts, getting comments

from colleagues, etc.

3:00     pm       AI and science communication

Let’s explore how AI might/is/will change science communication

4:00     pm       Break

4:15     pm       The science communication system

5:00     pm       End of (organized) day

8:00     pm       REVISED PRESS RELEASES/BLOGS DUE

Sunday, 24 March

9:00     am       Critique of press releases/blog postings

Then: Rewriting, brainstorming, using images

10:15 am         Break

10:30   am       Developing and delivering media messages
Hands-on practical instruction and practice about developing messages
Becka Bowyer, Senior Media Relations Specialist, Cornell Communications

11:30   am       Develop your message box!

12:00   pm       Lunch (on your own)

1:00     pm       Being interviewed

Hands-on practical instruction and practice in being interviewed on camera

3:00     pm       Break

3:30     pm       Science communication and science policy
Prof. Chris Schaffer, Biomedical Engineering
Former AAAS science policy fellow in US Congress

4:30     pm       Graduation (not really – this is about what time we’ll end!)

 

Resources

This list will be posted on the class website and periodically updated.

 

Books (last decade)

Carpenter, Siri (Ed.) (2024). The Craft of Science Writing: Expanded Edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Meredith, Dennis. (2021). Explaining Research: How to Reach Key Audiences to Advance Your Work, 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press.

Olson, Randy. (2018). Don’t be such a scientist: talking substance in an age of style, 2nd ed. Washington, DC: Island Press.

Olson, Randy. (2015). Houston, We Have a Narrative. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Schwabish, Jonathan A. (Ed.) (2020). Elevate the Debate: A Multilayered Approach to Communicating Your Research. New York: Wiley.

Wilcox, Christie, Brookshire, Bethany, & Goldman, Jason G. (Eds.). (2016). Science blogging: the essential guide. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Wilkinson, Clare, & Weitkamp, Emma. (2016). Creative research communication: Theory and practice. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press.

 

Books (older but still great!)

Baron, Nancy. (2010). Escape from the Ivory Tower: A Guide to Making Your Science Matter. Washington, DC: Island Press.

Bowater, Laura & Yeoman, Kay. (2013). Science Communication: A Practical Guide for Scientists. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell

Blum, Deborah, Knudson, Mary, & Henig, Robin Marantz (Eds.). (2006). A Field Guide to Science Writing: The Official Guide of the National Association of Science Writers (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.

Dean, Cornelia. (2009). Am I Making Myself Clear? A Scientist’s Guide to Talking to the Public. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Gutkind, Lee. (2012). You Can’t Make This Stuff Up: The Complete Guide to Writing Creative Nonfiction—from Memoir to Literary Journalism and Everything in Between. Boston: Da Capo.

Hayden, Thomas, & Nijhuis, Michelle (Eds.). (2013). The Science Writers’ Handbook: Everything You Need to Pitch, Publish, and Prosper in the Digital Age. New York: De Capo.

Hayes, Richard, & Grossman, Daniel. (2006). A Scientist’s Guide to Talking with the Media. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

Menninger, Holly, & Gropp, Robert. (2008). Communicating Science: A Primer for Working with the Media. Washington, DC: American Institute for Biological Sciences.

 

“How to” Websites

http://www.explainingresearch.com/ (produced by longtime science writer Dennis Meredith to accompany his book, Explaining Research)

http://www.aaas.org/communicatingscience (produced by American Association for the Advancement of Science, includes webinars, tipsheets, etc.)

https://www.agu.org/Share-and-Advocate/Share (a rich set of resources from the American Geophysical Union)

https://scripttraining.net/ (science communication training guides from SciDev.Net, a news service for science and development)

http://www.theopennotebook.com/ (a set of resources with comments and interviews from science writers about many aspects of how they report, write, and think about their stories and their lives as writers; see especially the section on “Getting Started” — https://www.theopennotebook.com/getting-started-in-science-journalism/; TON published a collection of items from its articles in book form in 2020, listed above)

 

Social media discussion ABOUT science communication

X/Twitter: #scicomm (also be sure to check out: #SerialKillerOrScientist and #ScientistOrSerialKiller)

The SciCommer, https://thescicommer.substack.com/, a weekly newsletter

 

Science outreach websites (the “informal science education” community)

http://www.informalscience.org/ (a resource and online community for informal learning projects, research and evaluation; it provides access to a wide range of material, with a particular focus on issues of equity)

https://nisenet.org/ (another online community, with many practical guides and examples of materials)

 

Science news commentary (perhaps a dying category?)

http://undark.org/ (from MIT’s Knight Science Journalism project, a variety of stories demonstrating and probing science journalism)

http://www.cjr.org/the_observatory/ (published from the late 2000s until 2015, “a lens on the science press” from the Columbia Journalism Review)

 

Science news sites (just a few of the many, many possibilities…I’m not even sure this list is worth providing…let’s talk about that!)

New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/pages/science/), especially the Tuesday “Science Times” section (you will need to register, but there is no cost)

Google News’s “Sci/Tech” category (http://bit.ly/2NZVh2d)

Yahoo! News’s “Science” category (http://news.yahoo.com/science/)

Livescience.com (http://livescience.com)

Slate’s “Science” section – which, since 2018, is a subset of its “Technology” section. Exam question: Shall we talk about why? (https://slate.com/technology/science)

SciDev.net (a site specifically for science journalists in the developing world, but with relevance for anyone trying to communicate science), http://www.scidev.net

 

Science blogs [hmm…between 2021 and 2024, this category seems to have all but disappeared. Is it still a useful category?]

Some available through http://scienceseeker.org/

 

Science story ideas/press releases

http://www.eurekalert.org (Basic source for science press releases)

http://www.alphagalileo.org/ (A European counterpart to EurekAlert!)

http://www.newswise.com/articles/list?category=science (An independent alternative to EurekAlert! – site also has many topics besides science)

http://www.sciencedaily.com/ (Another independent alternative to EurekAlert!)

 

Other sites to explore

https://www.pcst.network/, International Network on Public Communication of Science and Technology

http://www.nps.gov/hfc/services/evaluation/, Media Evaluation and Visitor Research site, maintained by National Park Service

http://www.nscalliance.org/, Natural Science Collections Alliance, a support organization for natural science collections (including museums and their staffs)

https://www.science.org/careers, Science Magazine’s careers page, which includes many stories about communication and outreach options

https://www.nature.com/careers, Nature’s equivalent to Science’s careers page

 

Organizations you might want to join

Many of the following organizations have extremely useful resources on their websites – guidelines, ethical codes, handbooks, etc., often available at no charge and without the need to join.

http://www.amwa.org/, American Medical Writers Association

http://www.publicgardens.org/, American Public Gardens Association

http://www.healthjournalism.org/, Association of Health Care Journalists

http://www.astc.org/, Association of Science-Technology Centers

http://www.aza.org/, Association of Zoos and Aquariums

http://www.councilscienceeditors.org/, Council of Science Editors

http://www.nasw.org, National Association of Science Writers

http://naaee.org/, North American Association for Environmental Education

http://www.sej.org, Society of Environmental Journalists

https://participatorysciences.org/, home of the Association for Advancing Participatory Sciences (such as citizen science, community science, volunteer monitoring, etc.)

….and there are many others