Science Communication

[athon]

As those of you who know me might well know, in recent years I've gone from being a scientist to a science teacher to becoming an editor of an online kids' science newsletter (see sig for more info). I love my job, and have thrown myself into finding ways of communicating science to diverse areas of the Australian public. Ever since I was successful in getting a scholarship to travel with our national science centre and promote science, I've been heavily into researching how to convey good scientific thinking (as opposed to just promoting awareness and appreciation of discovery and innovation) to the community.

I belong to a group called the Australian Science Communicators, who are essentially little more than a community of journalists, teachers, communicators and media representatives who share the ideals of promoting science. This link (http://www.abc.net.au/rn/science/ockham/stories/s366402.htm) to the ABC Radio National show, Occham's Razor, explains a bit more about science communication in Australia.

Last year I married an American, and obviously a consequence of this has been to delve more into American culture and consider what I might do if I were ever to move there. Now, I'm fully aware of some fantastic institutions in the US which actively promote science. I love the Exploratorium in San Francisco, and am keen to one day make it to Boston's science museum. I loved the natural history museum in New York and am certain there are many such places to visit in good time.

However, I considered looking into joining up to a similar community in the US as the ASC here in Australia. I'm kind of surprised to find this is easier said than done. While I'm sure there must be some smaller state-based sci-com groups, the concept seems to be more or less foreign to Americans. The UK has a fine tradition of science communication and a number of amazing programs which promote science, such as the BA.

Does the US have an equivalent? This wiki article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_communication) goes into some detail on the tradition of science communication, but seems rather restricted to the UK and Australia. Is this an accurate reflection of science communication efforts, or is it simply a biased view skewed by authors who are obviously Australian?

Athon

[tesscaline]

In the US, the majority of programs that "communicate" science are handled by the government -- primarily the NSF and the department of education. There are some private organizations, such as the National Academy of Sciences (there are local versions of this in some places like New York) or the AAAS, but their main focus seems to be on research and education, not general communication -- unless we're talking about funding museums or the like. Everything else is highly segmented -- i.e. various branches of science have proponents in specific localities -- and in my experience offers virtually no outreach to the general public by any other means than things like museum displays or recruiting for members at street fairs.

I wish I could be more helpful... But the US is just much less social (I mean in terms of personal interaction and volunteering, not in terms of the political construct) than other countries. :(

[Ivor the Engineer]

Check out the Field museum and The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. The latter has loads of interactive exhibits.

The Museum of Science in Boston is also excellent.

[JJM]

Perhaps you should keep your eyes on Steven Novella (MD) and some fella named Phil Plait. They are in the earliest stages of planning a Wiki-style science textbook for children http://www.theness.com/neurologicablog/?p=373

I wrote and volunteered my services; but Steve isn't taking names yet. He says they may have to apply for a grant to support their plans. I am assuming that his plan is for a wiki that is restricted to approved editors, not a free-for-all mess like The Wikipedia.

[Pipirr]

How small scale would you like? For example, there are the science cafes:

http://www.sciencecafes.org/find.html

[ElMondoHummus]

Check out the Field museum and The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. The latter has loads of interactive exhibits.

The Museum of Science in Boston is also excellent.

Durn it, Ivor beat me to it. Well, anyway, science-centered museums was going to be my suggestion as well. There are some scattered here and there across the states.

Some of them are real small and cozy. For example, Bloomington Indiana has the "Wonderlab" - http://www.wonderlab.org/index.shtml - which is aimed at kids. Indianapolis Indiana (can you tell I live in the Hoosier state?) also has routine science exhibits at the Childrens Museum (http://www.childrensmuseum.org/), although that does vary.

[godless dave]

You might want to try the National Science Teachers Assocation (http://www.nsta.org/). It's geared towards public school teachers, so not exactly what you're looking for. The feeling in the US seems to be that the only people interested in science are children (for the "gee whiz" factor" and professional scientists. Non-scientist adults are only interested in reality TV, alcohol, and sex, apparently. I find most science TV programming and even National Geographic magazine are below my education level, which really isn't that high.

Whatever you do, do not waste time at the Science Museum of Minnesota. It sucks big donkey balls.

[athon]

In the US, the majority of programs that "communicate" science are handled by the government -- primarily the NSF and the department of education. There are some private organizations, such as the National Academy of Sciences (there are local versions of this in some places like New York) or the AAAS, but their main focus seems to be on research and education, not general communication -- unless we're talking about funding museums or the like. Everything else is highly segmented -- i.e. various branches of science have proponents in specific localities -- and in my experience offers virtually no outreach to the general public by any other means than things like museum displays or recruiting for members at street fairs.

I wish I could be more helpful... But the US is just much less social (I mean in terms of personal interaction and volunteering, not in terms of the political construct) than other countries. :(

This more or less reflects what I thought. As I said in the OP, there are some fantastic bodies and institutions in the US which promote science in various forms, but I was surprised to not be able to find anything like a network that defined itself as 'science communication'.

Australia, the UK and Canada now offer bachelor level tertiary degrees majoring on the topic in an effort to get good journalists, museum operators and industry communicators out into the community; I was simply curious to know if the same focus existed in the US at all.

Thanks for the info.

Athon

[athon]

Perhaps you should keep your eyes on Steven Novella (MD) and some fella named Phil Plait. They are in the earliest stages of planning a Wiki-style science textbook for children http://www.theness.com/neurologicablog/?p=373

I wrote and volunteered my services; but Steve isn't taking names yet. He says they may have to apply for a grant to support their plans. I am assuming that his plan is for a wiki that is restricted to approved editors, not a free-for-all mess like The Wikipedia.

Don't worry - I'm well aware of Novella's and Plaitt's interests in science education and the wiki project, and will reserve my views on the matter for another thread. Let's just say I think their heart is in the right place, but they're missing the bigger picture.

That's all I'll say here on that. :)

Athon

[JJM]

Don't worry - I'm well aware of Novella's and Plaitt's interests in science education and the wiki project, and will reserve my views on the matter for another thread. Let's just say I think their heart is in the right place, but they're missing the bigger picture.

That's all I'll say here on that. :)

AthonI look forward to expansion of your thoughts on the subject. I did note there was quite a bit of dissension in response to his posts. Maybe I interpreted the idea differently than you did, it was rather sketchy.