However, I received an email yesterday from a friend wanting to talk about my job. They are about to graduate with their master’s and wanted to learn about science communication. As I began preparing what I wanted to say, it came to me that this topic would make for a great blog post—so here we are!
What is science communication?
Science communication (“SciComm”) is an umbrella term that encompasses any form of communication about science, scientists, and scientific research to an audience of people outside of that field of science.
When people think of SciComm, they often picture a person communicating science to the general public. However, this type of SciComm is a specific subset called science popularization, which refers to science communication aimed at the general public. Other examples of science communicators include science educators, whose audience is students; and science policy analysts, whose audience is government officials. |
My own job lies at the intersection between science popularization and science education. Science popularizers generally cater to audiences with no specialized science knowledge whereas science educators help people build on knowledge they already have. The majority of readers that subscribe to my Ceramic Tech Today posts are professors or industry experts in different fields of ceramic and glass science, so I write my posts with more specialized terminology than I otherwise would.
The recent interest in SciComm really started in 1980 with Carl Sagan’s television show Cosmos. However, science communication is a much older discipline that has seen ebbs and flows in interest throughout the years. For anyone interested in SciComm history, the Journal of Science Communication published a special issue in 2017 on the “History of Public Communication of Science and Technology.” The issue includes 15 articles from authors around the world, which are organized into three groups: geography, media, and discipline.
Why is science communication important?
The benefits for scientists who communicate their research is obvious—they can gain public and government support, and thus secure more funding for their research in the future.
But what benefits are there for nonspecialist audiences to learn about science? The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) explains the benefits quite well.
UNESCO is a specialized agency of the United Nations that “seeks to build peace through international cooperation in Education, the Sciences and Culture.” On their website, they have a section dedicated specifically to discussing the important role society has in shaping science policy.
“Today’s complex economic, societal, environmental and cultural challenges require science, technology and innovation (STI) to be woven into the fabric of society,” the UNESCO webpage explains. “They require a society where knowledge is co-created through science-policy-society interfaces, processes that connect and allow for fertile exchange between the three.”
“For only through strong linkages between science, policy and society can knowledge societies be created where policy- and decision-makers and citizens alike have the capacity and power to choose the future we want for our planet and all its inhabitants,” the webpage concludes.
For society to play an equal role in co-creating policy, though, requires society to be knowledgeable about basic science, informed about cutting-edge research, and appreciative of science in general—the exact goals that science communicators strive to achieve.
UNESCO has a specific webpage detailing their efforts is science popularization, which “is one of UNESCO’s oldest programmes.” It includes taking the lead for a number of International Years to alert the public to key issues, such as sustainable water and land management; supporting science journalists, such as by holding training workshops; and contributing to traveling science exhibitions, such as the Biodiversity Exhibition (2010).
In 2018, I gave a presentation at the American Physical Society March meeting on the importance of science careers outside the laboratory. Science communication in particular encompasses many of these careers, but unfortunately, many students are not aware of these opportunities until after graduation. Such careers often are not taught explicitly at universities because they lie at the intersection between other fields. Thus, while law and science majors are offered, for example, a science policy analyst major is not.
For people who love science but do not want to spend their lives in a lab, a SciComm job could be a perfect opportunity. Finding such opportunities is difficult, though, when you are not already involved in the SciComm community.
For people interested in learning about all the diverse jobs a SciComm career offers, a Facebook group called Science Communication Jobs is a great place to start. The group consists of people sharing science communication job opportunities, from full-time to part-time to internships. Scrolling through the page can give you a good idea of the types of jobs in the science communication field, including research projects advisor, STEM engagement officer, wildlife journalist, museum curator, and much more!
In addition, for personal stories of careers in SciComm, check out the National Association for Science Writer’s “Meet a new member” series. The Association interviews new members on how they became interested in SciComm, what a typical day at their job is like, and websites they follow for SciComm news. This series provides a great way to see SciComm jobs in practice.
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