When: Wednesday 14th November, 6:00pm onwards
Where: Pumphouse Restaurant and Bar, 17 Little Pier St, Darling Harbour
Not finished mingling and having fun yet? Then join us for a drink at the Pumphouse Restaurant and Bar. The ASC NSW branch will be providing some snacks whilst you continue to discuss the amazing content that has been on display at the conference for three days.
When: Wednesday 14th November, 2:40pm – 3:40pm
Where: Theatre, Level 2 down the stairs to the right of the registration/foyer area
Hashtag: #W15
Science and health stories are often criticised for containing conflicting, exaggerated or misleading claims, and while journalists may play a role, a 2014 study showed that exaggeration in news is strongly associated with exaggeration in media releases.
In just the last 12 months there have been a myriad of media releases using the word ‘breakthrough’, or describing the outcome of mouse studies as if they had been done in humans. Is it media teams or scientists themselves who are spinning the research?
In the era of fake news, do those of us communicating science research need to lift our game? A voluntary labelling system for media releases may be part of the answer. Our colleagues at the Science Media Centre in the UK created a simple labelling system to help journalists get their heads around medical research media releases and what they really mean.
The system has already been adopted by several major journal publishers including Cell Press and the British Medical Journal (BMJ).
This session will discuss hype in science media releases, its impacts, origins and what can be done to address it.
Lyndal Byford, Director of News and Partnerships, Australian Science Media Centre (AusSMC)
Jason Whittaker, Story Editor, Media Watch, ABC TV
Kellia Chiu, PhD candidate, The University of Sydney
Dr Meredith Ross, Marketing & Communications Officer, Garvan Institute of Medical Research
When: Wednesday 14th November, 10:20am – 11:20am
Where: L2, Level 2 to the left of the registration/foyer area, down the hallway and through the doors on the right
Hashtag: #W8
Our project documents how modern science communication has emerged in different countries over the last 50 years. It involves 123 authors working in teams from 43 countries including Ghana, Malaysia, Mexico, Indonesia, Turkey and Colombia as well as major powers such as the UK, USA, Germany, China and Japan.
The project documents the pathways different countries have taken, recording major events, debates and activities in science communication as they moved to adopt the practices of modern science communication. What challenges did they face, and what solutions have they found?
The project has attracted enormous interest in science communication communities around the world. Strong demand has meant the original 20 participating countries has grown to 43. The hunger of countries to learn from international experience is clear. Representation is divided equally between post-industrial nations and countries with a developing industrial base in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
What practical advice can be gleaned from the national reports to help deal with pressing problems at home? How can science communication be applied to assist countries ‘to secure the fundamentals of human well-being – health, food, energy, jobs’?
It’s an Australian project with international impact, and the results will be published by ANU Press.
Mr Toss Gascoigne, Visiting Fellow, Australian National University
Dr Michelle Riedlinger, Associate Professor, University of the Fraser Valley, Canada
Dr Bobby Cerini, Deputy Director and General Manager, Science and Learning A/g, Questacon
Niall Byrne, Creative Director, Science in Public
When: Wednesday 14th November, 10:20am – 11:20am
Where: Theatrette, Level 2 behind the registration/foyer area
Hashtag: #W6
The environment + community = community engagement! Getting the community involved in environmental science is a rewarding venture. Hear from the speakers about their experiences in engaging the community in their work – both the rewarding and challenging.
The session is structured into three 15-minute talks and will wrap-up with a 15-minute Q&A for delegates questions and comments.
The session will include the following talks:
When: Wednesday 14th November, 10:20am – 11:20am
Where: Theatrette, Level 2 behind the registration/foyer area
Hashtag: #W6
As most science communicators and scientists know, even the most engaging and carefully-crafted communication will be ineffective if your audience doesn’t trust you. As Victoria’s environmental regulator, the Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) is acutely aware of the importance of trust, particularly when it communicates and engages with communities.
In early 2014, a fire at Hazelwood Mine burnt for 45 days, covering much of the Latrobe Valley region in smoke. As a result, community confidence in EPA and the Victorian government was low both during and immediately after the fire.
Since then, EPA has worked closely with Latrobe Valley communities to strengthen relationships and improve how it communicates its science. This work cumulated in the roll out of a ground-breaking co-design process in 2016, which relied on extensive input from community, scientists, engagement experts and a science communicator. The primary task of a community panel was to design an air monitoring network to complement EPA’s existing air monitors in the Latrobe Valley.
In this session you will hear how a co-design process helped build community trust from the point of view of a science communicator. I will:
• show you how science communication improved the community’s understanding of air pollution and helped build community trust
• share my challenges and triumphs of working side-by-side with scientists and community
• explain how lessons learnt through a co-design process have made me a better science communicator.
Case studies: Environment and community engagement
Catherine Healy, Science Communication Advisor, Environment Protection Authority Victoria
When: Wednesday 14th November, 2:40pm – 3:40pm
Where: L1, Level 2 to the left of the registration/foyer area, down the hallway and through the doors on the right
Hashtag: #W16
The media is often quick to make a medical related story high profile given how much of an impact this can have on the everyday person. What happens next? How do you manage the exposure?
The speakers in this session will share with you how they’ve managed the after effects of a high profile medical related story.
The session is structured into three 15-minute talks and will wrap-up with a 15-minute Q&A for delegates questions and comments.
The session will include the following talk:
Emily Woodhams, Communications Advisor, Centre for Eye Research Australia
Emily Woodhams, Communications Advisor, Centre for Eye Research Australia
When: Wednesday 14th November, 1:40pm – 3:40pm
Where: Theatrette, Level 2 behind the registration/foyer area
Hashtag: #W14
A cutting edge approach to science communication blending fiction and fact to address today’s scientific dilemmas. A hilarious and thought provoking piece featuring cameos from working scientists, answering real questions.
Cy is facing a major crisis in his life. He’s thinking twice about genetic modification, immunisation and that old chestnut, how crazy the weather is these days. Who can he turn to? His family doctor? His local poet? He visits both but remains sceptical, and draws them into a quest to resolve the questions they can’t answer.
On their journey, they run headlong into scientific controversies of many kinds and encounter real live scientists who cast light on age-old questions of facts and data, truths and untruths, and the difference between uncertainty and doubt. Even the audience get a chance to discuss questions with geneticist Miguel Hernandez, immunologist (TBA) and climate scientist Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick as they try to help Cy, his doctor and his poet find the answers they’re looking for.
A show born of a surprising collaboration between dastardly director Michele Conyngham, concerned communicator, Phil “PhD” Dooley, and thelf-thentred thespian Patrick Davies Trumper, The Poet’s Guide to Science is a truly original, thought-provoking and entertaining piece of communication.
Dr Phil Dooley, Galactic Commander, Phil Up On Science
Michele Conyngham, Director/Writer, Wordplay Drama
Patrick Davies Trumper, Actor/Teacher, Wordplay Drama
Guest Scientists
Miguel Hernandez, Centre of Excellence for Translational Photosynthesis, University of Sydney
Sarah Perkins Kirkpatrick, Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes, UNSW
When: Wednesday 14th November, 11:55am – 1:25pm
Where: L2, Level 2 to the left of the registration/foyer area, down the hallway and through the doors on the right
Hashtag: #W13
Can poetry be used as a tool to communicate science? There is a science to poetry: poetic forms have strict formulas and measurement systems. Conversely, science is full of poetry – it is creative, imaginative, and inquisitive. This interactive workshop aims to decompartmentalise “poetry” and “science”, with a view to discussing the availability of poetry as a tool for communicating science to a wide range of audiences. Poetry will be deconstructed and various poetic forms analysed, giving you the techniques to debate and create your own science-inspired poetry. When scientific concepts are expressed in verse, perhaps the aesthetics, intuition, emotion, and poetic devices that characterise poetry will enrich the inductive reasoning, logic, pragmatism, and precise terminology that characterise science. Perhaps there are many ways in which the humanistic nature of poetry can be shaped for scientific purposes and messages. In turn, maybe the creative and descriptive nature of science will influence new poetic themes. Bring along your favourite poem or discover some new ones (perhaps even of your own making) as we explore science poetry and its future. Two examples, composed by the workshop’s facilitates, are here to get you thinking!
“This hemisphere leans
Sunward as winter breeds spring.
Hibernators rise.”
“The shy Higgs Boson’s strange decay
Happens, it seems, almost right away.
And it’s a loop of Tops
From which the shy Higgs pops,
Into a dual Photon array.”
Dr Michael Leach, Adjunct Research Associate, School of Rural Health, Monash University
Rachel Rayner, Science Communicator, Australian Volunteers Program
The facilitators are currently working on a science communication paper around the topic of poetry as a communication tool. Elements of the results and discussion from this workshop may be incorporated into the paper.
When: Wednesday 14th November, 8:45am – 11:20am
Where: Theatre, Level 2 down the stairs to the right of the registration/foyer area
Hashtag: #W1
Design is not about prettifying information. Design is not a final step in production after the “real work” is done. But what is design, especially in the context of scicomm?
Designer Horst Rittel introduced and defined the term “wicked problems” to denote problems that are resistant to resolution, especially due to issues of social complexity. He contrasted these to the “tame” problems that science has effectively developed techniques to deal with. Many scicomm scenarios are wicked problems (they all deal with people in social contexts) and experienced designers can bring a different set of perspectives and skills to these problems.
Although design perspectives are relevant to all branches of scicomm, they have particular resonance in countries like Australia and New Zealand where scicomm projects regularly intersect with indigenous communities. Commonly employed scientific frameworks and methodologies, from which much scicomm derives, are ill-equipped to deal with the needs of such communities.
In this session, design professionals who engage with scicomm will provide case studies, advice, processes, and frameworks for thinking that offer alternatives to the techniques often employed by those who come to scicomm from science. They will demonstrate how designers can successfully play a significant role in scicomm conception, development, and implementation using their unique skills and approaches.
David Harris, Lecturer (sessional), Queensland College of Art, Griffith University
Jo Bailey, Lecturer, Massey University
Tristam Sparks, Senior Lecturer, Massey University
Jacqueline Gothe, Associate Professor, University of Technology Sydney
When: Wednesday 14th November, 2:40pm – 3:40pm
Where: L1, Level 2 to the left of the registration/foyer area, down the hallway and through the doors on the right
Hashtag: #W16
As Communication Professionals, we dream about securing front page media coverage for our respective organisations. The reality is that getting great media coverage is the easy part. Sensitively and effectively managing the public interest following a high profile media story is much more challenging, especially when your talent is more at home in a laboratory than in front of a journalist. In this session, Carolyn MacDonald, Melea Tarabay and Emily Woodhams will share their experiences and advice for surviving ‘life after the front page’, including managing consumer expectations.
Case studies: Sci com in health
Emily Woodhams, Communications Advisor, Centre for Eye Research Australia
Carolyn MacDonald, Head of Communications and Marketing, Walter & Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
Melea Tarabay, Director Strategic Communications and Media, The Royal Melbourne Hospital
@auscicomm
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