Scientific communication means different things to different people. One argument stated in the video “What is Science Communication? – The EU Guide to Science Communication”, is that researchers are confused as to what scientific communication means. Alan Alda, actor and science enthusiast, believes that scientific communication is something that must be taught to scientists- that they must learn to deliver information in a relaxed manner. No matter the personal opinion on scientific communication, the general consensus seems to be that scientific communication is essential for effective scientific research to take place. Whether communicating between scientists or a broader audience, being able to clearly get information across is vital.

(Photo Credit: BioLogos)

To the general public, or at least those that do not often find themselves engaged or understanding with scientific topics, being able to understand what scientists are reporting and researching can be a very important factor in their interest in the subject. Many research projects are funded by tax payers. Some feel because of that, scientists have an obligation to report their research with those who technically fund it. In order to successfully report their findings they must be able to put their findings into terms everyone can understand. In an interview, Alda emphasized that any group of people will develop little quirks or jargon in their language. For example, terms that women in sororities use such as “big/little”, “rushing”, or “PNM” make perfect sense to those women in Greek organizations; however, someone who hasn’t been exposed to Greek life may be lost as to what those terms actually mean. The same goes for people in the scientific community. Scientists may be used to certain terms or way of speak that someone not in scientific field may struggle to understand. Alda states, “Everyone is too ignorant about science. That is what science is about: Science is about satisfying the ignorance we all naturally possess.” I believe that what he means by this statement is that many people are ignorant and it is the duty of scientists to educate the ignorant- putting research into easily understandable.

It is important to understand the difference between how scientists communicate between themselves on a daily basis and how they communicate to other audiences. Scientists use dissemination to portray information to colleagues and to those who will use the results or information of a scientist’s research. It is often used in production of things that will be peer-reviewed. Scientific communication is used when a scientist wishes to deliver their research to a broader audience. A scientist should also consider his or her audience when publishing or sharing research. Monica Feliu-Mojer emphasized knowing your audience is key for understanding when to use dissemination or scientific communication. At times, writing for too broad an audience or not with a particular audience in mind at all can muddle your information and make it more difficult to understand. This is why effective scientific communication is crucial for any scientist- especially in this day and age. Information is more and more accessible to anyone who wants to search for it. If someone comes across information they can not understand they may not keep interest in a subject, or worse, they misinterpret the information presented. It can be challenging to know your audience or to present information in a different way than you are used to. A personal challenge I face as a science student is learning how to communicate as a scientist at the same time as I learn how to have good scientific communication. In order to be successful in the scientific field I will have to master both ways of communication. I expect some of that to come with time, and some of it to come with practice. This semester I expect this blog with a great tool to practice my scientific communication skills.

In my life I have found that it is easier to get people to understand and listen when you can make a personal connection with them. A personal connection can be difficult through a computer screen, so I hope to be able to add a bit of myself in each post. Whether that be through an anecdote, picture, or a joke sprinkled here and there. I know that is the way I engage with people whom I do not directly see face to face, so I hope me doing the same with scientific writing and research will help engage my audience.

To help develop my own blog style I took a look at another science blog, Your Wild Life. I think a big strength of this blog is that they have input from scientists, students, and people who are just interested in science. I think that many perspectives can be a real asset to their blog because there are people in all levels of science contributing to the content, therefore they can really make sure that a broad audience will be able to understand their writing. While scrolling through their blog posts some titles that stood out to me were “Take the New Cat Personality Test” and “Sourdough Stories“. These two stood out to me the most because I love cats and baking. The sourdough blog was about the study of sourdough starters and connections people have with those recipes to their families. Unlike Your Wild Life, I will not have the multiple and professional perspectives . However, I will have my perspective as a student and because of me being a student I hopefully can still retain my view as from someone who is unknowledgeable about science.