Did you know that crows have the ability to remember a human's face and recognize it when they see it again? And that they have their own funeral customs? We found this out directly from a researcher in charge of studying the behaviour of crows who takes a direct approach to communicating science: she skips the middlemen and speaks directly to the public.
Whether it's podcasts, fascinating conferences or attending open days, the website website or a blog with news from the lab, the researcher has numerous ways to connect with an audience interested in science.
Characteristics of good communication, such as were determined by the audience, are:
- Clarity and conciseness, especially in written communication
- Adopt standard, easy-to-understand language
- Educational content, but in an attractive form
- Easy access to information
Some examples of direct communication of researchers with the public:
Less known
- Kaeli Swift - funeral behaviour of crows
- Julie Hecht - study dogs
- Helen Zaltzman - linguist
- Lila Higgins - entomology
- Kevin Peter Hand - astrobiology (NASA)
- Katherine Hatcher - neuroendocrinology
- Dr. Shane Campbell-Staton - Thermophysiology (A podcast entitled "Biology of Superheroes")
- Mary Poffenroth - psychology
How did we find out about them? Most of them were invited to one of My favorite science podcasts, Oologies.
VIPs
- Dan Ariely -behavioural economics
- Neil deGrasse Tyson - astrophysicist, does more popularization, not research-based
- Richard Dawkins - biology
- Brian Cox - particle physics
- Daniel Gilbert - psychology
Romania
My list for Romania has only a few names so far, I am looking for more examples. If you know of researchers involved in direct communication with the public on their social media pages/accounts, please leave me a comment or write me at [email protected] .
This is the last article explaining the three-step communication model. To better understand the subject, read all the articles in the series.
- Three possible models for science communication
- The relationship between researcher and communication specialist (1)
- What a communication specialist is for (2)
- The relationship between researcher and journalist (1)
- Ground rules for dealing with journalists (2)
- Direct researcher - public communication (1)
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