A few days ago while scrolling on Facebook, I found a Reddit thread comparing their unknown future in life to how a caterpillar builds a cocoon not knowing it is going to become a butterfly. Of course in true Reddit fashion, someone comes along and drops a mind-blowing response that has readers questioning everything we … Continue reading Memory After Metamorphosis #ScicommSunday 2/17/19
I was sitting in an audience of about a thousand people in the Foxwoods Casino arena when we were given a challenge. Tweet a question at Alton Brown during intermission and he would answer a few of them live on stage in the second act. I was at the Alton Brown: Eat Your Science show, … Continue reading Science Communication of “Good Eats” #ScicommSunday 1/27/19
I was standing in a conference room filled with faculty and graduate students, minutes before giving a presentation about my research to the entire department. I hadn't slept more than 4 hours per night for the past week, my heart was pounding out of my chest, and my brain was telling me to run. And … Continue reading Public Speaking & Live Q&A Sessions #ScicommSunday 1/20/19
There is a white wall in my grandparents' house, filled from ceiling to floor with framed images of my parents, their siblings, and even baby and teenage me. Many people dedicate a space in their homes for pictures. We place frames around the pictures we think are important. Those that we think are beautiful, that … Continue reading Framing Science #ScicommSunday 1/13/19
Sitting in a half-full lecture hall on a Tuesday at 9:30am, my professor slammed a small pumpkin down on the lectern. He proceeded to draw a small square and a triangle on the wrinkly, orange surface. As if our attentions weren’t already piqued, he then pulled out a large knife and began to slice the … Continue reading Shining a Light on Stem Cells
In November of 2018, I was fortunate to be able to contribute to the PhDepression and share my story about mental health in graduate school. PhDepression is a collaborative community of people in academia who aim to increase visibility and awareness of mental health. Their website and Instagram profile provides resources/tips, highlights the stories of … Continue reading PhDepression Feature
This week’s SciComm Sunday, we’re talking about models of science communication, PUS and PEST. No, I’m not talking about unwanted bugs or gross fluid 😅. I’m talking about Public Understanding of Science (PUS) vs Public Engagement with Science and Technology (PEST). Under the older PUS model, (also known as the information deficit model), it was assumed … Continue reading Dueling models of Science Communication: PUS vs. PEST #ScicommSunday 11/11/18
How do you measure your scholarly/scientific impact? Today’s SciComm Sunday focuses on Altmetrics. Altmetrics, short for alternative metrics, is an impact indicator of scholarly research that takes into account social media activity. This type of metric can identify how a particular article is being engaged with online. For example, in the image above the article “The toxic … Continue reading How do you measure your scholarly/scientific impact? #ScicommSunday 11/5/18
Why does it look like several hurricanes are happening in that image? What does this massive cluster of data points have to do with science communication? A couple weeks back I introduced the concept of social media APIs, applications to analyze and retrieve data from social media sites. As an assignment for my social media class, … Continue reading Hurricanes of the #scicomm Network #ScicommSunday 10/28/18
Today’s post centers around the concept of media effects. Traditionally, it was thought that the media produced the same effect on everyone who viewed it, a theory called the “hypodermic needle” model (Katz & Lazarfeld, 1955). However, today we know that media effects are much more complex. Building off of the Uses & Gratifications model I … Continue reading Does the media affect the way you view science online? #ScicommSunday 10/14/18
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