ASC2020 - 16-19 Feb, Melbourne

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Coastal resilience on the front-line of climate change: visual communication

Coastal communities on low lying islands, such as in the Pacific Ocean, are facing increasing impacts relating to global warming. Research and aid is increasingly focused on helping these communities adapt to significant coastal change through local adaptation strategies and methods of engagement that promote resilience.

What role can science communication play in helping communities deal with the impacts of sea level rise?

This presentation introduces a case study of the development of a mangrove vulnerability assessment in Micronesia to explore:

– the role of visual design and imagery in communicating cross-culturally with vulnerable communities;
– the importance of using local knowledge and expertise to help formulate communication approaches and tool/products;
– how multiple partners and stakeholders can be engaged effectively; and
– ways to overcome the challenges of presenting information to a remote and varied audience.

 

What will attendees gain from this session?

This presentation will provide attendees with:
– a broad overview of the work Michael has done to communicate coastal impacts and adaptation methods to promote resilience in vulnerable island communities;
– reflections on the work completed to date in Micronesia;
– an understanding of some of the challenges of presenting information to a remote and varied audience; and
– examples of images produced for the project, including technical illustrations, diagrams and maps.

 

Presenter

Michael Helman, Director, Communicatrium

 

When: Tuesday 18th February, 2:00pm-3:30pm
Where: Room G21, Learning and Teaching Building, 19 Ancora Imparo Way, Clayton
Hashtag: TBC

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Where next? Career workshop for science communicators

This is a chance for science communicators to step back and think about their broader career goals, individually and as a community.

Part 1 – identifying the motivations, goals, challenges and dreams of participants

Part 2 is practical – where to start, deciding on the next step, and most importantly connecting with others who share your values or can help you get started.

It concludes by facilitating groups to form and share goals to work towards together.

 

What will audience gain from attending this section?

New insights into their goals as science communicators, and new techniques and networks to help achieve those goals.

 

Structure

A series of about half a dozen questions for people to think about as individuals and then discuss in various groupings.

 

Workshop facilitator

Phil Dooley, ASC National Secretary and Galactic Freelancer, Phil Up On Science

 

When: Tuesday 18th February, 2:00pm-3:30pm

Where: Room G03, Learning and Teaching Building, 19 Ancora Imparo Way, Clayton

Hashtag: TBC

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Speed mentoring with successful science communicators

Meet senior science communicators from all parts of the industry and find out their tips for success.

Chat with experienced science communicators  from ABC, Fairfax and Nature, large organisations like Questacon and Universities, successful freelancers, senior ASC figures and more.

In small groups of similar interests you’ll spend ten minutes with a few mentors, getting their thoughts and asking some questions.

Could be the inspiration for your future career!

What will audience gain from attending this session?

Contacts, tips and tricks, career insights, new approaches.

Structure

Ten minute slots with each mentor – 8 or 9 different mentors.

When: Tuesday 18th February, 5:00pm-6:30pm
Where: Monash MPavilion, 26 Ancora Imparo Way, Clayton VIC 3800 Google link
Hashtag: TBC

A few words from our sponsor

Merryn McKinnon, Senior Lecturer, Centre for the Public Awareness of Science, ANU

Session Producer

Phil Dooley, ASC National Secretary and Galactic Freelancer, Phil Up On Science

Mentors

Dr Merryn McKinnon has slimed presidents, made children laugh and created programs and events to change ideas and inspire interest in science and its communication. She is now a science communication academic who still practices what she teaches and actively works to contribute tangible mechanisms to enable a truly diverse and inclusive STEM workforce.

Dr Graham Phillips was the host and a producer/reporter with ABC television’s science programme Catalyst for many years, and is currently teaching science communication at the University of Melbourne. He’s also reported science on TV Networks Nine, Ten and Seven, done countless hours of science on radio, written about science for most newspapers in Australia, and had four popular science books published. He started his career as a scientist, with a PhD in astrophysics.

Stephen Oliver is Manager, Documentaries at ABC TV . He’s an award-winning filmmaker turned ABC Commissioning Editor who is passionate about telling meaningful stories with big social impact. His commissioning credits include LOGIE and AACTA-winning War on Waste, series 1 and 2, AACTA, Venice TV and Japan Prize-winning Employable Me and Eureka prize-winning Can We Save the Reef?

Lee Constable is a science broadcaster and host of Network 10’s kids science TV show, Scope. She is also the founder of Co-Lab: Science Meets Street Art where she pairs early-career researchers and PhD students with street artists who create live murals inspired by their work for the public.

Suzannah Lyons is the online science reporter for ABC Science. She has previously worked for ABC Open, ABC Emergency, ABC Health & Wellbeing, Catalyst, and as a science communicator. Suzannah trained as both a chemist and a journalist but found she was better at telling stories than hanging out in the lab. She can still make a mean batch of cornflour slime.

Liam Mannix, is the national science reporter for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald. He loves science!

Tilly Boleyn is the Curator of Science Gallery Melbourne. Her interests focus mainly on blurring the boundaries between science, art, design, technology, maths, engineering, large-scale-batteries-powered-by-human-urine and doing things she’s told aren’t allowed. She is a massive nerd who is curious about the world and everything in it.

David Wansbrough started communicating science as a Questacon explainer (way back in the last century) and was part of the Science Circus in 1993. Since then he’s been a bureaucrat in the Australian and New Zealand governments, working on a wide range of topics at the intersection of science and policy: genetic modification, climate change, animal welfare, food safety, and immunisation.

Adam Selinger is the Exec. Director of Children’s Discovery, a social enterprise creating discovery spaces for children and families through playful learning, such as the Early Start Discovery Space at Wollongong University and Little Bang Discovery Clubs run out of public libraries. Prior to this, Adam worked at science centres in Canada and Europe, and science festivals in the UK, South Africa, UAE, Indonesia and China.

Adrian King is a seasoned animation producer, designer, script-writer, science communicator, technologist, marketer, entrepreneur and thinker. He bridges these disparate fields. Ask him anything.

Dr Lisa Bailey is a science communicator who has worked in cultural institutions in the UK and Australia.  At the Royal Institution of Australia she helped design hundreds of science engagement events for communities across Australia, including producing the SCINEMA International Science Film Festival for 3 years.  She’s now at MOD. at UniSA, designing exhibitions for Australia’s leading future-focused museum, provoking new ideas at the intersection of science, art and innovation. She’s ASC National President, too.

Dr Subho Banerjee is the Research Program Director at ANZSOG and works on the interface between academia and public policy practice. He was previously a Deputy Secretary in the Australian Public Service, and has served in a range of strategic policy and program implementation roles spanning economic, social and environmental policy areas. He has also worked as a management consultant in the private sector and for an Indigenous policy thinktank.

Claire Harris is a business owner, writer and innovation advocate. She began her career in fisheries research and now works with innovators in research, technology and sustainability on communication and marketing projects and has recently launched in to social enterprise.

Dr David Robertson is a science communicator and sustainability educator. He’s interested in creative ways to engage people with the big challenges and complex issues of our time. From orchestrating zombie apocalypses and trying to put Vantablack on display, to devising twisted pub quizzes about climate change, and most recently landing in the tertiary education space, he’s always keen to push the edges of practice and coax new ideas into reality.

Dr Jenni Metcalfe has been a science communicator for more than 30 years and has run Australia’s first science communication consultancy, Econnect Communication, for more than 24. She is passionate about communicating science in a way that makes a positive difference to people’s lives and their environment.

Dr Kirsti Abbott is an ant ecologist, science communicator and educator and currently Program Leader of UNE Discovery at the University of New England. She develops and facilitates transformative and playful engagement experiences in STEAM for students and communities in northern NSW.

Dr Sheryn Pitman has a background in environmental management, community engagement, education, creative writing and communication. She works with Inspiring South Australia in science engagement and communication. Her work includes a focus on telling stories of science through the arts. She has also worked with government agencies, with Greening Australia, and as a free-lance creative writer and director, including documentary film, television and radio.

Toss Gascoigne is a visiting fellow at the CPAS at the ANU, and has just finished a book charting the emergence of modern science communication in 38 countries. He is interested in the interface between science and policy, and organised the first Science meets Parliament while working as Executive Director of FASTS (now Science and Technology Australia).

Dr Jen Martin founded and leads the Science Communication Teaching Program at the University of Melbourne. She’s been talking about science on the radio for 15 years, writes a popular science blog and is currently writing a science communication textbook.

Dr Linden Ashcroft is a lecturer, climate scientist and science communicator at The University of Melbourne. Linden shares her love of all sciences on community radio in Melbourne, edits a peer-reviewed journal on scientific data, and her writing was selected for the 2019 Best Australian Science Writing Anthology.

Natsumi Penberthy is an associate editor at Nature Research works with talented writers, illustrators, designers and photographers, and has edited everything from pieces on native Australian sandalwood to the latest in genetic testing. As a writer, she has reported on shearwater hunting by indigenous Tasmanians and the latest developments in the superbugs crisis, among other things

Dr Simon Torok is Director of Scientell, a science communication business specialising in environmental and climate change communication. He has managed communication for CSIRO in Australia and for the Tyndall Centre in England. He has published more than 150 newspaper, magazine and scientific journal articles, and co-authored 19 popular science and climate change books, several of which have been translated into Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean and Hungarian.

Dr Michelle Riedlinger has worked as a science communication practitioner and researcher for over 20 years. She has run over 200 communication skills workshops for scientists and she has worked on environmental science communication projects focussed on climate variability, dryland salinity, catchment management, and river health.

Alvin Stone is the Media and Communications Manager for the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes. Previously he has edited newspapers for Fairfax and News Corp before taking on science comms roles with WWF-Australia, and later as a senior consultant with Primary Communication. He regularly runs communication workshops for researchers across a wide variety of scientific disciplines and has extensive connections into the media and climate science communities.

Clare Mullen works at the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) as a Communication Adviser. She is a meteorologist with a Masters in Communications. Her current role as a content specialist includes presenting BOM Webinars, contributing to script for the Climate and Water Outlook videos, and acting as a BOM STEM Ambassador.​

Dr Cobi Calyx has more than a decade of experience working internationally across science communication, health promotion and environmental governance, with organisations ranging from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation to the United Nations. She’s currently a Research Fellow in Science Communication with the Centre for Social Impact at UNSW Sydney.

Cass Rowles a science communicator with a background in biological sciences and community engagement, but now work in the astronomy space as a content creator. She also runs her own business taking reptiles to children’s birthday parties and other events. You might say she has a varied career in sci comm.

Toni Stevens manages communication activities for both the Ecological Society  and Clean Energy Council, from social media and newsletters to websites and media, fundraising and the promotion of awards. She worked for five years at Melbourne science PR firm Science in Public and before that wrote environmental impact assessments at an engineering consultancy.

Damian Harris has delivered science education programs across Far North Queensland, been a communicator for CSIRO and Questacon and is currently the Marketing and Engagement Manager for Griffith University. A career highlight is founding and directing the Scinema International Science Film Festival for 15 years and transitioning the Festival to RIAus.

Aidan Muirhead is a graduate of ANU’s CPAS who  designed, delivered, and coordinated a range of Questacon’s national science outreach programs. She now works at NCI – the National Computational Infrastructure – promoting the value of supercomputers by writing about research, creating conference platforms and social media content.

Dr Janine Young is a freelance science writer and editor, and has worked in various fields of science communication for more than 20 years.

Dr Phil Dooley is a pub science performer, part of a science theatre group, Dramatis scientificae, a regular writer for Cosmos and twice published in the Best Australian Science Writing Anthology. His freelance projects are under the banner of Phil Up On Science and he’s worked on outreach programs at Sydney Uni, at the media office at ANU and as a comms officer at the world’s largest fusion energy experiment, JET.

This session proudly sponsored by the Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science

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The Trust Crisis: Reconceptualising our Roles

Since the turn of the century, seismic shifts in our information and media landscape have challenged the role and function of journalists, and science communicators, in our society. Where previously we have seen ourselves as gatekeepers, conduits, agenda setters, proponents of science, and guardians of expertise, these roles may no longer fit our context.

Democratization of knowledge and the erosion of trust in mass media, science, and academia – all traditionally viewed as authorities – challenge us to rethink our role and practice. This session will invite provocations from individuals of different traditions – such as curators, educators and watchdogs – to inspire critical dialogue in the room, and open new paths and opportunities for participants to enact roles in our society’s relationship with science.

 

What will audience gain from attending this section?

The overall aim is to encourage participants to critically (re)consider our professional role as communicators of science. This will include:
– Identifying key landscape factors that have challenged the norms and roles of the science journalist and communicator in society
– Having a substantial dialogue with peers around topical provocations to our practice
– Being inspired by different approaches to working with science content and issues from other disciplines, traditions and professions

 

Structure

Preamble – Framing from facilitator (10 mins)
Provocation 1 – short talk + structured dialogue in groups (20 mins)
Provocation 2 – short talk + structured dialogue in groups (20 mins)
Provocation 3 – short talk + structured dialogue in groups (20 mins)

Synthesis – expert guest and facilitator reflections and capturing key contestations and insights from table dialogues (20 mins)

 

Session Producer, Workshop facilitator

Celine Klemm, Lecturer, Monash University

David Robertson, Lecturer, Monash University

 

Presenters

Kenneth Harvey, Associate Professor, Monash University/Friends of Science in Medicine

Nicholas McGuigan, Associate Professor, Monash University

When: Tuesday 18th February, 2:00pm-3:30pm
Where: Room G31, Learning and Teaching Building, 19 Ancora Imparo Way, Clayton
Hashtag: TBC

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Getting Paid for Scicomm: Free Labour, Fair Wages and How to Ask for Money

Working for experience and exposure won’t keep a roof over your head no matter how much you love science!

How much are science communication skills worth? When is volunteering a good thing? How do you negotiate fair pay for scicomm work? And what effect does free labour have on the science communication sector as a whole?

All these questions and more will be tackled in this panel discussion.

This is the perfect opportunity to ask all those burning questions about getting paid for your scicomm skills!

 

What will audience gain from attending this section?

Participants will gain a better understanding of the benchmarks for how science communication skills are valued in the Australian job market and what their skills are worth. This will also give the audience tools to help them make responsible choices when negotiating payment or volunteering in the science communication space.

 

Structure

This session will be introduced and moderated by Lee Constable.

Matt Nurse will present the results of the CPAS science communication remuneration and skills survey and talk about where the benchmark is for valuing science communication skills in Australia.

A representative of the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance will speak on the effect that free labour and the modern media, entertainment and arts landscapes have on the science communication sector.

Jenni Metcalfe (Econnect Communication) and other experienced science communication freelancers will speak about their personal experience in negotiating payment in exchange for science communication work and paying science communicators for their work.

The audience will have the opportunity to ask questions and get practical advice from the panel.

 

Session Producer/MC

Lee Constable, Science Communicator and Broadcaster, Freelance

 

Presenters

Matt Nurse, Masters degree candidate, CPAS, ANU

Jenni Metcalfe, Director, Econnect Communication

Marcus Strom, President MEAA Media and Director of the Walkley Foundation for Journalism

 

 

 

When: Tuesday 18th February, 9:45am – 10:45am
Where: Room G31, Learning and Teaching Building, 19 Ancora Imparo Way, Clayton
Hashtag: TBC

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Understanding how nature works: five pathways towards a more ecologically literate world

The sustainability of human life on Earth depends upon the integrity of the relationship between humanity and nature. Nature supports humanity, and knowledge and understanding of how nature works form the foundation of ecological literacy. It is ecological literacy that underpins our capacity as humans to make well-informed decisions about how to live in sustainable ways. It is therefore of concern that levels of ecological knowledge and understanding within many contemporary human communities may be too low to enable effective decision making in support of sustainable human settlement.

Our concern led to an exploration of the concept of ecological literacy and the assessment of a sample of South Australian adults. We found that while ecological literacy can vary significantly in correlation with a range of socio-demographic and psychographic characteristics, no one factor is necessarily more critical than another. Based on this work we have identified five pathways for growing eco-literate communities. While the patterns and drivers of ecological knowledge and understanding naturally vary between cultures and communities, our findings certainly invite serious consideration for a society, and indeed a world, that aspires to cultivate informed citizenry, leadership and governance with capacity for building sustainable human settlements.

Many people are constantly searching for ways to assist communities in becoming more sustainable. We suggest that ecologically literate leadership and citizenry is necessary for achieving sustainability. Our research has uncovered several pathways which can lead to more ecologically literate communities and thus pave the way for more sustainable human settlements. This presentation aims to convey the essence of our findings and provide a foundation for developing policies and processes that can make a difference

 

Session Producer

Sheryn Pitman, Program Manager – Inspiring South Australia, South Australian Museum

 

When: Monday 17th February, 12:00 noon-1:00pm
Where: Room G02, Learning and Teaching Building, 19 Ancora Imparo Way, Clayton
Hashtag: TBC

 

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Philosophical musings on why we seem unable to “wake up” to climate change

How many times have you seen banners saying “Wake up to the climate crisis?” or “System change, not climate change”?

In the popular media we have stories of people waking up from a dream, choosing between a red or blue pill, or traveling through the looking glass. It is as though we have collectively known for a very long time that we are prone to becoming prisoners in Plato’s cave, brains in Putman’s vat, Truman in his own show, Neo in his Matrix or the spectator in the society of the spectacle.

The very best storytellers have been trying to warn us. The question is, in the world of an increasingly distracted public, what should the science communicator do?

The aim of this presentation is to encourage science communicators to reflect upon the ever more difficult challenge of engaging with a public that is constantly bombarded with news, propaganda, advertising and entertainment. When you see thousands of messages everyday telling you how you should live, consume and profit, how we can expect people to see that one message each day that focuses on human survival and the future of our beautiful planet?

 

Presenter

Brendan Barrett, Specially Appointed Professor, Osaka University

 

When: Tuesday 18th February, 9:45am-10:45am

Where: Room G02, Learning and Teaching Building, 19 Ancora Imparo Way, Clayton
Hashtag: TBC

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Showing the human side of science

Peer-reviewed articles, publications and citations are the currency of the scientific realm. While they are professional necessity for the scientific community, they are not necessarily going to get you far in terms of engaging the broader community, having non-academics ‘get’ science, much less care about it.

While we as a species value evidence and certainty, ultimately, it’s people that we are really interested in. People care about people. And we should be bringing out the human side of science more.

This session is a to-the-point and earnest look at the importance of telling the human stories of science. It discusses who’s stories we should be telling, dilemmas and ethical parameters, and the unexpected benefits of bringing flaws and chaos to a world that prizes rule and order.

Examples will come from the multi-million dollar global slum upgrading research program RISE (Revitalising Informal Settlements and their Environments). RISE is working to improve the lives of 7,000 slum dwellers in Fiji and Indonesia, by strengthening access to essential water and sanitation services. We will explore the human stories coming out of this research trial, that operates in a world of UN agencies, development banks, globally ranked universities, international non-profits, scientists and slum communities.

 

Presenter

Candice Lever

 

When: Tuesday 18th February, 9:45am – 10:45am
Where: Room G02, Learning and Teaching Building, 19 Ancora Imparo Way, Clayton
Hashtag: TBC

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Towards a new model of science communication

Most science engagement activities have objectives and characteristics that reflect a mix of those theorised for deficit, dialogue and sometimes participatory activities. This coexistence of models in practice appears to be not merely an unintentional lucky accident but a necessity for science communication activities to achieve their objectives, especially when the science is controversial.

The models proposed by scholars do not appear to take into account the extensive nature and mix of objectives for initiating or participating in science communication activities.

My research of practice improves our understanding of how theorised science communication models might be further shaped to better reflect and even influence practice. I propose the new nexus model for science communication and describe how this can be implemented within the practical contexts of considering the objectives for engagement, who is involved in the engagement activity, and how positive relationships can be fostered among those participating.

 

How will your session be structured?
Presentation of research with questions at the end.

 

What type of session will this be?
Research presentation.

 

What will participants gain from attending your session?

This presentation and poster will introduce a new model for science communication that has emerged from my PhD: the nexus model. This new model is designed to get both scholars and practitioners to think differently about how they research or practice science communication.

 

Presenter

Jenni Metcalfe, Director, Econnect Communication

 

When: In session Wednesday 19th February, 11:00am–12:50pm
Where: Room G01, Learning and Teaching Building, 19 Ancora Imparo Way, Clayton
Hashtag: TBC

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Social implications of knee-jerk prescribing practices in response to opioid science communications in Australian and the USA

The phrase “opioid epidemic” has become commonplace in recent years. In Australia and the USA, one-sided science communication addressed to medical practitioners about public health statistics has resulted in unintended social implications for chronic pain sufferers.

This communication has since been recanted by the authors in both countries, but has led to unintended and avoidable knee-jerk responses by both doctors and policy-makers, including doctors abandoning their patients, patients enduring rapid opioid withdrawal (which has significantly higher risk of death than opioid overdose), state legislation, and even suicides. This case study explores how this happened, and what we can learn for the future.

Presenter

S. Jade Barclay, Medical Writer, PhD Candidate, The University of Sydney

 

When: Wednesday 19th February, 2:40pm-3:25pm
Where: Room G01, Learning and Teaching Building, 19 Ancora Imparo Way, Clayton
Hashtag: TBC

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Acknowledgements

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