Cultivating Your Voice and Banishing Your Inner Impostor: Workshop for Women in STEM

There are many challenges navigating academic and scientific fields, especially for people who identify as women in STEM fields. Feelings of self-doubt, insecurity, or being a fraud in your position despite your talents, accomplishments, and qualifications are examples of impostor syndrome. Presenters from the Stony Brook University School of Journalism, the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science, and the Colorado School of Mines explored the prevalence of impostor syndrome in STEM, and shared skills in communication that foster your own career advancement and manage your inner impostor.

Be the Change: Building Support for Scientist Engagement

There is a growing movement for academia to incentivize and reward scientists who bring their work to the public and decisionmakers. This training with our partner, Future of Research, covers strategies for building support for scientist engagement in your institution.

Featuring: Elyse Aurbach-Pruitt, co-founder and co-director, RELATE (Researchers Expanding Lay-Audience Teaching and Engagement);Nalini Nadkarni and Caitlin Weber, STEM Ambassador Program (STEMAP); and Dan Pomeroy, managing director and senior policy advisor, International Policy Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. First aired August 31, 2017.

Rewriting the Narrative With Science

A training on how to communicate the value of science in policy in compelling ways—even to less science-friendly audiences. We talk about new and innovative ways to reframe the discussion, and discuss how to focus on the facts and not opinions and assumptions in ways that may open the door to a productive conversation.

Featuring: Brenda Ekwurzel, senior climate scientists and director of climate science, UCS Climate & Energy Program; Ellyn Weiss, artist, lawyer, former counsel to UCS, current UCS board member; Nehemiah Mabry, founder of STEMedia, winner of "best overall video" for the National Academy of Engineering's E4U3 Mega-Engineering video contest. First aired February 1, 2017.

Facing the Bullies: Stories and Strategies for Combatting Scientist Harassment

Scientists sometimes become harassment targets when they share contentious research findings or opinions. And women, people of color, and LGBTQ scientists are more likely to face harassment and marginalization because of their identities. These attacks can take multiple forms—traditional and social media, open-records requests, even subpoenas—but the goals are the same: to discredit the research by discrediting, intimidating, or distracting the researcher. Fortunately, there are ways to respond to legitimate scrutiny of your work while protecting your reputation and building resilience to attacks.

Hosted by Michael Halpern, program manager for the Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists, and featuring Michael E. Mann, author, professor, and director of the Penn State Earth System Science Center; Mika McKinnon, geophysicist, writer, and editorial manager at Science Borealis; and Ramón S. Barthelemy, former Fulbright Scholar and current AAAS science policy fellow. First aired September 19, 2016.

Talking Up without Talking Down

Conveying scientific concepts to nonscientific audiences requires a different language, and different communication techniques. This webinar will allow you to hear from a group of science professionals that have, in very different settings, presented science in an engaging and convincing manner--from the offices of Capitol Hill, to the stage, to a high school classroom.

Presenters: Liz Neeley, Executive Director, Story Collider; Yogin Kothari, Washington Representative, Union of Concerned Scientists; Andrea Basche, Kendell Science Fellow, Union of Concerned Scientists. First aired June 25, 2016.

From Aristotle to South Park: The ABT Framework as a New Tool for Science Communication

Scientist-turned-filmmaker Randy Olson discusses his “And, But, Therefore” template (the ABT) for creating a narrative. He shows how he has expanded it into The Narrative Spectrum, presents examples of it working with scientists, and talks about the universal importance of narrative structure.

Presenter: Randy Olson, marine biologist-turned-filmmaker, author of Houston, We Have a Narrative; moderator: Aaron Huertas, Senior Washington Director at Cater Communications. First aired December 1, 2015.

Not Just Another Powerpoint: Best Practices to Bring Your Presentation to Life

One of the best ways to use your expertise to make an impact on the policy making process is to give expert testimony or comments. Our presenters cover how to prepare and give testimony at the state and local levels for hearings, and how to prepare for and participate in public comment periods.

Presenters: Andrew Gunther, Executive Director, Center for Ecosystem Management & Restoration; Marcia DeLonge, Agroecologist, Union of Concerned Scientists. First aired July 23, 2015.

Additional resources: Not Just Another Powerpoint: More Tips to Bring Presentations to Life

The Story Behind the Scientist

Whether it’s talking about your research, pitching an idea for a project or grant, or just talking to family and friends about what you do, it’s important to craft a story about your work or your research. This workshop provides strategies for storytelling and resources on communicating important ideas in a story framework.

Presenters: Seth Shulman, Editorial Director at Union of Concerned Scientists; Casey DeMoss, CEO of Alliance for Affordable Energy; Eric Michelman, Director of More Than Scientists. First aired May 19, 2015.

Pushing Back Against Misinformation

This workshop is filled with science communication tips on how to engage on contentious issues, how to frame your arguments so they aren’t reinforcing myths, and how to push through the cacophony so the truth can be heard.

Presenters: Aaron Huertas, Press Secretary, UCS; Scott Mandia, co-founder Climate Science Rapid Response team and Climate Science Legal Defense Fund; Dave Anderson, Outreach Coordinator, Climate & Energy, UCS. First aired March 26, 2015.

Social Media for Scientists: Science Communication for the Web

For scientists, engineers, and other experts, there are many benefits to using social media, including sharing your research with new audiences, building relationships with others who share your interests, and creating a network of others you can reach out to with questions or to bounce ideas off of. Our presenters will share stories about how engaging online has helped them professionally, and offer tips to help get you started.

Presenters: Katy Love, Online & New Media Manager, UCS; Ray Dearborn, Campaign Lab Director at Upwell; Liz Neeley, Assistant Director of Science Outreach, COMPASS; Matthew Francis, Science Writer and Director of CosmoAcademy. First aired November 5, 2014.

Your Elevator Pitch

From the traditional elevator pitch to quick phone calls with policy makers, scientists must be able to represent their work and its importance in a quick yet impactful way. This workshop arms scientists with the skills to have effective short conversations with a number of different types of audiences.

Presenters: Sean Meyer, Nuclear Safety Campaign Manager, UCS; Edward Parson, UCS National Advisory Board and Science Network member, and Professor of Law, UCLA School of Law; Jalonne White-Newsome, a federal policy analyst at WE ACT for Environmental Justice. First aired May 29, 2014.

Communicating with Confidence: How to deal with uncertainty

This workshop addresses how to deal with uncertainty on scientific issues. It covers how to approach and prepare for conversations about complicated issues with the media, the public, and policy makers. Our presenters show how viewers can develop their ability to frame conversations to the information they are confident in and to address uncertainty in a constructive and informative way.

Presenters: Brenda Ekwurzel, Senior Climate Scientist, UCS; Aaron Huertas, Press Secretary, UCS; Knute Nadelhoffer, UCS Science Network member, and Professor of Ecosystem Ecology, University of Michigan. First aired February 5, 2014.

Communicating Science Amid Confusion and Uncertainty

This workshop builds off of the presenters’ experiences with difficult questions from the media, government officials, and the public. Viewers will benefit from the techniques and tools this workshop will provide to stay on topic and handle uncertainty when asked challenging questions.

Presenters: Aaron Huertas, Press Secretary, UCS; Lisa Nurnberger, Press Secretary, UCS; Nick Schroeck, UCS Science Network member, and Executive Director, Great Lakes Environmental Law Center. First aired September 17, 2013.