Award Abstract # 2039272
Developing Science Communication Skills in Early Career Scientists

NSF Org: OCE
Division Of Ocean Sciences
Recipient: SUFFOLK UNIVERSITY
Initial Amendment Date: July 28, 2020
Latest Amendment Date: July 28, 2020
Award Number: 2039272
Award Instrument: Standard Grant
Program Manager: Elizabeth Rom
elrom@nsf.gov
 (703)292-7709
OCE
 Division Of Ocean Sciences
GEO
 Directorate for Geosciences
Start Date: August 15, 2020
End Date: July 31, 2022 (Estimated)
Total Intended Award Amount: $45,355.00
Total Awarded Amount to Date: $45,355.00
Funds Obligated to Date: FY 2020 = $45,355.00
History of Investigator:
  • Hayley Schiebel (Principal Investigator)
    hschiebel@suffolk.edu
Recipient Sponsored Research Office: Suffolk University
73 TREMONT ST
BOSTON
MA  US  02108-3916
(617)573-8400
Sponsor Congressional District: 08
Primary Place of Performance: Suffolk University
8 Ashburton Place
Boston
MA  US  02108-2770
Primary Place of Performance
Congressional District:
08
Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): EYKDJZZMDGA7
Parent UEI:
NSF Program(s): EDUCATION/HUMAN RESOURCES,OCE
Primary Program Source: 01002021DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT
Program Reference Code(s):
Program Element Code(s): 169000
Award Agency Code: 4900
Fund Agency Code: 4900
Assistance Listing Number(s): 47.050

ABSTRACT

Early career scientists (defined as undergraduate students, graduate students and those within a few years of graduation from a graduate degree program) need effective science communication skills to be highly successful in a science career. This award provides funding to support a workshop prior to the June 2021 conference of the Association for the Sciences of Limnologist and Oceanography (ASLO) that will provide training in verbal and visual communication to early career scientists. The one-day workshop will help about fifty early career scientists develop communication skills and will provide foundational knowledge for communicating effectively to any audience. The workshop will include two verbal science communication sessions designed to help researchers develop clear and engaging stories about their work. Participants will have repeated opportunities to practice short research pitches to a live audience and receive interactive feedback. Two visual communication sessions will be delivered during the workshop and will focus on 1) creating and delivering a scientific talk and 2) creating an engaging poster with graphics.

Early career scientists are particularly in need of effective science communication skills as they are either beginning their science career at the undergraduate level or developing their scientific specialty at the graduate level. Based on feedback from two prior pilot workshops, the organizers expect a significant improvement in the participants' appreciation of the need for effective science communication and in their mastery of verbal and visual communication skills. The workshop will be widely advertised and free to attendees of the ASLO conference. Prior workshop attendees have been a diverse group, with undergraduates, graduate students and postdoctoral scholars comprising more half of the attendees, and faculty members and industry researchers attending as well.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT

Disclaimer

This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.

To provide early career scientists with professional development related to science communication, we developed a full day workshop funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) entitled Developing the Science of Science Communication. This workshop has been funded since 2019 by NSF and presented in both virtual and in-person formats. Because of the success of the virtual 2021 workshop and building upon foundations from prior years (in-person in February 2019 and February 2020), a second virtual workshop was held in conjunction with the Ocean Sciences Meeting in January 2022. 2022 workshop attendees voluntarily participated in a full day virtual workshop comprised of verbal and visual communication skill sessions. In previous years, attendance was capped at 50 participants. In 2022, only 17 participants completed the pre-workshop survey. The all-day workshop included two presentation skills-focused sessions and two poster design sessions. Participants overwhelmingly agreed that they (a) would recommend the workshop to others and (b) found the workshop content would be useful in their careers. The low attendance in 2022 is believed to be due to the virtual format combined with the timing of the workshop. In years prior, the workshop was held the day before the conference. This year, we attempted to hold the workshop one month prior to the conference to help students prepare in advance – we think most students simply had not prepared their presentations this far in advance. NSF has already funded an exciting future workshop structure for 2023. The workshop will be held across two days with a virtual “pre-workshop” day for those who are ready and would like extra time and materials along with a second, in-person workshop the day prior to the conference in Palma de Mallorca, Spain in conjunction with the June 2023 Aquatic Sciences Meeting. 

 


Last Modified: 10/20/2022
Modified by: Hayley Schiebel

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