Thank you to Tamika Heiden for sharing her conference story.

Wow, what a great conference the ASC conference in Brisbane was. Being an ASC conference newbie I didn’t know what to expect. I had glanced through the program a couple of times prior to deciding to go to the conference and found that there were sessions within the program that intrigued me. One of those sessions was around Knowledge Brokering. Being a knowledge translation specialist I was interested to see how brokering was conceptualised within the science communication world here in Australia. Having been trained and worked with several Canadian KT organisations and knowledge brokers I had my own views on what this should or could be.

In my opinion the conference provided something for everyone. There were some very specific project examples of science communication from various areas, but there were also many sessions about ideas, different ways of communicating and examples of how to do this.

From start to end this conference kept me interested and informed. The opening address by Ian Lowe set the stage for what was to be an insightful and thought provoking conference. Geoff Garrett’s Ian Lowe address introduced the “baton of leadership” and inspired the audience through storytelling insights such as the video clip of “the girl effect”, an example I have since used to inspire scientists in ways of communicating their message. It was also on the first day that I went to Shawn Callahan’s Storytelling for Leaders workshop. I was uncertain of what to expect from such a session but believe that for me it was probably the most important and relevant session of the conference. Within this session Shawn so eloquently tied the content to examples of storytelling that we had seen that morning without realising they were in fact very powerful stories.

Other sessions of interest to me were the Impact session, where there was an interesting discussion around the use of communication to create impact from science. The particular focus was on the ARC’s definition of impact and the use of the term communication. Personally I believe that both the ARC and NHMRC have not yet hit the mark when it comes to their communication and expectation of research impact and translation. The other session on this day that I was indeed excited to attend was the Knowledge brokering session. It was interesting to hear people’s views and opinions within this area and although the discussion was very relevant, and indeed the use of knowledge brokers is important, there was no mention of an overarching model (knowledge translation strategy) that a knowledge broker could and should be part of within the research process.

I cannot stress enough how fantastic this conference was. I found the opportunities for networking, and the speed networking session in particular, to be abundant and positive. The variety of activities on the program from keynotes, to breakout sessions, and workshops, provided a great array of content. Congratulations must go the both the organisers and speakers for providing such a great event. I must thank the WA branch of ASC for supporting my attendance at the conference. I think I am hooked, see you in 2015!

Thank you to Joan Leach for the President’s update.

First off, a hearty thank you to those who joined fellow ASC members in Brisbane for the 2014 conference.  I’m still buzzing after the conversations I had and the presentations I heard.  Claire Harris and Kali Madden, joined with countless volunteers, put on a conference to remember.  We’ll be looking at the conference feedback/evaluations to help us plan for the future.  If you didn’t get a chance to do the evaluation and have something you’d like to tell us about your conference experience, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Given that this is our 20th anniversary year, we’re planning a few more events around Australia over the next 10 months.  As these plans solidify, I’ll make sure they are advertised in SCOPE as well as on our social media platforms and website.  We are hoping that these events will be low-cost for members but will be useful as well as engaging.  Again, if you, your local branch of ASC, or your organisation is interested in partnering with ASC to explore some area of science communication, I’d like to hear about it and try to make it happen.

At the conference, I mentioned a book that I read late last year that pretty much blew me away.  That is really saying something as I can be as jaded as the next academic!  Several of you have followed up with me to say that they, too, found it powerful or wanted to seek it out (at their local independent bookshop, of course).  The book is Global Crisis:  War, Climate Change, and Catastrophe in the 17th Century and the author is Geoffrey Parker.  It was published in 2013 with Yale University Press.  The book explores the ‘little ice age’ of the 17th century and the political, social, and human costs of climate variability–not only for the Europeans, but also for those in China and South America (where extensive records were kept).  Even if you’re not a history buff, the stories that Parker relates about how some of the greatest thinkers and communicators of the age despaired are quite moving and remarkable.  And while it would be too easy to draw direct comparisons with our age, Parker’s use of data and storytelling are models for science communicators engaged in climate adaptation.  I don’t recommend too many books as ‘must haves’ but this one is worth sharing.

In closing, I’d like to encourage you to revisit the ASC website.  We’re trying to set up some ‘interest group’ areas for discussion of topics that interest you.  If you’re considering setting up an interest group, we’d like to help.