Monthly Archives: November 2016

The outcome of the 2016 ASC Grants Program

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Now in its third year, we again had a number of high calibre applications submitted into our Grants Program. We only wish we could award everyone who applied and of course thank all those members who took the time to apply for the grants and internship on offer.

After a peer-review process, we are pleased to announce that the recipients of the following ASC Professional Development Grants for 2016 are:

The ASC Professional Development Grant worth $600 was awarded to Lydia Hales. Lydia will be using the grant to attend the 2017 Iceland Writers Retreat. The Writers Retreat includes five workshops, a welcome dinner, receptions, and writing tours. The workshops are capped at a maximum of 15 people, with an emphasis on interaction between the featured authors and the attendees. Read about Lydia’s adventures in Iceland here.

The Peter Pockley Grant for Professional Development in Investigative Journalism worth $600 was awarded to Kylie Sturgess. Kylie will be using the grant to attend the CAL writing creative radio workshop in Katoomba during December. Kylie is keen to extend her audio skills in long form format and the science documentary field, and we felt that she was a worthy recipient of the prestigious Peter Pockley grant. Hopefully we’ll be able to reap the rewards of Kylie’s PD come the new year.

The MD Writing and Editing Coaching Program was awarded to student member Sarah Bradley. Sarah wants to undertake a PhD in the future and hopes that through this experience she can write more clearly and in a form that is easy to understand. We are sure she’ll benefit from Dr Malini Devadas tuition, and again thank Malini for offering this experience to our members.

The Cosmos Media Internship was awarded to Andrew Stapleton. Andrew plans on starting his internship in mid-late January, 2017, where he will gain invaluable experience from other writers and editors and learn the ins and outs of one of Australia’s most respected science magazines.

“While it was a difficult choice, Andrew’s passion for science magazine journalism and engaging new audiences, along with his science background and keen interest in developing his skills, led us to conclude that he’d be the best fit for this internship.”

— April Reese, Managing Editor, COSMOS Magazine

Please join me in congratulating our members on their awards and we look forward to hearing about their PD in coming weeks and months through the Scope e-newsletter.

Once again a big thank you to our 2016 sponsors and we look forward to working with you in the future to provide further opportunities for our members.

Thanks,

Drs Ian McDonald and Miriam Sullivan

ASC Grants Program Co-Managers

Getting your science style right – there’s a new guide to help

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Should it be ‘compare with’ or ‘compare to’? When do you use a pie graph? Is there a space between the number and the unit? Should it be ‘Earth’, or ‘the Earth’? Do you capitalise ‘government’?*

The answers to all these questions and more can now be found in the online Australian manual of scientific style (AMOSS), developed by Biotext. AMOSS was released in October 2016, and is already generating interest from science communicators and government departments. As part of our commitment to the community of Australian science communicators, Biotext would like to offer a discounted subscription rate of $50 to ASC group members – just email amoss@biotext.com.au for the code.

Until now, there has been no Australian science style manual. People have relied on overseas guides, general writing guides or guides that focused on only one field of science. Biotext found itself in a position to provide a style guide that covered a wide range of disciplines, for the Australian context.

Why could Biotext do this? Biotext, established in 1999, is a Canberra company specialising in science writing, editing and design. Biotext’s team of writers, editors and designers had developed a range of resources over the years, including a style guide for common science and technical terms, guidance on data visualisation, and training materials on science writing and editing.

In other words, we know what the science communication community needs because we are also the users of the manual! AMOSS:

  • brings together scientific conventions and standards for many scientific disciplines and aspects of communication, from writing clearly to getting a graph right
  • is researched, written and tested specifically for an Australian audience
  • is online, searchable and dynamic.

And we encourage users to be part of the ‘AMOSS community’. ASC members are invited to provide feedback about the manual in general or in their own fields of expertise. We will be regularly updating and expanding AMOSS, and we welcome all ideas and comments, which may be incorporated in the current version or future versions. Since we are mainly a bio-focused organisation, some disciplines in particular would benefit from additional information. For example, we would appreciate input in the fields of:

  • geography
  • climate science
  • physics
  • Earth and the universe.

Even if you don’t subscribe, you can see the extent of the topics AMOSS covers by visiting https://www.sciencestyle.com.au.

* ‘Compare with’ means to consider similarities or differences between 2 or more items, whereas ‘compare to’ means to liken to; almost never; yes; Earth; no.

President’s Update

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

I’m writing this on the plane as I return from a work trip around China and am reflecting on the extraordinary interest in science communication currently emerging there. What I found were University presidents and organisations across China who want to learn from Australia about science communication – and there is also much we can learn from the Chinese; they are aiming to take what they call the ‘science literacy rate’ from 9% to 25% in 5 years. They are building science museums, growing capacity in their media sector (and have started a Chinese Science Media Centre to mirror our own AUSSMC). The science advisor at the Australian embassy in Beijing hosts nearly nonstop science events and has showcased the connections between Australian and Chinese science. The time is ripe for meaningful collaboration.

I’m thrilled that this issue of SCOPE announces the next winners of the professional development grants at ASC. Thank you to Ian McDonald, Miriam Sullivan and Kali Madden for making these happen – they are a great opportunity for us to give support to our members when they want to ‘skill up’.

Finally, the year is counting down now… I’ve fielded a few queries about the ASC presidency. If you think this is a role for you – just drop me a line; I’m available to talk further. I won’t be standing for President again for 2017 but will be very happy to help the next ASC president to do great things.

ASC Victoria: Notice of AGM

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The ASC-Vic is announcing their end of year dinner and AGM.
Where: Lincoln Hotel, 91 Cardigan St Carlton
When: November 23rd, 2016 at 6pm for the AGM and 6:30pm for the dinner
What: ASC will buy you a free beer/wine for coming out to the AGM
We have tables reserved for ASC members to dine together and have a good old-fashioned catch up. Please come down, volunteer to join the committee if you want, and be part of our planning for 2017.
RSVP to George Aranda (george.aranda@deakin.edu.au) if you are joining us.
See below for more information about committee membership and proxies:

Victorian Branch AGM – Further Information

Only paid up ASC members can participate in the formal business parts of the evening, including electing Branch Committee. If you can’t make it on the night do send along a proxy so your voice is heard.

Meeting Agenda

  • Confirm minutes from 2015 AGM
  • President’s report (George Aranda)
  • Treasurer’s report (Anneliese Gillard)
  • Nominations for 2016 committee
  • Other business

Branch Committee Positions

  • President
  • Representative on ASC National Executive
  • Secretary
  • Treasurer
  • Ordinary Committee Members

Nominating for committee positions

Nominations for committee positions are open. Self-nominations are acceptable.

The current Committee encourages new applications from ASC members who would like to get involved in shaping and leading activities and events.

Nominations for Branch Committee positions are encouraged in advance of the AGM (please send these to george.aranda@deakin.edu.au). Nominations will also be accepted at the AGM.

Any ASC member based in Victoria can stand for a branch committee position.

Voting by proxy at the AGM

If you cannot attend the AGM you may wish to nominate a proxy, prior to the AGM.

Note proxy nominations cannot be accepted at the AGM. We require them to be emailed to George by 12pm on Wednesday 16th of November 2016.

You can nominate any ASC member based in Victoria as your proxy, but you both need to be financial members of the ASC.

To nominate a proxy all you have to do george.aranda@deakin.edu.au saying who you are, and which member you are giving your vote to, e.g.

Dear George,

I’d like to assign my proxy vote for the ASC Victorian AGM to Joe Bloggs.

Best wishes,

Jane Doe

ASC Reflection: Case Study: Nicholas J Johnson

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nicholas-j-johnson

As part of ASC Victoria’s ‘Case Study’ series, we organised a night on October 7th with ASC member Nicholas J Johnson. Nicholas is someone who combines science communication with magic, literally. His show, Deceptology, was part of the Melbourne Magic Festival earlier this year and he uses magic as a way to explore the psychology of magic shows and how magicians often use our underlying biases and limitations to fool ourselves into believing what we see. He gave several demonstrations of the sorts of tricks he uses in his show, how sleight-of-hands can easily be done on stage and what he talks to the public and school students around critical thinking and skepticism. Nicholas was very honest about his craft (although he says magicians always lie) and from a science communicators perspective it was an interesting exploration of how many ideas in scicom can be effectively explored. It also offered a fascinating dip into the wider world of the magician and how tricks both old and new are put into modern magic shows.

Oh, he also pushed a nail into his head.

Make sure you check out his website: http://www.conman.com.au