Monthly Archives: January 2018

President’s Update

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There is no One Public!

With thanks to Dr Craig Cormick, President, Australian Science Communicators

I think we all know there are two different types of people in the world (those who think you can divide the world into two different types of people, and those who don’t!). But understanding different types of similar people is a very useful tool for science communication.

Segmenting your audience is one of many marketing tools that have found their way into the communications world. The concept is simple enough: there are those who prefer Diet Coke over Classic Coke, or Coke Zero, or Pepsi, or those who wouldn’t drink either if they were dying of thirst. Marketing teaches you the very important lesson that there is no one public – rather lots of publics.

And replace the word Coke, for Astronomy, Physics, Biology etc and you’ll be reminded that no one size ever fits all.

You can segment your audience in many different ways: by the types of mediums they use to obtain information, by their levels of education, or indeed if they are even interested in science at all. Or you can segment your audience by how people think.

According to Jungian psychology there are 16 different personality types. You may have done a Myers-Briggs personality indicator test at some time, which is based on Jungian personality types.

A CSIRO segmentation study based on attitudes to climate change found five different segments:

Segment 1: The Sceptics (8%)

Segment 2: The Abdicators (16%)

Segment 3: The Undecided (31%)

Segment 4: The Eco-Friendly (30%)

Segment 5: The Eco-Warriors (14%)

Another segmentation study by the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, found six segments by attitudes to science:

Segment 1: Mr and Mrs Average (23%),

Segment 2: Fan Boys and Fan Girls (23%)

Segment 3: I Wish I Could Understand This (8%)

Segment 4: Too Many Other Issues of Concern (23%)

Segment 5: Not Interested, Not Trusting (14%)

Segment 6: I Know All I Need To Know (2%)

For a science communicator it is useful to know the behaviours and ways of thinking of each segment. Segment 1, for instance, are your average audience who use the most common communication mediums.

Segment 2 are so keen and interested they will find you and whatever you put out there.

Segment 3 are often considered the low-hanging fruit, and are the main audience and reach to grow your audience size by explaining the science behind something more simply.

Segments 4 to 6 however can be a lot harder to reach.

Segment 4, for instance, is just too busy with all their other issues in life to pay much into science issues, be that work or kids or debt or taking dogs to the vet etc.

Segment 5 isn’t much interested in science and don’t particularly trust it.

And segment 6 feel that they know all they need to know already – often from alternative non-scientific sources.

You may need to come up with a different segmentation model for the audiences you need to reach, based on factors more relevant to you, for as we don’t all preference the same types of Coke, we don’t all preference the same information formations, content or media channels.

So there really are two different types of people out there – those who know the benefit of segmenting their audiences, and those who don’t.

A brief note from now ex-SCOPE Editor, Jessica Scholle

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Time has gone by so quickly.

When I started my role as a Scope co-Editor, preparing the ASC member newsletter bi-monthly with Tara Roberson, I was a young professional in science communication freshly graduated from University.

After completing a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry in the cute French town of Dijon, I decided to combine my passion for science with my love of sharing knowledge and embarked on a Masters of Science Communication. Little did I know that this career choice would send me on a trip to Australia and change my life forever.

What brought me to Perth was a six-month internship at the Western Australian Museum, where I picked up some useful science communication skills, learned to identify many Western Australian animals, discovered the existence of ALF and ate my very first lamington. After that, the plan was to travel for a month or two around Australia and, then, go home and find a job. At least that was the plan: I had a goal and (I thought) I knew how to get there. What I didn’t plan, though, is that I would fall in love and decide to start a new life here in Perth, 15,000 kilometres away from home.

I still had the burning ambition to become a science ambassador and being in a foreign country might add a challenge but wouldn’t stop me. I started to volunteer in several organisations and learned about forensic science and environmental chemistry at ChemCentre, cancer and heart disease at the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research and the terrific work being done by young astrophysicists at CAASTRO. But what was most incredible was to witness passionate and talented people make STEM more accessible to the public and raise awareness and interest for scientific issues. It truly was inspiring.

I have been a Scope co-Editor for 2.5 years and, since I started this voluntary role, my career has evolved. For the past year, I’ve had the grand title of Statewide Science Coordinator at Scitech, which is just as awesome as it sounds: I get to travel around the State to present science shows and workshops to primary school children. We learn about the physics behind toys, what happens when we mix a bunch of ingredients together and even what the night sky will look like tonight in our portable planetarium. Most importantly, we ask questions – a lot of questions! Because our goal is to foster the students’ curiosity and spark their interest in learning more about STEM.

Spreading some science love around the Pilbara: 3-week tour in Port Hedland, Newman and Tom Price

When you are a Science Communicator and work with schools, there is nothing more rewarding than children’s drawings

Scitech, ICRAR and Aspire-UWA join forces to bring Astrofest to Kalgoorlie! Here, we are setting up telescopes that allow us to safely observe the Sun

When I am not presenting, you will find me in the office developing new educational programs for schools and the general public (I should rather say: various segmented audiences…). All of this, unfortunately, doesn’t leave a lot of room for voluntary work, which is why I recently decided to hang up my Scope hat and resigned from editing the ASC newsletter.

I’ve had an absolute blast over the past 2.5 years. Editing the ASC newsletter was an invaluable experience, which allowed me to build skills and a network in the science communication community in Australia. 

It is time to say goodbye, but before I leave I would like to say a big thank you to the Australian Science Communicators for giving me this opportunity and helping me grow as a Science Communicator. Thank you to ASC Executive Kali Madden and co-Ed Tara Roberson in particular for their e-presence and unstoppable support.

And of course, welcome to our two new co-Editors!

ASC Grant write-up: the MD Writing and Editing Coaching Program

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By Sarah Bradley, 2016 grant recipient

I would like to thank Australian Science Communicators offering me the MD Writing and Editing grant to aid my academic writing.

At the end of 2016 I graduated from the Australian National University with a Masters in Science Communication Outreach. This should have been the end of my academic career, but I didn’t feel ready to head into the workforce. Throughout my academic career I have completed short pieces of writing, but had never undertaken a long project. I decided to embark on a second Masters and improve my writing.

I started my thesis at the beginning of 2017. The idea was inspired by the popular Facebook page Humans of New York. Humans of New York takes the stories of everyday people and communicates these to people all over the world. I was interested to see if the personal stories of scientists and how they became interested in science, could be used to inspire people who didn’t previously have an interest in science.

Although I had an idea, I was not confident in my writing ability. When the Australian Science Communicators offered several grants, I decided to apply and was awarded with the MD Writing and Editing grant.

My longest project previously had been 2000 words chemistry laboratory report. I had never before written a literature review or designed a research project from start to finish. Understandably, I was nervous about embarking on a research project of this magnitude.

The MD Writing and Editing course was excellent. Malini was very supportive and full of knowledge. If I had a question about the structure or appropriate language, she was more than happy to help. Her planning method really made me revaluate my approach to each new writing task, making me more critical of my writing and evaluating each word before I put words on paper.

I would like to thank MD Writing and Editing course for improving my writing ability and for the Australian Science Communicators for providing the opportunity to improve my writing.

Resolved to boost your #scicomm skills in 2018?

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Then this event could be for you! Top #scicomm speakers & workshop facilitators are starting to come online for a New Year treat at Darling Harbour in Sydney.

The first ASC National Professional Development Day (let’s just call it the #ASCPDDAY) is being hosted by ASC Corporate Member, the Australian National Maritime Museum (ANMM). More info coming in daily and early bird tickets available now. Keep up to date by joining the event on Facebook here and the event website here.