Monthly Archives: October 2022

Join the inaugural ASC Honours and Masters Research Symposium

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We would like to invite members and non-members to join us for the inaugural Masters and Honours Research Symposium on 16 November, featuring students researching science communication presenting their work.

The Symposium

This online symposium will see students present their research to the SciComm community, with the opportunity for moderated questions and discussion afterwards.

Check out our program below and register now to secure your spot in the audience.

A careers networking event

The symposium will conclude with a networking event where attendees will hear from people who might answer the ‘What’s next?’ question that poses many students as they finish their degree. Featuring four professionals across a range of careers, this event will offer practical advice and tips for progressing your career.

This will be relevant for students starting their professional career in SciComm, as well as those who are early in their career and potentially considering a future role change. Get to know our panellists in the section below.

Register for one or both sessions on Zoom

About the Honours and Masters Research Symposium

There are not many opportunities for students completing science communication research to present, and even less if you’re not a PhD student. Over the coming years, we are going to change this with symposia like this one, so as to support the community by providing an opportunity for these students to present to peers in both Australia and Aotearoa, New Zealand. It is our view that while a student gains valuable skills in the process of conducting a research project, it is the whole SciComm community who benefits most by having access to up-to-date data to inform our practice. We encourage more individuals to engage with SciComm research.

We intend to make this an annual event that encourages students to develop confidence in presenting and provides the community with a yearly snapshot of current research in ANZ. We will record all presentations and upload them to the ASC YouTube page with the intention that students are able to use these videos as examples of their presentation ability, something we’ve noticed has become more and more valuable to have.

Please encourage and inform your networks and any interested individuals to engage with this free event.

Program

4:00pm AEDT Symposium begins
4:15pm AEDT Ventures in the vocabulary of viral variation
Lucy Campbell (Bachelor of Science (Honours), Australian National University)

This presentation will explore how SARS-CoV-2 variants were named and framed in news media communication, in the time surrounding the introduction of the Greek letter variant labeling system.
4:50pm AEDT Identifying obstacles to remove them: Including people living with a disability
Tam Pinkerton (Bachelor of Science, Honours in Science Communication, University of Western Australia)

We know that multiple barriers exist that frustrate people living with a disability who are participating in citizen science. Identifying these obstacles is important for designing inclusive projects that have better outcomes.

5:25pm AEDT ‘It’s Kind of Alienating’; Queer relationships with science
Clare Boon (Masters of Science Communication, University of Western Australia)

Science communication has a diversity problem. Despite doing its best to address this, there is one group they have failed to include; the queer community. This research looks at the lived experience of queer people at university and how their experiences with science has led them to their area of study. It aims to unpack the ways science feels unwelcoming to queer individuals.

6:00pm AEDT Career Night begins
MC’d by Jenni Metcalfe, we will hear a short snippet from of the individuals, detailing their career story:
– Dr Cobi Calyx, postdoctoral fellow
– Mike McRae, freelance science writer
– Tanaya Joshi, impact and communications
– Duncan McIntyre, energy and policy
6:30pm AEDT Open Q&A
6:50pm AEDT Opportunity for more personal interactions via breakout rooms
7:30pm AEDT Event ends

About our Career Night panellists

Jenni Metcalfe, our MC for the night, is a science communicator who loves to: find, tell and share people’s stories; help scientists use the right communication strategies to truly engage people; and train and mentor scientists and others involved in science to communicate. She is passionate about facilitating positive changes to people’s lives and the environment they live in. She has been working as a science communicator since she joined CSIRO in 1989. From late 1995 Jenni has been operating the science communication consultancy, Econnect Communication. Jenni is a foundation member of Australian Science Communicators and was President 2006-2007, when she co-chaired the World Conference of Science Journalists in Melbourne. Jenni’s vision is to ‘bring science to life’.

Dr Cobi Calyx joined the Centre for Social Impact at UNSW as a Postdoctoral Fellow in 2019, after graduating from her ANU PhD in science communication and deliberative democracy in 2018. She has earlier qualifications in health promotion, international studies and journalism, as well as experience with Australian Aid-funded projects in Asia and the Pacific. During her PhD she was a Visiting Scholar at Melbourne Law School and taught in Masters courses in the University of Melbourne on interdisciplinarity, environment and global governance. Dr Calyx has more than a decade of experience working at the intersection of environmental governance, science communication, health promotion and disaster response. She has been employed in governance organizations ranging from the UN in Geneva to state environment and disaster response agencies.

Mike McRae has been writing science for over a decade, working with CSIRO, the ABC, and the Australian Museum to educate, inform, and entertain. His interest in the social side of science features in his books Tribal Science: Brains, Beliefs, and Bad ideas, and Unwell: What makes a disease a disease?

Tanaya Joshi is the Impact and Communications Officer at Earthwatch Australia, an international research charity which focuses on using citizen science to empower people for climate action. Holding a Bachelor of Science (Hons.) and Masters of Environment and Sustainability, she is passionate about creating positive impact through the effective communication of science. Tanaya has worked as a media manager with national science festival Pint of Science, a science communicator for boutique agencies, and is a freelance science and culture writer at SAARI, a South Asian publication creating diverse media.

Duncan McIntyre heads the Energy Division at the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW). He is responsible for the oversight and development of Australian Government energy and energy efficiency programs and policies, and the advancement of Australia’s energy interests through international engagement. Duncan has held senior leadership positions in the Australian Government for more than twenty years, in agencies including: Industry, Science, Energy and Resources; Prime Minister and Cabinet; Communications; and Finance. He has tertiary qualifications in science, communications, and public administration and is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD). Duncan has a long association with science communication and Questacon, as an Explainer at Questacon from 1987, in the Questacon Science Circus in 1996, and acting as Deputy Secretary responsible for Questacon in 2021. He has a passion for science, communication, and balls of flaming cornflour.

ASC Co-Presidents’ Message, Jirana Boontanjai and Tom Carruthers

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The months really do seem to rush faster and faster as we approach the end of the year! We’re working hard on the February 2023 conference, but it’s a lot of load on the tiny conference team whose personal/professional lives are very busy. If you can spare some time and help us out, please get in touch. We aim to have more communication about the conference coming out this month, stay tuned.

Also, we’d like to share that the 2022 AGM will be held on November 16. We strongly encourage any members who are interested in assisting ASC in establishing the new strategic plan to join the committee, no prior experience is necessary. All we ask is for passion and some time to support the ASC into its new era. All financial members are requested to RSVP for the AGM, and for those who can’t attend, please submit a proxy using the same form.

We’re also keen to share that through the strategic review, we’ve identified a gap in opportunities for honours and masters students completing research projects in science communication. In response, we’ve initiated an annual symposium in November for these students to present their research to the wider ASC community. We’re currently looking for submissions, and once a date is confirmed, we will advertise the event for attendees and encourage the entire SciComm community to come along and support these students. Keep an eye on SCOPE, the ASC-List and social media for updates and progress on all of the above.

J&T

2022 Annual General Meeting

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The Australian Science Communicators Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held virtually on Zoom on Wednesday 16 November 2022 at 12:00PM AEDT | 11:30AM ACDT | 11:00AM AEST | 10:30AM ACST | 9:00AM AWST.

View the agenda, President’s report and Treasurer’s report here

Please fill in this form (bit.ly/ASC-AGM22) to:

  • register to attend the AGM or appoint a proxy to attend in your place;
  • submit an agenda item to be discussed at the AGM; and
  • self-nominate to be an Executive Committee member.

Our AGM is a key event in our annual calendar where we meet with our membership to report on our progress in the last financial year. This is also an opportunity for our membership to voice their concerns or suggestions and become more involved by participating in the election for positions in the ASC Executive Committee.

If you are not able to attend the AGM, consider appointing a proxy to vote on your behalf. The AGM agenda will be sent out a week prior to the event. 

We are proud to announce that our special speaker for the event will be Prof. David Karoly FAA, climate scientist and current member of the Climate Council.

David is an honorary professor in the School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and an honorary senior research fellow in Melbourne Climate Futures, having retired from CSIRO at the end of January 2022. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science. Currently a Councillor on the Climate Council, Australia, he is an internationally recognised expert on climate change and variability and a frequent media commentator on these issues. 

At the AGM, Professor Karoly will share his experience communicating climate science to inform Australian policy.

Please contact secretary@asc.asn.au if you have any questions.

We hope to see you there!

The strategic review: where we’re up to

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If you’ve kept up with our SCOPE newsletters and other communications activity over the past 9 months, you’d know that the ASC Executive have been running a structured discovery-led strategic review process. This has been the primary purpose of our work in 2022, and we’ve made some significant progress.

We wanted to share an update of where we are up to with this piece of work, what’s next, and a short outline of where we hope to be in the coming months.

Discovery

Initially envisioned as a series of working groups, this shifted into a series of facilitated open and closed roundtables with members and friends of the ASC. Through this process we’ve been addressing questions on what the core value of the ASC is to members, what kind of role we should play in the sector more broadly, and how to better support local activity.

We further supplemented these sessions with a suite of interviews of key stakeholders, some directed surveys, and desktop-research into our archives to understand past efforts.

While we feel we have a reasonably good grasp of the member sentiment currently, we recognise that not everyone was able to attend the roundtables or a personal interview. It is still fundamentally important to this process that we capture as many views on what the ASC could and should be into the future.

To that end, the team have put together a survey to ensure that there’s the opportunity to capture your thoughts. The survey touches on the general themes covered by the roundtables, along with some additional concepts prompted by our archive investigations.

We are keen for as many members and stakeholders of the ASC to fill in the form. Note that if you’ve already attended the roundtables, we’ve included the ability to skip over parts where you’ve already had your say.

Click here to go to the form.

The form is not limited to ASC members, so please share it with any who you think have an interest in the ASC.

The form will close on 1 November 2022, so get your responses in by then.

Development

Through October to December, the Executive team will be digesting all of the insights gained via discovery, and formulating our point of view on the future direction of the organisation. Building on that, we expect we will have a drafted guiding strategy document, with recommendations for a suite of constitution changes by the end of the year.

We’re also hoping to document a suite of overviews on the various discovery phase outcomes. By creating this archive, we hope that this will help simplify the role for future executive committees in their strategy development.

It is worth noting that the AGM will be held in November, and with that we are expecting some minor changes in the executive team. As such, we expect the the strategic development phase will be handed over November/December, informed by the outgoing members where appropriate. Of course, we thank all the energy that former executive members have put into the organisation.

Implementation

We hope to call a Special General Meeting in February/March 2023 to formally adopt the forward-looking strategy and the first round of any required changes to the constitution. As per constitution rules, we will be giving a formal notice to the membership prior to the changes being adopted.

After the Special General Meeting, the strategy will be considered either approved, provisionally approved (with some exceptions or amendments required), or rejected.

Changes to the Constitution will be considered approved or rejected.

Pending the outcome of these votes, the implementation phase will commence supported by the National Council.

Review

Critical to any strategy is a structured review process to ensure that it remains fit for purpose. Minor annual revisions will be scheduled as part of the AGM process, with a formal revision to be published every 5 years. The Constitution will be reviewed as required.

And that’s it

Both of us want to thank the whole membership for your valuable support through this year so far. It has been a journey and will continue to be into next year, and we thoroughly appreciate all the energy and time members have invested in this process.

If you’ve any questions or want to further engage in this process, please do not hesitate to reach out to us at presidents@asc.asn.au

Jirana & Tom