Interesting article in terms of using social media to reach a demographic and how to reach that elusive age group.
http://uk.ibtimes.com/articles/258803/20111130/facebook-apps-bring-millions-new-young-readers.htm
VICTORIA
The Victorian Committee of the ASC promotes and supports science communication by organising professional development and networking events for local ASC members. We invite knowledgeable and relevant professionals to speak on current issues relating to science communication.
Previous Events
The Brain That Repairs Itself?
Tuesday September 13 2011
Dr Clare Parish and Dr Lachlan Thompson, from the Florey Neuroscience Institutes, gave a special talk to ASC members about the latest treatments for neurological conditions including stroke, motor neuron disease, Huntington’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. Stem cell therapy offers a contemporary way forward for people seeking treatment for these neurological conditions. Clare and Lachlan are trying to stop brain degeneration by placing genetic material directly into a cell, delivering signals to tell the cell to stay alive.
Novel sci-comm activities targeting adults
Tuesday 2 August 2011
The Victorian re-science team ( www.re-science.org.au ) has been piloting novel events in unusual venues and everyday environments which target adult audiences. Whether it is scientists presenting at the local fruit ‘n’ veg market or a drama & science performance at Melbourne Anglican Cathedral these ideas are novel experiments in science communication.
Communicating science in a crisis
Tuesday 5 July 2011
Ed Sykes from the Australian Science Media Centre and Dr Mark Quigley, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch to discussed how scientists, science communicators and the media dealt with this year’s natural disasters. What are the lessons for future reporting?
Science Centric 2010
Bring along your colleagues and friends for a social evening, a chance to meet Melbourne’s leading science communicators and to find out about ASC future activities and plans.
What do the public really think?
How easy is it to conduct a survey? What can surveys reveal? And how can we use them to better direct our communication efforts. A discussion on public surveys, polls and focus groups with speakers from the academic, private and government sectors.
Bushfire Science: communicating in an emotionally charged environment
Using the Black Saturday bushfires as a case study, panellists discussed the role of scientists, science communicators and the media in communicating science in an emotionally charged environment.
Brochures, banners and budgets. Oh my!
A designer, a publisher and a typographer provided insights about design matters and the sometimes complex journey in producing printed resources such as public brochures, banners and annual reports.
Web 2.0: A practical info session for science communicators
A fascinating discussion on the world of Web 2.0 with experts and academics speaking about the possibilities for science communicators.
Science Centric 2009
A “meet up” for science communicators and their mates held at the Three Degrees Bar and Brewery in central Melbourne.
Movember – Science communication and men’s health
Health communicators, scientists and staff from ‘Movember’ led a panel discussion on how we might better communicate the science of men’s health issues.
ASC Victorian Committee (2010–2011)
President: Ian Muchamore vic_president@asc.asn.au
Vice President: Laura Miles
Treasurer: Jason Major
State Representative to National ASC Council: Maia Sauren
Committee Members: Niall Byrne, James Hutson, Adrienne Jones, Vivienne Lee, L.E. Ohman
Updated September 2011
The Florey Neuroscience Institutes presents the 15 Kenneth Myer Lecture Brain Power” by Prof David Attwell
Have you ever wondered how our brains have evolved over the years? Or why it is still not possible to do a brain transplant?
This year’s lecture will feature leading British neuroscientist Professor David Attwell, an inspiring speaker and world expert in brain signals, who will be talking about how electrical signals are used to think, how these signals are used to represent information in the brain, and how they can fail in brain disease.
This free public lecture is in memory of Kenneth B Myer, one of the founding benefactors of the Howard Florey Institute.
Since 1992, the Florey has invited many internationally distinguished scientists to speak to the Melbourne community
Date: Tuesday 4th October 2011
Time: 6pm
Venue: The Plenary
Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre
1 Convention Centre Place, South Wharf
Melbourne 3006
Places are limited. Please call Jade on 03 9035 8629 or email jade.sarna@florey.edu.au to reserve your seat/s.
Alternatively you can register to attend online at www.florey.edu.au
For more information on transport and parking please visit www.mcec.com.au
The media scene has changed, and so has the role of the media release. But what is the new role, and how can science make the best use of them?
ASC QLD’s first writing workshop for 2011 will teach you how to:
This will be a practical workshop and participants should bring laptops, and draft or past media releases to work on. Comprehensive notes will be provided to students.
What:
ASC Writing Workshop
When:
Tuesday 27th September, 2011 6pm-9pm
Where:
The Queens Arms Hotel, 64 James Street, New Farm.
Presenters:
Jenni Metcalfe and Toss Gascoigne, who have been training scientists and others for more than 18 years in communication skills
Entry:
$99 for ASC members; $165 for non-ASC members. This includes food and supper.
Participants:
Maximum 15
RSVP:
Please RSVP robbie[at]econnect.com.au ASAP to secure your spot
When: Tuesday 2 August, 6.30pm – 8.30pm
Place: Ian Potter Room, Graduate House, University of Melbourne, 220 Leicester Street, Carlton VIC 3053
Free for ASC Members, $10 non-members.
The Victorian re-science team ( www.re-science.org.au ) has been piloting novel events in unusual venues and everyday environments which target adult audiences. Whether it is scientists presenting at the local fruit ‘n’ veg market or a drama & science performance at Melbourne Anglican Cathedral these ideas are novel experiments in science communication.
This ASC Victoria event will be an opportunity to hear some of the recent lessons learnt by the re-science team. We expect the session will provoke and support discussion of how to better build and sustain sci-comm activities for Victorian adults.
**Please RSVP to vic_president at asc.asn.au so we can
plan catering appropriately. **
Food provided (please include any dietary requirements in your RSVP).
Bar available (very reasonable pricing).
Car parking available on Leicester Street (free after 6.30pm).
Look forward to seeing you there. Several further ASC Vic events on the way.
Ian Muchamore
ASC Victoria President
I recently visited the media140 conference in Brisbane a number of weeks ago. There I met Elena McMaster, the Nanotechnology Project Campaigner for Friends of the Earth Australia. As a science communicator for an NGO, I thought she might have an interesting perspective on science communication. We had been emailing, but finally had a chat at the FOE shop on Smith Street, Collingwood.
I asked: Do you think there are different challenges in communicating science from an NGO perspective?
“There are some unique but important challenges in communicating science from within an environmental and social justice campaign.
I guess the key challenge for us is that we are presenting a critical perspective on a technology (i.e. nanotechnology) that is the subject of a lot of hype. The hype is driven by governments, industry and scientists and researchers and is often not subjected to rigorous scrutiny or a healthy dose of scepticism (e.g. the claim that nanotechnology will deliver space elevators)
We are also presenting a perspective different from mainstream communication, in that we seek to make health, social, ethical and environmental dimensions central to the debate and decision-making around technologies rather than peripheral (or missing entirely).
Many nano-applications and materials carry the potential for significant environmental, social and health impacts, yet regulation is largely nonexistent. Meanwhile hundreds of products containing nanomaterials are already commercially available. Nanomaterials such as nano-silver, for example, are widely used in hundreds of consumer products (ranging from socks to baby toothbrushes to washing machines) unregulated despite evidence of serious environmental problems. Other nanomaterials, also used widely commercially, such as nano titanium dioxide and nano zinc oxide in sunscreens and UV resistant surface coatings display the potential to cause serious harm to human health. A key challenge is moving the debate around nano safety beyond the narrow risk vs. benefits framing to a broader understanding of the precautionary principle.
As with any technological shift there are also social and ethical dimensions that need consideration. For example, nanotechnology is often promoted as ushering in an entirely new manufacturing paradigm, dislocating economic growth from resource constraints and revolutionising traditional manufacturing methods. This could have far-reaching effects for people employed in the global South in traditional manufacturing industries and in the extraction of some raw resources. Historically, with large technology shifts, the need for unskilled labour contracts while some jobs are created in knowledge-intensive skilled industries. This means that less privileged unskilled workers are often disproportionately affected.
It’s important that science R & D and technological innovation is not regarded as happening, somehow, outside of social conditions.
The Friends of the Earth Nanotechnology Project is also a passionate advocate for public interest science and increased public funding for researchers. The increasing pressure on researchers to tailor their research towards developing innovations with market potential, due to dwindling public funding and the rise in public-private research partnerships, means that ‘public science’ is being squeezed by the commercial imperative. It is absolutely essential that scientists are able to conduct their research free from commercial pressures and use public money for R&D that reflects community desires rather than the market potential.
Communicating these ideas and bringing social and environmental questions to the centre of science and technology debates are some of the key challenges we face.”
Thanks to Elena for her time. Check out her work at FOE.
George Aranda
ASC (Vic) branch
George also blogs as Popsciguy – www.popsciguy.com.au
It’s that time of year again. Hot cross buns are turning up in offices all over Victoria, the sound of foil crinkling back, revealing the sweet perfume of chocolate (the quality of which will vary) shaped into cute small furry animals. Then it’s a HOLIDAY where you get to see those things you love so much that you don’t often see. Things like…the bed…the couch…and then maybe family.
But even more importantly, the MEDIA 140 Frontiers conference is on, on the 27th of April in Brisbane. [insert rapturous applause]
Teaching science communication and doing some research into the effects of social media on science communication, I am going to be flitting around the conference like a humming bird, trying to find out what I can from people in the know.
But that leads me to ask you all a question:
What types of social media do you use when communicating science?
Facebook? Twitter? Youtube? Flickr? Linkedin? TweetLater? Digg?
Let me know. And I hope to see you in Brisbane. I will be the guy with a poppy in his left lapel (wink wink). Otherwise, enjoy those Easter eggs in bed!
George also blogs as PopSciGuy
Yesterday in Melbourne and Sydney, rallies were held to protest against the possible $400m (20%) reduction in the National Health and Medical Research budget. Thousands gathered outside Parliament house in Melbourne, scientists, students and professors stood alongside those who were the recipients of the medical research scientists had conducted.
From a student at the rally:
I am a student at La Trobe University studying double science. The budget cuts in medical research threaten my future job posibilities and those of my friends and colleagues…Australian medical research provides treatments and cures for millions of people around the world and govement funded research often funds research that big pharma companies would not fund as it does not have a high return, such as treatments and cures for third world diseases like malaria.
And from a neuroscience researcher at the rally:
I am an early career researcher whose salary is funded by the NHMRC. I will be conducting brain imaging research to investigate the neurobiological basis of psychosis and schizophrenia.
The changes will have a direct impact on the funding available to conduct medical research. This will have a direct effect on the ability for me to obtain competitive research grants (which are already very competitive with a success rate of about 15-20%) and ultimately to conduct research.
>What was the atmosphere like?
It was a static rally involving some speakers talking about the importance of medical research, a lot of chanting (no cuts to research! etc etc), a lot of cheering and clapping. Many people came down in their white lab coats which was great to see. There were a lot of people holding banners with various slogans (I didn’t have one unfortunately). There were students to Professors there, so it wasn’t just a ‘young’ rally. The atmosphere was alive, you could tell people there felt very passionate about the proposed cuts, not only because of their jobs being at stake but because people are passionate about their area of research and ultimately want to understand and provide better treatments for patients.
A rally is going to be held in Perth. So get out their and communicate about these expected budget changes!
George also blogs as PopSciGuy
Outside of events organised by and for ASC members, it seems that professional development opportunities specifically targeted at active science communicators are an emerging area. I was lucky enough attend the National Science Communication Officer’s Forum in Melbourne last month, as the recipient of an ASC-supported free pass.
The focus of this two-day forum presented by Liquid Learning was to provide attendees with the opportunity to share tools and approaches for the development of communication strategies within the workplace and greater community. The majority of invited speakers held senior communications roles, predominantly in public institutions, and the focus of the talks was on themed case studies. The lengthy presentation format (45 mins for talks, 15 mins for questions) leant itself towards meatier detail. The forum also provided an excellent opportunity for scicomm officers to network on a national level, where the majority of attendees appear to face similar problems in their roles and workplaces. Networking was a strong focus of the conference setup, with a generous amount of time provided.
It was interesting to note that several talks, as well as the roundtable discussion on the final day, brought up issues that the majority of science communicators are grappling with on a day to day basis – noting that there is little data on the effectiveness of scientific communication and that the need for meaningful evaluation of scicomm outcomes is a driver for the discipline as we understand it.
This forum provided an excellent opportunity for attendees to engage with peers as well as to hear a little about the practice of science communication research and the implications it may hold for the field in the future. It would be interesting to see if future Forums alter their format slightly and focus more strongly on specific examples of the effectiveness or otherwise of new campaigns or novel strategies outside of the currently understood mainstream comms approaches. I would strongly recommend this Forum to early career science communicators working in public institutions, although others may also find it valuable.
More info about this conference can be found at:
http://www.liquidlearning.com.au/documents/SCO1110/SCO1110_I.pdf
or I’d be happy to field any questions (as a random attendee!) – gillaan [at] gmail dot com
ASC is supporting Liquid Learning’s National Science Communication Officers’ Forum to be held 29th & 30th November 2010 at Marriott Hotel, Melbourne.
This is a well structured professional development event with networking opportunities and has an impressive range of speakers including several ASC members. Dr. Rob Morrison, ASC vice-president is delivering a half-day work-shop on the 1st of December 2010.
Liquid Learning offers a 10% discount off standard registration fee to all current ASC members.
Also there is one free delegate pass to the event for a current ASC member. To apply for the free pass write in 25 words or less why you want to attend the event and email it with your full contact details to Kali Madden at office@asc.asn.au by 21 October. The ASC Executive will make the selection and I will inform the winner promptly.
For full information and registration information see http://liquidlearning.com.au/llg08/November/
Cheers, Jesse
Jesse Shore
President, Australian Science Communicators, 2010