Tag Archives: science communication

Apply for new position: General Manager of the Australian Science Communicators

Posted on by
Reply

 CALL FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

You are invited to express your interest in appointment to the newly-created part-time position of General Manager of the Australian Science Communicators (ASC).

Location: anywhere in Australia with broadband internet access. Committee meetings held via Skype.

The ASC is a professional body representing and supporting some 500 science communicators working in a wide range of roles. The ASC organises a variety of social and professional development events to allow its members to both mingle and learn, maintains a website, email lists for posting and a monthly electronic newsletter and stages National Conferences. The ASC enjoys a high profile in the science communication community and a strong relationship with relevant programs of the Commonwealth Government.

The General Manager will be responsible for the external relations of the ASC, including management of externally funded projects (such as those linked to the Inspiring Australia initiative), liaison with Government and with organisations that share its objectives, and delivery of National Conferences. The General Manager will report directly to the President of the ASC, and will work in parallel with the already-appointed Executive Officer who is responsible for internal administration and member value.

The appointment will be for six (6) months in the first instance but can be renewed subject to satisfactory performance. Remuneration will be calculated on the basis of one day’s work per week as a stipend but there will be opportunities for additional remuneration based on performance in certain areas.

Skills and Experience

Essential

·        Substantial experience in science communication, including awareness of the nature and activities of the Australian science communication community.

·        Verbal and written communication skills of a high order

·        Demonstrated success in the initiation, marketing and delivery of projects and collaborations

·        Strong administrative, relationship management and negotiation skills.

Desirable

·        Experience in interaction with Government agencies.

·        Experience in the staging of conferences.

Accountabilities

·        Manage a range of externally-directed projects intended to raise the profile and impact of the ASC in the science communication and wider communities.

·        Secure of additional revenue for the ASC through sponsorship or by the initiation of new externally-funded projects.

·        Build and sustain relationships with other relevant organisations, including Government.

·        Lead the staging of National Conferences.

·        Report regularly or as required to the President and the National Executive on progress and initiatives.

·        Attend meetings of the National Council and National Executive.

·        Work cooperatively with the Executive Officer.

Stipend

Over the six month contract the remuneration will be $300 per week.

This is equivalent to:

Gross annual base salary:

$14,279

Superannuation (9.25%):

$1,321

Total:

$15,600

Process

Applications for appointment to this position, addressing all criteria and accompanied by a CV and references, must be received by the Executive Officer, Kali Madden, office@asc.asn.au, by 28 June 2013. The employment contract which contains the complete list of duties, details of remuneration and performance bonus is available on request from Kali. It is anticipated that the appointment will commence in late July 2013.

Enquiries contact

Will Grant, ASC Vice President, will.grant@anu.edu.au, may be contacted to discuss the position. Email enquiries are preferred for an initial enquiry.

Profile – Anna-Maria Arabia, Questacon

Posted on by
Reply

Interview with Anna-Maria Arabia, General Manager, Strategy and Partnerships, Questacon
Words: Sally Miles

Anna-Maria Arabia has recently taken on the role of General Manager, Strategy and Partnerships, at Questacon. She has hit the ground running and is using her passion for science education to build on Questacon’s world class science engagement activities.

While Questacon’s science centre is aimed mainly at primary and early secondary students, the approach to make science fun and interesting appeals to all ages. In fact, staff pay close attention to ensuring each exhibit can be enjoyed by all. The exhibits are produced and delivered by a team of very talented, creative people who are responsive to feedback from everyone who interacts with the exhibits.

But Questacon is a lot more than one great science centre.  From national initiatives as part of the Inspiring Australia strategy, to on-tour programs and exhibitions, the organisation does its fair share of community outreach.

This even extends to international partnerships with science centres around the world. Questacon engages with many countries by sharing ideas, developing skills and overall capacity building. This includes training their staff in science communication and even bringing exhibits across the seas.

Domestically, Questacon maintains relationships with both the public and private sectors.  Anna-Maria emphasises the benefits of strategies such as those of Inspiring Australia.

“Inspiring Australia is a bridge to many initiatives. It is a classic case of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts”. Inspiring Australia offers many things, including national leadership, partnership opportunities across the country, and a great array of activities to get involved in.

Anna-Maria recognises science centres as an important part of our overall science education. Informal out-of-school science learning at Questacon complements formal education that happens in the classroom.

“Science Centres play a critical role in engaging children in science education.” Anna-Maria says. Questacon, one of Canberra’s most popular tourist attractions, uses hands-on interactive exhibits and a philosophy of ‘science by doing’ to motivate and inspire many thousands of students every year.

Questacon is a great vehicle to switch people on to science. It will continue to play an important role in the future of science education, and Anna-Maria looks forward to contributing towards a future of greater science engagement and inspiration.

Thank you, Anna-Maria, for taking the time out of an already hectic schedule to talk about science communication. We look forward to hearing more about the fantastic initiatives at Questacon. 

From the President this month …

Posted on by
Reply

As 2013 starts to accelerate, I’m noticing that these are increasingly interesting times to be involved in the wide world of science communication. Doubly so if you’re a member of the ASC.

In 2012 the association was regularly invited to confer with other science and science communication related bodies, and if the first two months of 2013 are anything to go by, this is just going to continue. I take this as a sign of a growing ASC public profile, and also of an increasing awareness ‘out there’ of science communication more broadly. It also highlights to me that professionalising our organisation has never been more timely.

On that, we have confirmed and installed our two VPs now and have a clearer idea of their main portfolios (though the names of these may still need a tweak). Will Grant has agreed to take the lead on running the processes that will lead us down the professionalization road. I was tempted to call his portfolio VP (Black Ops), but something more like “Charter and membership” will probably better provide the necessary gravitas the process and position  warrants.

Claire Harris has confirmed she will take on the other VP position overseeing communication and marketing, a role for which she has a huge amount experience, drive and commitment. I’m delighted these two fine people agreed to step up: this will be great for us all!

Moving to my other ASC hobby-horse, one of my missions as president is to get the ASC more firmly entrenched in the public arena as an organisation. We have many high profile members, but the organisation itself is not yet the ‘go to’ place for sci comm related mattes that I suspect it could be.

To help realise this, I’d like to ask all of you to keep your eyes open for current or impending issues you think might be suitable grist for media releases and comment from the ASC. If you see anything, please send me a heads-up, a link, or a short polemic. Of course I can’t promise that the things people send through will automatically go out under the ASC moniker: some matters will be more suitable than others. But the more material and ideas you send, the more opportunities we will have to positively embed the ASC in minds of those beyond the science communication community.

Onward, upward and outward!

Rod

___________________________________________________

 

Dr Rod Lamberts

National President

Australian Science Communicators

http://www.asc.asn.au/

Inspiring Australia update: Grant round announced – Inspired to communicate science in Tasmania?

Posted on by
Reply

Inspired to communicate science in Tasmania? Here’s your chance to make it happen.

Was your New Years’ resolution for 2013 to make things happen? Here’s an opportunity to take those great ideas and turn them into reality.

If you have considered running an event, workshop, lecture, or film night (or any other fantastic type of event) which communicates science to the public, but just haven’t had the means to do it, then this announcement is for you.

Inspiring Australia together with the Tasmanian Government and the University of Tasmania has announced a grant round for Tasmania-based science engagement activities.

Here’s the notice from the Inspiring Australia Initiative here …

Events get a boost in Tasmanian Grant Round Announcement

As part of the Inspiring Australia national initiative, the Tasmanian government, in conjunction with University of Tasmania, has announced a grant round for Tasmania-based science engagement activities in 2013.

Grants of up to $2000 are available, and individuals, organisations and businesses are all invited to apply. Activities must be held in Tasmania during 2013.

Details available at http://whysci.org.au/iyi-grants-2013 or by contacting the inspiring Australia Officer for Tasmania, Sarah Bayne, at sarah.bayne@utas.edu.au.

Applications close 21 February 2013.

Please note: this grant round is administered by the Tasmanian Inspiring Australia Officer. All enquiries should be directed to Sarah Bayne at the address provided.

This Inspiring Australia initiative is supported by the Australian Government through the Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education in partnership with the Australian Science Communicators.

ASC branch events 2012

Posted on by
Reply

The ASC branches were again very active in 2012, holding 42 events across Australia. Members were able to attend all events for free or at substantial discounts.

The pdf (link below) has information about each of these events and provides a bank of ideas for those of you wanting to organise an event.

Jesse Shore
Past-president

ASC branch events 2012, for posting

Inspiring Australia Update: Redmap Australia launches 13 December 2012

Posted on by
Reply

Redmap started as a citizen fishers and divers science driven project in 2009 to map the distribution of fish species, and to track any changes, in the waters around Tasmania. Started by the University of Tasmania, the web-based project and has grown quickly. With support from Inspiring Australia and many new partners it has now has launched itself Australia-wide. The new states haven’t recorded sightings yet but you can explore the website for images of species being sought in each region.

I wonder how many ASC members are fishers and divers and whether they have comments about this or related projects.

The media release from the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) via Inspiring Australia follows:

IMAS Media Release: REDMAP AUSTRALIA LAUNCHES 13 DECEMBER

SEEN SOMETHING FISHY LATELY? LOG UNCOMMON FISH ON WWW.REDMAP.ORG.AU!

With today’s launch of the Redmap Australia website, and support from ‘Inspiring Australia’, the community is being asked to be on the lookout for unusual occurrences of species in the seas around Australia.

Redmap encourages fishers and divers to report sightings and upload photos of marine life that aren’t usually found at their local fishing, diving and swimming spots.  These community sightings will help reveal whether fish are ‘shifting their range’ in search of cooler waters, as seas become warmer with a changing climate.

The website, also known as the ‘Range Extension Database and Mapping’ project, started in Tasmania in 2009.  Already Tasmanian fishers and divers have logged hundreds of unusual sightings including eastern rock lobster, southern Maori wrasse and King George whiting, all spotted further south than their usual home turf.

Redmap Australia takes this concept national, with a large collaborative project led by the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) at the University of Tasmania.  Considering some 3-4 million Australians go fishing or diving at least once a year, Redmap will tap into the observations of potentially thousands of ‘citizen scientists’.

“Redmap is the ultimate in crowd sourcing,” said Redmap founder Dr Gretta Pecl, a senior marine scientist from the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) at the University of Tasmania. “It taps into the knowledge – and eyes – of thousands of fishers, divers and swimmers to track changes in fish distributions in Australia’s vast coastal waters.”

Redmap is interested in reports of any marine life deemed uncommon along your particular stretch of the coast; and not just fish but also turtles, rays, lobsters, corals, seaweeds, urchins and prawns.  Photos are reviewed by a network of marine scientists around the country to verify the species identity and ensure high-quality data. Redmap aims to become a continental-scale monitoring program along Australia’s vast coastline to help track marine range shifts; but also to engage Australians with marine issues using their own data.

“We hope to create a network of fishers and divers that are driven to finding out how fish are impacted by changing conditions, like ocean warming, by contributing to this knowledge,” said Dr Pecl.

The Redmap website encourages members to share photos and anecdotes.  It also has information and news on fishing, diving and the marine environment.  Everyone can comment on the latest sightings of critters spotted away from their usual marine postcode and a smart phone application will be up and running in 2013 to make logging an unusual fish that much easier.

Redmap supports the Australian Government’s Inspiring Australia strategy, which aims to boost science literacy and teach the value of science in caring for our environment.  For marine ecosystems, this encourages the healthy use of our seas so we may all continue to enjoy the marine environment and marine recreational activities.

Each Redmap sighting is a piece in a puzzle that over time will reveal to the community, scientists and industry which species or regions may be experiencing greater changes in marine distributions. And the sooner Australian fishers, divers and the public help gather this information, the better.  Some seas along the coast of Australia are warming at 3 to 4 times the global average.  Turning up the heat tends to stress marine ecosystems and species, and can impact fish growth, reproduction and behaviour.

Associate Professor Natalie Moltschaniwskyj is a marine ecologist in the School of Environmental & Life Sciences at the University of Newcastle and is the coordinator of Redmap NSW.

“We’re predicting a mixed reaction to warming seas,” Associate Professor Moltschaniwskyj said. “While some species may adapt to the balmy new conditions, others will shift into new areas in search of their preferred marine climate or may dissappear from an area.”

Already anecdotal evidence from fishers and divers have pointed to some range shifts.  Associate Professor Moltschaniwskyj said they’re hearing about more tropical fish venturing into Sydney like damsel fish and angelfish species. Her team will track some 60 species through the Redmap project including butterfly fish, painted crayfish and tropical wrasses.

“Gathering many sightings over time will show if these fish are here to stay, one-off visitors or just seasonal migrants,” she said.

Professor Colin Buxton, Director of the IMAS Fisheries, Aquaculture and Coasts Centre, said Redmap was a wonderful example of how the community and scientists can work together to understand how climate change is affecting our oceans and to help manage this uncertain future.

“This information will allow some communities to take advantage of new fish arrivals and will help others  minimise risks such as the introduction of pest species for those fisheries or regions that may be more impacted by species on the move,” Professor Buxton said.

All Australians can get involved by becoming a Redmap member, signing up for our quarterly newsletter, liking us on Facebook, and logging unusual marine animals at www.redmap.org.au.

Who is Redmap Australia?

Redmap is a large collaborative project led by the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) at the University of Tasmania, and involves the University of Newscastle, James Cook University, Primary Industries and Regions SA (PIRSA), Museum Victoria, Department of Fisheries Western Australia, the University of Adelaide and the South East Australia Program (SEAP).  The expansion of Redmap nationally was made possible with generous funding from an Australian Government Inspiring Australia grant, the Australian National Data Service (ANDS) and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) . Redmap also receives support from Mures Tasmania and many fishing, diving and community groups around the country.

If you have any further questions or require an interview, please contact:

Dr Gretta Pecl, Redmap Australia’s principal investigator, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) at the University of Tasmania on 0408 626 792 or email gretta.pecl@utas.edu.au

If you would like information about Redmap in your region, including an interview, please contact:

Redmap NSW
Associate Prof Natalie Moltschaniwskyj, marine biologist, School of Environmental & Life Sciences at the University of Newcastle, on 0417 509 463 or email: Natalie.Moltschaniwskyj@newcastle.edu.au

Redmap QLD
Martha Brians, Research Officer at tropWATER, School of Marine & Tropical Biology, James Cook University
on (07) 4781 5739 or 0447662570 or email: martha.brians@jcu.edu.au

Redmap SA
Keith Rowling, Senior Research Officer, PIRSA Fisheries and Aquaculture on 0437 675 573 or email: Keith.Rowling@sa.gov.au

Redmap TAS
Dr Gretta Pecl, Redmap Australia’s Principal Investigator, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) at the University of Tasmania on 0408 626 792 or email: gretta.pecl@utas.edu.au

Redmap VIC (not available until December 17)
Dianne Bray, Museum Victoria’s Fish Collection Manager on (03) 8341 7448 or email dbray@museum.vic.gov.au

Redmap WA
Dr Gary Jackson, Principal Research Scientist, WA Fisheries and Marine Research Laboratories on (08) 9203 0191 or email Gary.Jackson@fish.wa.gov.au

This update from Inspiring Australia is initiative is supported by the Australian Government through the Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education in partnership with the Australian Science Communicators.

 

Inspiring Australia update: Topical, tropical, science communication

Posted on by
Reply

Q. How do you develop a strategy to strengthen science communication across a large region of the country?

A. You engage science experts, develop partnerships and map out a range of recommendations to achieve tangible outcomes.

This is exactly what has been accomplished in the recently released Science Engagement and Tropical Australia: Building a Prosperous and Sustainable Future for the North report.

Tropical Northern Australia faces important challenges alongside incredible opportunities. A unique natural environment, diverse indigenous culture and rapid economic expansion all point to the need for effective science engagement. Topical issues such as climate change, health and community fragmentation need to be addressed.  This report is essential reading for scientists and science communicators, not only in the Tropics, but other parts of the Nation. We encourage you to read the report and contribute your comments.

Here’s the announcement of the report from Inspiring Australia:

Science Engagement and Tropical Australia Report

Inspiring Australia is pleased to announce the release of the Science Engagement and Tropical Australia: Building a Prosperous and Sustainable Future for the North report.

Commissioned by Inspiring Australia, led by the Cairns Institute and developed by experts from the science community in Tropical Australia, the report provides a strategy to strengthen science communications in the nation’s tropical regions. As such, the report is essential reading for those involved in the sciences within Australia’s tropics.

The report provides 20 Recommendations across seven themes:

  • Building science literacy for all tropical Australians
  • Shifting science engagement cultures at the project and publication level
  • Building durable and trusted regional science brokerage and partnership arrangements
  • Forging effective science engagement in the Indigenous domain
  • Building science partnerships at the industry/sectoral level to turbo-charge innovation
  • Ensuring science messages from the tropics engage southern Australia
  • Engaging tropical Australia in national science messages.

Science Engagement and Tropical Australia is the third expert working group report released by Inspiring Australia, following the Science and the Media and Developing an Evidence Base for Science Engagement reports. Over the coming months, Inspiring Australia will be releasing three further expert working group reports into Indigenous, Desert and Marine science communication.

For further information on the tropical expert working group and their report, please email Inspiring.Australia@innovation.gov.au.

This Inspiring Australia initiative is supported by the Australian Government through the Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education in partnership with the Australian Science Communicators.

Scientists to get “Savvy” with the Media

Posted on by
Reply

By Ian McDonald 

Want advice on how to interact with the media?

ScienceMediaSavvy.org is a website dedicated to training scientists on such issues. With scientific research relying heavily on both private and public funding, this website will be a major tool in increasing scientist’s awareness of how to interact positively with the media.

The Science Media Centre (SMC) launched the website at the CSIRO Discovery Centre on Thursday the 1st of November. The event, co-sponsored by Inspiring Australia, introduced the 1st module of the website designed to help scientists work with media. Robyn Williams, ABC Radio Science Broadcaster, lead the event and said the website will be a tremendous aid to all scientists. CSIRO funded the first module of this website, being an organisation in Australia who rely heavily on emerging relationships with the media and getting their research into the public domain. The SMC are now working on a second module to inform scientists on how to effectively use social media as a communication tool and a third module which will focus on particular hot research topics.

George Negus, Journalist and TV presenter, was a notable speaker at the event who said that hardly a minute goes by where science isn’t used in our existence; however the biggest issue is that the media tends to stay away. He goes on to say that while scientists don’t like to dumb things down, using jargon is a big turn off for the media and using simple language is much more enticing to both them and the public. A message that can sometimes fall on deaf ears when dealing with high profile scientists who don’t like the idea of “dumbing down” their research.

Susannah Elliot, head of SMC, said the site is dedicated to these types of scientists and has tips from those who have had experience working with the media including Laureate Professor Peter Doherty who went to instant fame when winning a Nobel Prize in 1996. As well as tips “from the other side” including George Negus, Robyn Williams and Emily Rice. It is a series of short videos and is designed to build on knowledge developed in courses. It is particularly useful for those wanting to refresh their media skills before an event or interview. It was a general consensus at the launch that the website will be a tremendous aid to scientists in all fields and everyone is looking forward to the second and third modules to be released at a later date.

Member profile – Rod Lamberts, incoming ASC National President

Posted on by
Reply

My Bio-festo (part bio, part manifesto)

By Rod Lamberts

The first time I heard the term ‘science communication’ was 16 years ago. I was reading an article about water quality in the Canberra Times and I remember thinking, I’m really not interested in water quality, but that was still a damn good read. The by-line said the author was a science communication grad student at some place called the Centre for Public Awareness of Science at the ANU. I thought I knew the ANU pretty well, but I’d never heard of this ‘CPAS’ place. It sounded interesting, so I decided to investigate.

A few phone calls, an interview, some meticulous bureaumancy, a PhD in science communication, 15 years making a nuisance of myself and boom, I’m deputy director of one of the oldest, largest and most diverse academic science communication centres in the world. I now get to teach, learn, research, offer advice, cast opinions, mingle with people I’d never dreamed I would meet, travel the world, and have some of the most inspiring (also sometimes confronting) conversations of my life. And I get to call it all ‘work’. I have to say, it’s not a bad gig.

Before coming to sci-comm, I wandered through the academic worlds of psychology and medical anthropology. Both very interesting and fun, but neither fully worked for me. I also tolerated a suit job for an entire 7 months (meh…), and before that, spent a year and a half in the bush making corporate types talk-and-play-nice with each other.

I’ve been a bouncer, a psych research consultant, pumped petrol, sold army surplus and even used to be a pretty flash grill cook. But the most fun I’ve had, and the most consistently interested I’ve been, has been since I started playing in the science communication space.

But enough on my background, I’m keen to consider here what actually is in the science communication space.

We all know sci-comm is a complex and diverse animal. A science communicator might be a scientist, a journalist, a performer, a researcher, a film-maker, an evaluator, a trainer, a writer, a policy-player, an author, a commentator or a teacher. We might serve in the public, private, or non-government sectors. We could work in a one-person outfit or a large corporation. We are practitioners, theoreticians and everything in between. In short, we are a bloody diverse mob.

So if science communication is so broad, what then does it mean to be ‘a science communicator’? To be honest, I’m not entirely sure. In fact, I’m not sure that trying to define it by what we do is the best way to go. In my 15 years of science communicatistry, the main thing I’ve seen uniting people in this broad church is a flock of attitudes rather than any single, or unique, practice.

We seem to have a positive – but still critical – view of science and its benefits. We have an abiding fascination with new knowledge, a passion to share what we know with others, and a desire to make a positive difference. We want our world to be driven by evidence-based ideas, evidence which includes social and cultural morés as well as facts gleaned in the lab.

In short, I think we are united more by ethos than activity.

What we also share is a professional or personal stake in a world where science communication – however defined or practiced – is a term now in common use. It is increasingly being seen as a fundamental part of human scientific endeavour.

This suggests to me that the time has never been more ripe for us to take stock of what the ASC and its members represent, and how we might evolve.

When I nominated for the presidency, I was especially driven to do so because I believe that it’s time to take the next step as an association: it’s time to professionalise.

A fitting first step for this will be to agree on a code of practice (and/or ethics) which reflects the ethos we share as members of the association. To do this, we will have to have some robust, inclusive discussion about who we are, what we are, and what we embody.

Once agreed, a code of practice plants our banner. It shows the outside world what the ASC and its members stand for, and acts as a yardstick against which we can critique our own actions. It’s going to take a while and is bound to be a little contentious at times, but I think it will be worth the growing pains.

More soon!

Rod

Anyone who has ideas, concerns or questions about professionalising the ASC, please do get in touch with me rod.lamberts@anu.edu.au

 

Unsung Hero of Australian Science Communication – Guy Nolch

Posted on by
Reply

The Australian Science Communicators are proud to announce that the winner of the Australian Science Communicators Unsung Hero Award of Science Communication for 2012 is Mr Guy Nolch, editor and publisher of Australasian Science

The judging panel selected Guy as the standout choice from a number of worthy nominees. The judges mentioned Guy’s many notable achievements and attributes:

  • his long period of distinguished science publishing (20 years publishing Australasian Science);
  • training and mentoring science communicators;
  • making scientists’ work accessible to and understood by the public;
  • dealing with controversial issues;
  • his major contributions to the discussion of science policy and scientific issues in Australia;
  • and for the fostering of good science journalism in Australia and for promotion of leading Australian scientists and their research.

The ASC created this award to honour a person or group who exemplify science communication, who have not yet received significant recognition for their contribution to science and its promotion, and for work done in Australia over a considerable or prolonged time.

This is the first time the ASC has made this national award. In the past the ASC acknowledged unsung Australian scientists, but now feel that it is time to put into the spotlight those who communicate the science.

Guy joined the AGM meeting via a video Skype hook-up for the announcement and our accolades. Guy said he was humbled at winning the award. His humility was appropriately accompanied by his ear-to-ear grin.

Guy has been making his living as a science communicator for many years and as such he is a beacon to us all. Next year the ASC will once again shine its own light on another previously unsung science communicator.