The ASC National Conference will be at Sydney Masonic Centre from 27-29 February 2012. The program is coming into shape and looks enticing. Here’s a quick overview (some sessions may change, not all are listed, and titles and details of sessions will be refined):
Day 1
- Opening keynote: Professor Ian Chubb, Australia’s Chief Scientist will open the conference and be the first plenary speaker.
- After lunch: State Chief Scientists will feature in a plenary and then in parallel sessions.
Day 2
- Plenary: Careers in science communicating – hear about career possibilities and resources.
- Plenary: New media – continuing insights into how to use a range of rapidly evolving communication channels to communicate science (and maybe make a buck?).
- Plenary: The NBN and how to use it – a science communication perspective of nation changing technology.
Day 3
- Plenary: The Nobel experience – in an exclusive for the conference, Brian Schmidt, the 2011 Nobel Prize winner for Physics, is interviewed on video by Rod Lamberts. The discussion will interweave winning a major science prize with effective science communication of astronomy.
- Plenary: Science and Art – a star-studded illustrated talk by David Malin and a conversation about beauty and science communication.
- Plenary: Heads of Science Agencies – the big wigs will be prodded to tell all as they are quizzed about the role and funding for science communication in their patches.
- Plenary: Advocacy – explore how heads of science advocacy groups represent their members’ interests to politicians and government departments.
Other parallel session topics include (partial listing; PD means session has a professional development focus):
* Speed mentoring (PD)
* The consultancy game – a follow-on from the careers plenary
* Communication strategies
* Philanthropy, fundraising and science communication
* Beyond evaluation (PD)
* Science as theatre
* Putting the ‘confer’ back into conferences (PD)
* The latest in research in science communication
* Science and art sessions and exhibitions
* War on science
Website: The conference website is http://2012conf.asc.asn.au/.
Online registration is active. See http://2012conf.asc.asn.au/register/.
Jesse Shore
National President