Author Archives: Jesse Shore

About Jesse Shore

Jesse Shore is passionate about engaging the community with science and in looking for ways to weave together the arts and sciences. He has been developing science based exhibitions and events since 1984, and was President of the Australian Science Communicators from 2010-2012. His business, Prismatic Sciences, produced five travelling exhibitions for the Royal Australian Chemical Institute for the 2011 International Year of Chemistry and he manages the ongoing national tour. He previously worked at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney as an exhibition project leader and Senior Curator of sciences. While at the museum he was one of the founders of the Ultimo Science Festival, a major National Science Week activity. He is currently collaborating with an artist to create artworks which have a science slant.

Unsung Hero Award of Australian Science Communication 2012

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The Australian Science Communicators

is proud to offer the

Unsung Hero Award of Australian Science Communication

The Unsung Hero of Australian Science Communication is an initiative of the Australian Science Communicators. The ASC offers this award to honour a person or group who exemplify science communication.

Nominations are now open for the 2012 Unsung Hero Award of Australian Science Communication.

Click on the following link for full information:
Unsung Hero Award of Science Communication 2012, 29-9-12

Nominations close at 5pm on Friday 2 November 2012.

The award will be presented during the Australian Science Communicators Annual General Meeting, 27 November 2012 in Brisbane.

Jesse Shore
National president

sciencerewired – increased members’ discount and freebies for students

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Breaking news – ASC members can now attend the sciencerewired event for only $200, more than a 30% discount, if you register by 26 September. Email office@asc.asn.au to get the promotion code. sciencerewired is on 11 October 2012 at the RiAus in Adelaide.

Five free student scholarships
sciencerewired is also offering five free tickets on a first come basis to any ASC student member! After the five tickets are gone they offer a 50% discount to student members who are not as quick to register, bringing the cost to $147.50 incl GST. Email office@asc.asn.au to get the promotion code.

The discount and student scholarships are for financial ASC members only. A great incentive to renew now if you need to.

ASC is a supporter of sciencerewired. It has a packed all day program with a focus on digital media, http://sciencerewired.org/adelaideprogramme/. With the members’ discount and scholarships it becomes even more accessible to gain professional development in this rapidly evolving area.

Jesse Shore
National president

Inspiring Australia update: Fringe Science? And is it effective?

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This IA update for ASC readers is focused on arts based science projects and asks us for measures of how these activities engage Australians with science. Better sharpen up your evaluation skills.

Some of these IA funded projects are attracting other investment partners and that in itself is worthy of ASC members’ comments.

An IA grant is supporting an October event in Melbourne and several more IA funded arts-science activities are in the pipeline. Read on for the IA team’s article about this interesting tact in science engagement.

Fringe Science?

The Melbourne Fringe Festival is home to any number of unusual performance pieces, but perhaps one of the stranger artistic efforts this year is all the more left-field for its focus on science.

Art, Science and Schizophrenia is an event exploring the science and history of schizophrenia, drawing on the art and experiences of those living with this particular mental illness. Developed and produced by the Cooperative Research Centre for Mental Health in conjunction with the Dax Centre, the event is also one of Inspiring Australia’s 63 Unlocking Australia’s Potential projects.

Inspiring Australia has funded a number of arts-based science projects through the Unlocking Australia grant round, National Science Week and other Government funding. This investment has attracted others to co-contribute, and to build interest in further exploring the art-science dynamic.

But are these art-science events having the desired effect? Are they opening up clear lines of communication to everyday Australians? Are they providing an avenue for scientists to engage with new audiences and if so, what has been the effect on those audiences?

Projects like this can have some great outcomes, such as the photo book on Tasmanian Seaweed and the poetry books from Science Made Marvellous supported through National Science Week. One would expect there is an overall positive effect in its relation to promoting science engagement, but it would be great to hear of some stories of tangible impacts of art-science events.

In addition to Art, Science and Schizophrenia, other Inspiring Australia supported arts-based science projects include:

  • Insight Radical, where artists and scientists in Melbourne are combining their knowledge and skills to produce artworks reflecting the science of free radicals;
  • The Science of Ageing, a theatrical event touring regional South Australia in 2013, focussing on the processes and impacts of ageing;
  • Fact or Fiction Road Show, which asks what in popular sci-fi really is science-fiction and what is science reality. Fact or Fiction will be touring nationally in 2013;
  • Dream of the Thylacine, a live show based on the thylacine using puppetry and addressing themes of ecology and biology, to be held as part of the Tasmanian Ten Days on the Island festival; and
  • Harvesting Traditional Knowledge, a series of workshops held across the Northern Territory to build understanding and skills in cultural conservation.

The Inspiring Australia strategy is continually being developed and updated to help support the best practice and the best outcomes for science communication in Australia. Why don’t you get along to some of these activities or others you know about and let us know how effective you think they are?

Art, Science and Schizophrenia will be showing at The Dax Centre on 10and 12 October at 6:30pm. Admission is free.

For more information on Inspiring Australia or Unlocking Australia’s Potential projects, contact the team at inspiring.australia@innovation.gov.au or on (02) 6270 2912.

Renewal date here for many members

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Another reminder for ASC members whose renewal date is 1 September to stay financial and use this opportunity to update your profile via the membership page.

To renew, go to http://community.asc.asn.au/, log-in and click on Membership Info to pay your subs. While still signed in click Profile Home to add new info to your membership profile.

A new benefit for ASC members is discounted registration to sciencerewired, a full day event of social media related science communication. The $59 savings nearly covers the cost of individual membership in ASC. Plus we have 2 free registrations and 2 student scholarships to offer.

To list some of the other things to look forward to in the coming year:

  • The ASC website will host the results of the National Audit of Science Engagement Activities. The report will come out by mid-November along with data visualisations to enable you to interactively compare key data fields.
  • ASC will keep you informed of Inspiring Australia Strategy activities and updates. We have funds for selected financial members to participate in this communication activity.
  • Get involved in planning for the next national conference to be held in February 2014 at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre. We’re aiming even higher for this conference which will be held in one of the best convention centres in the world.
  • ASC branches are all holding a range of events and workshops, which are free or at substantial discounts to members.
  • Plus the issues and discussion will keep on coming. Stay in contact with your science communication network via Scope, the email lists, website, Facebook, LinkedIn and so on.

The cost of membership is still:
Individual membership is $88 per annum (incl. GST)
Student membership (with appropriate ID) is $35.20 (incl. GST)
Associate membership (with explanation) is $35.20 (incl. GST)
Corporate membership is $528 (incl. GST).

Jesse Shore
ASC President

ASC supports sciencerewired – Adelaide, 11 October 2012

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The ASC is now a supporter of the sciencerewired event. This full day event, on 11 October 2012 at the RiAus in Adelaide, offers a great program with a focus on digital media, http://sciencerewired.org/adelaideprogramme/. It sounds perfect for gaining professional development in this rapidly evolving area. sciencerewired is organised by media140 and their inaugural event in Brisbane last year was very well received.

Member’s discount
Early bird registration expires 31 August and after that sciencerewired is offering ASC members a healthy 20% discount off the full registration price of $295 including GST. The ASC member’s price will be $236 incl GST.

Contact office@asc.asn.au for the promotion code to get the 20% discount when registering. This discount is for financial ASC members only.

FREE tickets (2)
We also have FREE tickets to offer to two lucky ASC members. To apply for a freebie, describe in no more than 50 words your current role or project which would benefit from social media enhancement, and send to office@asc.asn.au by Monday 17 September.

I’ll select two of the entries for free admission. Winners will be required to write a short article for the ASC web site within a month of the event briefly describing their current role or project, what it aims to accomplish, and how sciencerewired contributed to their social media skills, knowledge and/or intentions for future. Good luck!

Scholarship opportunity (2)
sciencerewired is happy to offer two scholarships to ASC student members who are currently enrolled in tertiary science communication courses. sciencerewired is offering a whopping 50% off the full registration bringing the cost to $147.50 incl GST.

To apply for the scholarship describe in no more than 50 words how you anticipate to benefit by attending sciencerewired, include a brief endorsement from your lecturer, and send to office@asc.asn.au by Monday 17 September.

The ASC Executive will select the scholarship winners. After the event the students will write comments for the ASC website about their standout sciencerewired experiences or outcomes.

Jesse Shore
National President

ASC2014 will be at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre

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We have selected one of the best convention centres in the world as the venue for our next national conference. The Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre’s new wing on Grey Street has a 400 seat auditorium, breakout rooms, a large foyer for displays, meals and networking, and easy access to the cultural precinct of Brisbane’s South Bank.

Overall the BCEC is an amazing venue. It’s huge in scale yet welcoming, with superb design and the latest in conference facilities. It has excellent catering facilities and is centrally located. The new wing of the centre will suit the scale of our conference perfectly.

We are starting to get ideas for the program and will be inviting your contribution soon.

Book in the dates 3-5 February 2014 for ASC2014. See you in Brisbane.

Jesse Shore
ASC President

ASC 2012 AGM – 27 November in Brisbane

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ASC’s SE-Queensland branch will host this year’s AGM. This is fitting as our next national conference will be in Brisbane in 2014.

The AGM will be at the Ship Inn from 6.00-7.15pm. After the business is over David Ellyard will present his highly entertaining and always fiercely competitive science trivia quiz. There will be prizes. The Ship Inn is at the corner of Stanley & Sidon Streets, Southbank Parklands, Brisbane.

The AGM is for financial members only and the quiz will be open to all.

More information about the AGM will come as the time approaches.

Jesse Shore
ASC President

Agreement forged between ASC and Inspiring Australia for 2012-14

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We have great news for ASC members! The Inspiring Australia Strategy and the Australian Science Communicators have reached an agreement which brings diverse benefits to members and the association.

The ASC will communicate IA activities and outcomes to ASC members and encourage discussion about the Strategy. The IA Strategy is closely aligned to the interests of the ASC and several ASC officials and members have been actively engaging with IA. The aim of this agreement is to further raise members’ awareness of and engagement with the Strategy.

The agreement provides funds for the ASC to upgrade its website, manage the project, and to pay writers fees to prepare the messages.

The ASC will post IA articles, stories and announcements to our main media channels including the ASC website, Facebook and LinkedIn pages, and Twitter feed. We’ll also post content to our Flickr, YouTube and Vimeo sites as appropriate. The first IA message was posted 31 July.

The agreement runs from mid-2012 to mid-2014. This allows time to
•             refine the message posting system,
•             develop the relationship between IA and ASC,
•             increase members’ involvement with IA and
•             increase members’ involvement with this project.

How things will work:
The ASC Communications team, which works to improve how ASC communicates across a range of media channels, has the task to deliver our side of the agreement.
Currently on the team are
•             Jesse Shore, president and chair of the team
•             James Hutson, webmaster
•             Sally Miles, Scope editor
•             Kali Madden, executive officer.

Inspiring Australia sends each message to the liaison person on the ASC Communications team, currently Jesse Shore, who will assign one of its members to republish it in the voice of the ASC. This involves writing introductory text, summaries and end pieces for each message as needed and then posting it. For the moment Sally Miles and Jesse will deal with the flow of information from IA.

The ASC Executive has approved a modest fee scale for various tasks and is monitoring progress during a three month trial period. In a couple of months we will invite ASC members for expressions of interest to join the Communications team and take part in the program to report IA news.

Editorial control of messages will be held by the ASC with the understanding the intent of the project is to portray the Inspiring Australia Strategy in a positive light.

We’re thrilled to have this new alliance and welcome your comments about how to get the most out of this project.

Jesse Shore
ASC national president

Next ASC national conference – February 2014

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The ASC Executive has agreed that the next ASC national conference will be held in early February 2014. I’ll keep you on tenterhooks by saying that we’ll announce the city and venue soon.

The feedback from ASC2012 delegates have helped guide our planning and we’ll use their input to make ASC2014 even better than the terrific outcome Rod Lamberts and his team achieved this year.

We have started to consider the structure of the conference committee and will invite members to participate. The good amount of lead time should allow us to explore new ideas and get more supporting partners for our big biannual event.

That’s all the snippets of conference news for now but be ready for lots more substantial information to come.

Jesse Shore
National President

National Science Week 2012

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I hope you are paying attention to the increasing flow of announcements and promotion about National Science Week, which officially runs from 11-19 August 2012. Several related science festivals and events occur before and after the official dates to make nearly a full month of national science engagement activity.

Many ASC members are involved in organising and running events. Perhaps those of you who aren’t tied to delivering an event will have time to see a variety of what’s on offer. Let us know about any activities which cover new ground or are particular successful for whatever combination of reasons.

Here’s wishing everyone to have a successful and well attended National Science Week.

Jesse Shore
National President