tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40348880152478899412024-03-16T05:48:07.092-07:00Heather DoranHeather Doranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01743182952112081912noreply@blogger.comBlogger129125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034888015247889941.post-71537347763057340002020-09-25T05:25:00.002-07:002020-09-25T05:25:28.366-07:00A Newsletter for Science Communication<p>I've been thinking about how to use my blog and online spaces. I spend a lot of time consuming science communication and public engagement news, updates and discussion across all of the social networks. I have little time to blog but I realised that there is a big gap - as nowhere pulls all of this news and information together regularly. </p><p>So, I am launching a newsletter for science communication news. </p><p>The aim is to bring together science communication news from around the globe, including events, journal articles, events and podcasts. </p><p>It's for anyone that practices science communication or studies it or has any vague interest in it whatsoever. </p><p>You can sign up <a href="https://thescicommer.substack.com/welcome" target="_blank">here</a>. It's free. It will be in plain text. It will work on mobile. Simple! </p><p>The first newsletter will arrive on Tuesday 29 Sept. Then it will be weekly from that point. </p><p>I've been quiet as I am returning to work from maternity leave. Stepping away from work always allows some time to reflect. I have also been spending less time at a screen. I want a new way to pull together news from science communication and so this newsletter is as much for me as it is for everyone else. I am also very open to suggestions and input. </p><p>So please get in touch! </p><div class="blogger-post-footer">For the best experience (and to see embedded video content) view my blog at http://www.heatherdoran.net . Don't forget you can find me on Twitter @hapsci http://www.twitter.com/hapsci</div>Heather Doranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01743182952112081912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034888015247889941.post-44010417445646518082018-12-18T04:11:00.000-08:002018-12-18T04:11:09.785-08:00Creating meaningful engagement via social media<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
In November I created a poster for the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement <a href="https://www.publicengagement.ac.uk/nccpe-projects-and-services/engage-conference/engage-2018" target="_blank">ENGAGE Conference </a>. It was designed for the 'poster encounter' session which they run every year and summarised my top 10 for social media engagement, taken from my Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship. As lots of people were interested in taking a photo of my poster I thought I should share it on my blog too.<br />
<br />
I've also supported the NCCPE in creating their <a href="https://www.publicengagement.ac.uk/sites/default/files/publication/what_works_engaging_the_public_through_social_media_november_2018.pdf" target="_blank">WHAT WORKS Guide to Engaging the Public through Social Media</a> and my Fellowship Report also supported the creation of this. It launched in November and it's a great guide which covers the main networks, content generation and evaluation. Well worth a read if you are interested in social media for engagement.<br />
<br />
In 2019 I will be launching a number of citizen science projects and using social media as a tool and a support network to do this. Follow what I am up to at the Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science via our social channels on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/lrcfs" target="_blank">Facebook</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/lrcfs" target="_blank">Twitter</a>.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1jAixTp-fmICW-ij4Fbz6rab_NYL48fGV2ECsjbs2D0jVPCbQjnwA5SHWIKVExV7pyswXUneVzbNm_gA0ArgNDE-XGqpAaArW7rXpM_i94C1YRMPTvPVPAklCvxNWi3Y8tbKGo6-F1Ft9/s1600/Social+Media+Engage+2018_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1jAixTp-fmICW-ij4Fbz6rab_NYL48fGV2ECsjbs2D0jVPCbQjnwA5SHWIKVExV7pyswXUneVzbNm_gA0ArgNDE-XGqpAaArW7rXpM_i94C1YRMPTvPVPAklCvxNWi3Y8tbKGo6-F1Ft9/s640/Social+Media+Engage+2018_2.jpg" width="452" /></a></div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">For the best experience (and to see embedded video content) view my blog at http://www.heatherdoran.net . Don't forget you can find me on Twitter @hapsci http://www.twitter.com/hapsci</div>Heather Doranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01743182952112081912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034888015247889941.post-52272586833250874232018-10-24T10:38:00.000-07:002018-12-18T04:14:24.591-08:00Public Engagement, Outreach and Science Communication Jargon<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">I've created a Jargon Buster tool for an exercise I ran with PGRs, researchers, administrators and technical staff.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">As there isn't a place that these terms come together I thought others might find it useful. Happy to hear any alternative descriptors and arguments about the definitions are welcome.</span><br />
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;"><br /><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u>JARGON BUSTER</u></b></span></h2>
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">Public Engagement</span></b></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">"Public
engagement describes the myriad of ways in which the activity and benefits of
higher education and research can be shared with the public. Engagement is by
definition a two-way process, involving interaction and listening, with the
goal of generating mutual benefit."</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">National
Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement (2018, Oct 16). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">What is Public Engagement?</i> Retrieved from <a href="http://www.publicengagement.ac.uk/about-engagement/what-public-engagement">http://www.publicengagement.ac.uk/about-engagement/what-public-engagement</a></span>
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<h3 style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 12pt 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;"><b>Outreach</b> </span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 12pt 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">“a one-way discourse, in which
scientists communicate their research to the general public, with particular
focus on school children and young people.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 12pt 0cm; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="article-title-and-info"><span style="background: white;">Illingworth S, Redfern J, Millington S and Gray
S. What’s in a Name? Exploring the Nomenclature of Science Communication in the
UK [version 2; referees: 3 approved, 1 approved with reservations]</span></span><span style="background: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">. </span><i style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">F1000Research</i><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> 2015, </span><b style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">4</b><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">:409 </span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">(doi: </span></span><a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.6858.2" style="font-size: small;" target="_blank"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">10.12688/f1000research.6858.2</span></a><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: x-small;">)</span></span></div>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">Science Communication</span></b></h3>
<br />
<div style="background: white; line-height: 19.5pt;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">“SCIENCE COMMUNICATION (SciCom) may be defined as the use of appropriate skills, media, activities, and dialogue to produce one or more of the following personal responses to science (the vowel analogy)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 19.5pt; margin-left: 36pt; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><b>A</b>wareness, including familiarity with new aspects of science<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 19.5pt; margin-left: 36pt; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><b>E</b>njoyment or other affective responses, e.g. appreciating science as entertainment or art<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 19.5pt; margin-left: 36pt; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><b>I</b>nterest, as evidenced by voluntary involvement with science or its communication<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 19.5pt; margin-left: 36pt; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><b>O</b>pinions, the forming, reforming, or confirming of science-related attitudes<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 19.5pt; margin-left: 36pt; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">·<span style="font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><b>U</b>nderstanding of science, its content, processes, and social factors Science communication may involve science practitioners, mediators, and other members of the general public, either peer-to-peer or between groups.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 19.5pt;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">The AEIOU definition of science communication. This definition clarifies the purpose and characteristics of science communication and provides a basis for evaluating its effectiveness”<span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 19.5pt;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: white; line-height: 13.91px;">Burns, T. W., O'Connor, D. J., & Stocklmayer, S. M. (</span><span class="pubyear"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">2003</span></span>). <span class="articletitle"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Science communication: A contemporary definition</span></span>. <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Public Understanding of Science</i>, <span class="vol"><b><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">12</span></b></span>, 183–202.</span></div>
<br />
<h3 style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 12pt 0cm; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">Knowledge Exchange</span></b></h3>
<div style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 12pt 0cm; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit; font-size: small; font-weight: normal;">“any activity that involves
engagement with businesses, public and third sector services, the community and
the wider public, which involves the sharing of best practice, and which can be
monitored for funding purposes.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18.0pt; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><span class="article-title-and-info"><span style="background: white;">Illingworth S, Redfern J, Millington S and Gray
S. What’s in a Name? Exploring the Nomenclature of Science Communication in the
UK [version 2; referees: 3 approved, 1 approved with reservations]</span></span><span style="background: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">. </span><i style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">F1000Research</i><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> 2015, </span><b style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">4</b><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">:409</span></span><br style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" />
<span style="background: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">(doi: </span></span><a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.6858.2" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" target="_blank"><span style="background: white;">10.12688/f1000research.6858.2</span></a><span style="background: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">)</span></span></span></div>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: white;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">Citizen Science </span></span></b></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">“Citizen science typically refers to research
collaborations between scientists and volunteers, particularly (but not
exclusively) to expand opportunities for scientific data collection and to
provide access to scientific information for community members. </span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">As a working definition, we offer the
following: </span><b style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: inherit;"><i>projects in which volunteers partner with
scientists to answer real-world questions.”</i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Cornell Lab of Ornithology
(2018, Oct 16). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Citizen Science. </i>Retrieved from <a href="http://www.birds.cornell.edu/citscitoolkit/about/definition">http://www.birds.cornell.edu/citscitoolkit/about/definition</a></span>
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">Responsible Research
and Innovation</span></b></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">“Responsible research and innovation is an approach that
anticipates and assesses potential implications and societal expectations with
regard to research and innovation, with the aim to foster the design of
inclusive and sustainable research and innovation.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">European Commission (2018,
Oct 16). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Responsible research &
innovation.</i> Retrieved from <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/en/h2020-section/responsible-research-innovation">https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/en/h2020-section/responsible-research-innovation</a></span>
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;"><span style="background: white;">"An approach where societal
actors (researchers, citizens, policy makers, business, third sector
organisations, etc.) work together during the whole research and innovation
process in order to better align both the process and its outcomes with the
values, needs and expectations of society."</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">NUCLEUS Project (2018, Oct
16). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Responsible research &
innovation</i>. Retrieved from <a href="http://www.nucleus-project.eu/rri/">http://www.nucleus-project.eu/rri/</a></span>
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<h3 style="text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">Open Science</span></b></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">"Science has always been open,
unlike the processes for producing research and diffusing its results.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 7.5pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">As other challenges need to be
addressed such as infrastructure, intellectual property rights, content-mining
and alternative metrics, but also inter-institutional, inter-disciplinary and
international collaboration among all actors in research and innovation, the
European Commission is now moving decisively from ‘Open access’ into the
broader picture of ‘Open science’."<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">European Commission (2018,
Oct 16). <i>Open Science (Open Access).</i> Retrieved
from <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/en/h2020-section/open-science-open-access">http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/en/h2020-section/open-science-open-access</a></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background: white;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;">A huge shout out to the<a href="http://www.ul.ie/engage/" target="_blank"> University of Limerick Engage programme</a> that gave me the inspiration for this at the <a href="https://pcst.co/news/article/55" target="_blank">NUCLEUS RRI conference a few weeks ago</a>. They have their own Jargon Buster for engagement plus lots of other useful engagement and partnership building tools and support material! </span></o:p><br />
<o:p><span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></o:p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCNxObNQVvFbcotnirODf2tszsHNCRi5GTulU69VZelcCJ27rD8C5Am1qrve9ukVr6jFeALKD-uZWaAsVTwX1Uee_bhLX2i5Kt4CPej-Sb-iKbSzHi6_0Aiyato8-6ed_U98nx0hYlo9HG/s1600/Public+Engagement+and+Communication+Jargon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCNxObNQVvFbcotnirODf2tszsHNCRi5GTulU69VZelcCJ27rD8C5Am1qrve9ukVr6jFeALKD-uZWaAsVTwX1Uee_bhLX2i5Kt4CPej-Sb-iKbSzHi6_0Aiyato8-6ed_U98nx0hYlo9HG/s640/Public+Engagement+and+Communication+Jargon.jpg" width="442" /></a></div>
<o:p><span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></o:p></div>
<br /></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">For the best experience (and to see embedded video content) view my blog at http://www.heatherdoran.net . Don't forget you can find me on Twitter @hapsci http://www.twitter.com/hapsci</div>Heather Doranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01743182952112081912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034888015247889941.post-81482776492258089912018-09-11T10:41:00.000-07:002018-09-11T10:41:14.636-07:00Reflections on 'The Art of Gathering' for those in Public Engagement<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I've just finished reading 'The Art of Gathering' by Pryia Parker. It's a must read for anyone who is interested in gathering people together - for work and for social. The book made me think in lots of ways about how I gather people in my life (something I love to do) but here I am going to reflect on how it might reinvigorate some of the ways in which I approach public engagement activities and gatherings.<br />
<br />
The book isn't about public engagement, it's about gathering as a general topic but the ideas can be applied to any gathering. Not all of the thoughts in the book were completely new to me but these are the ones that I thought were of particular importance for everyone involved in creating engagement experiences that bring together the public and research.<br />
<br />
I've got to extend a massive thank you to Lou Woodley for the recommendation to read the book.<br />
<br />
The book is set out over eight chapters, which logically follow the path you take when planning a gathering. Pryia brings together her experiences from conferences, dialogue facilitation, event organising and the expertise of others.<br />
<br />
<b><u>Purpose</u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
Within public engagement we often ask people to think about why they might want an event, how it links to a bigger picture and what they are trying to get out of it. I think it's also important to remember that these events have a dual purpose, they have a purpose for the researchers and research plus a purpose for the guests. These purposes are equally important and defining those is the first step in creating a worthwhile experience.<br />
<br />
Pryia discusses the importance of thinking about who is part of a gathering and how those people interact make the gathering. Often in public engagement we talk about activities being 'for everyone' but to create more meaningful gatherings you might want to consider being more selective - driven by your purpose. Pryia's experience in generating gatherings that create change are really interesting in this section and give a lot of food for thought about how to exclude well, and how good exclusion can activate diversity.<br />
<br />
<b><u>Venue</u></b><br />
This is something I think about A LOT. The venue can often dictate the type of audience you get, it also dictates the feel of the event and what people expect from the event. I am a big fan of getting people away from their usual places to help break down hierarchies and to make everyone feel comfortable. The Chateau Principle she discusses can be directly applied to events within a University.<br />
<br />
Pryia also gives some great examples on how sometimes a venue turns out to be less than ideal - handy tips for fixing things on location!<br />
<br />
<b><u>Before the event</u></b><br />
<br />
How can we be better in public engagement at creating delight with our guests before they attend? The steps taken before the event determine your attendees and are incredibly important for us as often we wish to engage with particular groups of people. How can we create alternative worlds that they can enter and feel free and open to participate?<br />
<br />
The use of rules can guide people in how to behave. This is an approach I've adopted in my time in public engagement without really considering - I use rules for researchers involved with events and use rules to direct public audiences at gatherings. I think hard about how to use them, phrase them and how and when to communicate them. I use them to help create a sense of community before an event and build trust between the participants. Simple things like 'There will be a practice run through at this point and I will make sure you are well fed...'<br />
<br />
I often repeat them several times when working with people on an activity. They should link back to your purpose and can help make sure you don't move away from it as excitement takes hold.<br />
<br />
I used rules A LOT at our wedding and directed those involved with hosting our day in how and where I wanted them to be applied (I gave space for people to take photos, but only at certain points within the ceremony as I knew if I didn't I would walk down the aisle to a sea of people trying to use their ipads). Used well they add to the event and the experience.<br />
<br />
The book has pushed me to think how I can experiment even more with rules and the experience leading up to an event.<br />
<br />
There's also a big focus on trust in the book, equally in public engagement your role is to generate trust. Trust from the researchers involved and trust from the public involved. This work starts long before the event itself and how you conduct and manage this makes a huge difference to the final outcome.<br />
<br />
<b><u>Opening</u></b><br />
<br />
The most important takeaway I took from this was a realisation that almost all public engagement events open with logistics. We need to ditch this and create stronger, more memorable openings and then introduce the logistics. The primary aim of our activities isn't to tell people where the toilets are but I have been to so many events where this forms the opening line.<br />
<br />
<b><u>Hosting</u></b><br />
<br />
We experiment a lot as a community with different methods of hosting and facilitating. Continuing to experiment and explore in this area is important. There are some really neat ideas and approaches in the book which I might build into different types of gathering in the future. Pryia has developed some fantastic ideas on how to create and direct dialogue at a gathering.<br />
<br />
<b><u>Ending and after the event</u></b><br />
<b><u><br /></u></b>
There's a focus in the book on strong endings (again, avoiding logistics). Closings matter and they can be what people take away and remember about an event. People don't like to end something that is going well but people also need to accept that everything must come to an end - implementing a signal can help, like a last call at the bar. A wind down signal. I think within public engagement circles we are pretty good at stopping and reflecting at the end before going back out into the world but the book reminded me that although this part of the process is a natural one for me, it shouldn't be overlooked and there are ways in which this too can be altered and refined depending on the gathering and the purpose.<br />
<br />
<br />
Just to note, I have no relationship to this book, the author, the publishers or anything. I read it and thought it was fantastic so wanted to share some of my thoughts.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">For the best experience (and to see embedded video content) view my blog at http://www.heatherdoran.net . Don't forget you can find me on Twitter @hapsci http://www.twitter.com/hapsci</div>Heather Doranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01743182952112081912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034888015247889941.post-15493707449487844352018-01-04T05:52:00.000-08:002018-01-04T05:52:24.859-08:00A big list of ways people communicate science to public audiences<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I have promised myself that this year I will be better at sharing information, documents and general things that I have created for training, conference sessions or just for fun.To start 2018, here is a list of different formats in which people communicate science through events. I used it for a discussion with Masters students about the many different forms science communication can take. The list started life as a local one but I am keen to include more international examples. I have included links where appropriate so people can find out more information. Have I missed any? I expect I have...<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Talks, comedy and storytelling </h3>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.wired.co.uk/article/best-ted-talks-science-lectures" target="_blank">Lectures</a> - still an important way of communicating science </li>
<li><a href="http://www.cafescientifique.org/" target="_blank">Café Scientifique</a> (and <a href="https://www.abdn.ac.uk/engage/public/cafe-med-110.php" target="_blank">Café MED</a>, if you are in Aberdeen)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.brightclub.org/" target="_blank">Bright Club</a> comedy </li>
<li><a href="http://www.beltanenetwork.org/opportunities/cabaret-of-dangerous-ideas/" target="_blank">The Cabaret of Dangerous Ideas</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nerd_Nite" target="_blank">Nerd Nite</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.skepticsinthepub.org/" target="_blank">Skeptics in the Pub</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.britishscienceassociation.org/north-west-scibar-network" target="_blank">Sci-bar</a></li>
<li><a href="https://pintofscience.com/" target="_blank">Pint of Science</a></li>
<li><a href="http://soapboxscience.org/" target="_blank">Soapbox science</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/288390788263770/" target="_blank">Speed science</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.storycollider.org/" target="_blank">The Story Collider</a> – science storytelling (and there is a great podcast)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.pechakucha.org/" target="_blank">PechaKucha Night</a> (not science based, but is a great format for sharing science)</li>
<li><a href="https://www.britishcouncil.org/education/science/public-engagement/famelab" target="_blank">FameLab</a></li>
<li><a href="http://uglyanimalsoc.com/" target="_blank">The Ugly Animal Preservation Society</a></li>
<li><a href="https://twitter.com/LevelUpHuman" target="_blank">Level-Up Human</a> (live event and podcast)</li>
</ul>
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Interactive activities</h3>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul>
<li>Lab tours </li>
<li>Open days (including <a href="http://www.doorsopenday/" target="_blank">Doors Open Days</a>)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.sciencemadesimple.co.uk/shows/busking" target="_blank">Science Busking</a></li>
<li><a href="http://sciencehackday.org/" target="_blank">Hackathons</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.livingknowledge.org/science-shops/about-science-shops/" target="_blank">Science shops</a></li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_Picnic" target="_blank">Science picnics</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.scienceceilidh.com/" target="_blank">Science Ceilidh</a></li>
</ul>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Online</h3>
<div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><a href="https://imascientist.org.uk/" target="_blank">I'm a Scientist/engineer Get me out of here</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Venues</h3>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Museums</li>
<li><a href="https://www.sciencecentres.org.uk/" target="_blank">Science Centres</a></li>
<li>Libraries</li>
<li>Art Gallery</li>
<li>Shopping Centres</li>
<li>Train stations</li>
<li>Community centres</li>
<li>Schools</li>
<li>Parks</li>
<li>The beach?</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<h3>
Umbrella Initiatives</h3>
<div>
<ul>
<li>National Science weeks (take place around the world) </li>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.britishscienceweek.org/" target="_blank">British Science Week</a></li>
</ul>
</ul>
</div>
<br />
<div>
<ul><ul></ul>
<li><a href="https://ec.europa.eu/research/mariecurieactions/about/european-researchers-night_en" target="_blank">European Researchers' Night</a></li>
<li><a href="http://museumsatnight.org.uk/" target="_blank">Museums at Night</a></li>
<li>Science Festivals - there are so many around the world!</li>
<li><a href="https://www.discoverthebluedot.com/" target="_blank">Bluedot Festival</a> (Manchester)</li>
</ul>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-fLD_Jvm4fWGfhgRyKuEI9TenU6lNrO4uttF5oVLS1W8JvV77HXmBfhch7thiwr50zuNOfo7mRn50EkDlNZtmEujAxchmGQhVf8JBE9nrlQSRXAvBnvTBPAm6MhSH8twveUsDafl9qShB/s1600/396324_10100181649360633_61202777_48413692_1628110796_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="612" data-original-width="612" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-fLD_Jvm4fWGfhgRyKuEI9TenU6lNrO4uttF5oVLS1W8JvV77HXmBfhch7thiwr50zuNOfo7mRn50EkDlNZtmEujAxchmGQhVf8JBE9nrlQSRXAvBnvTBPAm6MhSH8twveUsDafl9qShB/s400/396324_10100181649360633_61202777_48413692_1628110796_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<ul><ul></ul>
</ul>
</div>
<br /></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">For the best experience (and to see embedded video content) view my blog at http://www.heatherdoran.net . Don't forget you can find me on Twitter @hapsci http://www.twitter.com/hapsci</div>Heather Doranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01743182952112081912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034888015247889941.post-64176965133753626212017-04-28T06:54:00.001-07:002017-04-28T06:56:05.049-07:00Connecting scientists and the public in online dialogues about science<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
My Churchill Trust Travel Fellowship Report, Connecting scientists and the public in online dialogues about science has now been <a href="http://www.wcmt.org.uk/fellows/reports/connecting-scientists-and-public-online-dialogues-about-science" target="_blank">published</a>.<br />
<br />
Social media offers much promise for the engagement of new global audiences. This report summarises my journey to the USA, Canada, China and Japan and includes useful observations, tips and case studies for those looking to connect the public with science via online platforms. In theory, social media has the potential to break down barriers and open channels of communication between people of every background and profession on a global scale. Online networks also have a huge potential to democratise many areas, especially academic scientific research. It can allow the public access behind previously closed doors and into restricted spaces through the use of video and images. Importantly, it offers and the opportunity for two-way conversations with global audiences no matter where the research is being conducted.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiscc8lIzbzZQmb3fuN0Is62mJYhTepnkGQjb_qUtbNvEGxuvxT6-XP59F221TmKbqmCfbZ2KZ_TVD0ibFRsgh-mBd-IGBoZCH_VPDFxAw6G-Youg1BW5ckfpqI4RT9KMKAHz3IwbqY6Q01/s1600/IMG_1211.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiscc8lIzbzZQmb3fuN0Is62mJYhTepnkGQjb_qUtbNvEGxuvxT6-XP59F221TmKbqmCfbZ2KZ_TVD0ibFRsgh-mBd-IGBoZCH_VPDFxAw6G-Youg1BW5ckfpqI4RT9KMKAHz3IwbqY6Q01/s320/IMG_1211.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I travelled to the USA, Canada, China and Japan to meet creative individuals and organisations that are using social media in new and exciting ways to communicate and engage the public with science. I wanted to learn what environments and workplace structures allowed individuals and groups to thrive and integrate online engagement within their day-to-day work and explore what the future might hold. This is a particularly pressing issue for individual research scientists who wish to exploit social media to connect with the public but find stepping beyond traditional research endeavours to be difficult.<br />
<br />
Through this journey, I connected with individual scientists, communication teams from research institutions, science centres, museums and government organisations in the USA, Canada, China and Japan. The organisations I visited included Yale University, University of Toronto, the University of Tokyo, MIT, Harvard and NASA. Many people gave up their time to share their work and thoughts with me and I am incredibly grateful to them all.<br />
<br />
My interest in social media started when I was undertaking my PhD and I generated a modest network of international connections on Twitter. With this network, I discussed my own research work, news and topical issues in science and of course, some internet memes. Increasingly I realised the ‘professional’ benefits of using social media and received funding to attend conferences to present my research work and found new doors opening for me but I also learnt about engaging with public audiences via online platforms. Since 2012 I have been employed within the Public Engagement with Research Unit at the University of Aberdeen and I have helped others get started on social media networks at the University of Aberdeen and at other institutions.<br />
<br />
Before I began my Fellowship I undertook some research to find out how researchers at my university were using social media. I wrote up the findings and you can find a link to the paper at the end of the report. I found that the vast majority of researchers were using social media to connect with their peers rather than reaching public audiences. I wanted to know how this might change.<br />
<br />
Since my Fellowship in 2015 there have already been changes in the way in which different social networks ‘work’ (for example the introduction of Instagram ‘stories’). You can find basic guides on how to use an ever-growing plethora of social networks online and this report isn’t a ‘how to’ but a collection of ideas, approaches and best practice that could be applied no matter the network. I should also stress that my aims were not to find out how to ‘go viral’ (there’s some excellent advice on that topic already available from the experts at Buzzfeed http://www.buzzfeed. com/help/viral , if you are interested) but to see how engagement via social media can become part of the role of a scientist and generate a real, interested community around a research topic where work is not just communicated but where the public can help influence the research work through meaningful two-way conversations.<br />
<br />
If you don’t read any further, these are the 3 ‘must-dos’ before opening any social media accounts as identified by myself and the experts I met:<br />
1) Know what it is you are trying to achieve.<br />
2) Know where your audience is (and make sure your efforts are focused there).<br />
3) Plan and evaluate what you are doing.<br />
4) Don’t copy or reinvent what already exists, but experiment early on and create a space for yourself online.<br />
<br />
If you have trouble accessing the report just let me know and I will send a copy to you. You can see blog posts from all the different parts of my journey on my blog http://www.heatherdoran.net/</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">For the best experience (and to see embedded video content) view my blog at http://www.heatherdoran.net . Don't forget you can find me on Twitter @hapsci http://www.twitter.com/hapsci</div>Heather Doranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01743182952112081912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034888015247889941.post-38007284490789484342017-01-23T04:23:00.000-08:002017-01-23T04:23:05.128-08:00Are doctoral candidates switched on to the impact of social media? <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Early in 2015 I conducted a bit of research about social media use at my institution (the University of Aberdeen). It was presented at the UK Council for Graduate Education, 2nd International Conference on
Developments in Doctoral Education & Training
Conference in 2015.<br />
<br />
I wrote up the findings and they were recently published in the proceedings. There are interesting papers covering all different areas of graduate training. The abstract for my paper is below and you can download the proceedings (my paper is on page 93).<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: Times; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
</div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-family: Times; letter-spacing: normal; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; orphans: 2; padding: 6px; text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;">
<img alt="Texting by Jhaymesisviphotography, on Flickr" border="0" src="http://farm8.static.flickr.com/7025/6497720551_79c434a2a0.jpg?random=1431516005714" height="427" href="http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/StillImage" rel="dct:type" style="cursor: move; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Texting by Jhaymesisviphotography, on Flickr" width="640" xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" /></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana";"> by </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/jhaymesisvip/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "verdana";"> </span></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/jhaymesisvip/" property="cc:attributionName" rel="cc:attributionURL" target="_blank" xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#"><span style="font-family: "verdana";">Jhaymesisviphotography</span></a><a href="http://www.imagecodr.org/" target="_blank"></a></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b><br /></b>
<b>Are doctoral candidates switched on to the impact of social media? </b><br />
<br />
Dr Heather Doran* and Dr Kenneth D. Skeldon
*Corresponding author, University of Aberdeen,
King’s College, Regent Walk, Old Aberdeen, AB24 3FX<br />
<br />
<b>Abstract</b><br />
It might be assumed that today’s doctoral students are aware of and active in the use of social media tools
in the course of their work. Here we question whether doctoral students are really utilising these tools to
effectively and responsibly strengthen and progress their work and careers.<br />
<br />
In the rapidly evolving area of social media, support and advice is often sporadic, presented with different
foci depending on whether training is delivered by individuals, institutions or funding bodies. Differing policy
between these groups also causes confusion around how researchers can best use digital tools. Coupled
with this, there are different approaches and guidelines on what is appropriate to be discussed online.
Individual social media accounts have come under scrutiny for being ‘self-promoting’ with many opting for
a research group output rather than individual accounts. However, this latter approach presents its own
difficulties in building attributable voices and a corresponding audience. This landscape can be daunting
for those navigating a doctorate and wishing to benefit from these digital tools.<br />
<br />
In this paper we address some specific questions, such as whether doctoral candidates have the confidence,
knowledge and responsibility to use social digital networks in the context of their work, and whether those
that do not might be disadvantaged. We will present conclusions based on a local survey of social media
use at the University of Aberdeen and compare these with general surveys of digital use and attitudes by
researchers conducted by others across the globe (Lupton, 2014).<br />
<br />
The local survey highlighted that uptake of social media was higher amongst research staff and Principal
Investigators than early career researchers and doctoral candidates. The findings suggest that the uptake
was lower in the latter group as they are unsure how to use social media effectively for their own personal
development.<br />
<br />
We will explore the value of social media to researchers and doctoral candidates and share how our analysis
and evaluation has informed knowledge to steer effective engagement with the research community about
social media.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwEZ7OLVPc18Y2ptN0RYSFlmZ3M/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank">DOWNLOAD AND READ THE FULL PAPER (PAGE 93)</a></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">For the best experience (and to see embedded video content) view my blog at http://www.heatherdoran.net . Don't forget you can find me on Twitter @hapsci http://www.twitter.com/hapsci</div>Heather Doranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01743182952112081912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034888015247889941.post-18696587068596012192016-02-17T13:27:00.003-08:002016-02-17T13:27:59.060-08:00No-one to book that trip with? Do it anyway. Traveling alone as a female is OK<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="graf--p graf-after--h3" id="cece" name="cece" style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 21px; letter-spacing: -0.003em; line-height: 1.58; margin-top: 12px;">
Last year I was lucky enough to start a journey of exploration around the world funded by the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust. It was an incredible experience but also a little daunting, as I would be doing it alone. I’m writing this about my experiences to encourage others to take the plunge and book that trip you have always wanted to take.</div>
<div class="graf--p graf-after--h3" id="cece" name="cece" style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 21px; letter-spacing: -0.003em; line-height: 1.58; margin-top: 12px;">
<img src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*UzO_a6dJS4QrFrPjd33siA.jpeg" /></div>
<div class="graf--p graf-after--h3" id="cece" name="cece" style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 21px; letter-spacing: -0.003em; line-height: 1.58; margin-top: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: -0.003em; line-height: 1.58;">Traveling has been a favourite way of spending my time for as long as I can remember. It isn’t just about the destination for me: the journey to get there is just as important. I love the space you get from reality as you embark on a journey. I don’t love everything though. I hate flying, but I didn’t want to let that stop me. If I had a choice, the train would always be the top of my list of transport options. Staring out of the window of a train has been the location where I have decided on many things in my life.</span></div>
<div class="graf--p graf-after--p" id="ca1b" name="ca1b" style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 21px; letter-spacing: -0.003em; line-height: 1.58; margin-top: 29px;">
Traveling alone can be a daunting experience but I really urge everyone to try it. Even if it is a train journey to a new town. You experience a location in a completely different way to when you travel with a companion. I find you can take more things in and you get to choose what you do all of the time. Want to spend an hour staring at a painting? No problem. You also learn a lot about myself while you are alone (and on occasion talk to yourself).</div>
<div class="graf--p graf-after--p" id="d219" name="d219" style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 21px; letter-spacing: -0.003em; line-height: 1.58; margin-top: 29px;">
I’m a fairly relaxed traveller but doing lots of planning before I stepped anywhere near a plane (I hate flying, have I mentioned that?) I made sure I had done plenty of homework to make sure I felt as comfortable as possible. The only time I did get lost was when I couldn’t get out of a 6 floor department store in Tokyo. Not the worst place to get stuck. I had some delays and a few hiccups but could rectify those as I had all the information I needed with me.</div>
<div class="graf--p graf-after--p" id="aa56" name="aa56" style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 21px; letter-spacing: -0.003em; line-height: 1.58; margin-top: 29px;">
Last year I visited China, Japan, the US and Canada. Here’s what I learnt on my journey.</div>
<div class="graf--p graf-after--p" id="49e4" name="49e4" style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 21px; letter-spacing: -0.003em; line-height: 1.58; margin-top: 29px;">
<span class="markup--strong markup--p-strong" style="font-weight: 700;">Where to stay?</span>Pick a safe area and choose accommodation close to transport lines. You can use travel blogs, guides and of course online maps to find out all of this information. This is important so you don’t need to walk far, especially if you will be out in the evenings. It’s likely you will want to eat while you are travelling so try and pick accommodation close to places where you can grab food. Sometimes you might feel like you just don’t want to head out far alone and so making sure you have good food options close by is really worth it.</div>
<div class="graf--p graf-after--p" id="2926" name="2926" style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 21px; letter-spacing: -0.003em; line-height: 1.58; margin-top: 29px;">
Obviously you can check reviews on Trip Advisor but make sure you select the ‘solo traveller’ reviews. Many lone travellers share how they felt safe/unsafe and share their experiences (and where is good to eat close by). Don’t forget to repay the favour and leave your review when you have left!</div>
<div class="graf--p graf-after--p" id="2fe5" name="2fe5" style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 21px; letter-spacing: -0.003em; line-height: 1.58; margin-top: 29px;">
I stayed in both hotels and AirBnB and didn’t have any bad experiences. I spent a long time choosing my accomodation. Where you stay is your sanctuary and you want to prioritise feeling safe and secure when alone.</div>
<div class="graf--p graf-after--p" id="cde6" name="cde6" style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 21px; letter-spacing: -0.003em; line-height: 1.58; margin-top: 29px;">
<span class="markup--strong markup--p-strong" style="font-weight: 700;">How to get around?</span>Plot out how you are going to get to where you want to visit before you go. This might sound obvious..BUT go beyond only thinking about your flight. How will you travel from the airport to your hotel? Try and book flight and travel times that don’t involve arriving in a new location at midnight when there is likely to be fewer people around and it’s harder to orientate yourself. Load up maps and travel maps before you head out. Don’t rely on being able to access information digitally. I had everything on my phone and written down on paper.</div>
<div class="graf--p graf-after--p" id="7da7" name="7da7" style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 21px; letter-spacing: -0.003em; line-height: 1.58; margin-top: 29px;">
<span class="markup--strong markup--p-strong" style="font-weight: 700;">Eating.</span>This gets a section all to itself as eating on your own can be a real problem. I mostly tried to pick where I wanted to eat before heading out. I don’t feel self conscious about eating alone in a restaurant but if you do, try taking a book or at least your phone to mess with. This is the only downside to travelling alone — you can’t steal food from others that you eat with and therefore are limited to only trying the dishes you can eat!</div>
<div class="graf--p graf-after--p" id="7a07" name="7a07" style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 21px; letter-spacing: -0.003em; line-height: 1.58; margin-top: 29px;">
I found when eating alone that people start to talk to you. I was befriended in a resturant by another lone eater, we had a great chat and she gave me some great tips on places to visit and I held a conversation with the guy making my sushi despite a huge language barrier.</div>
<div class="graf--p graf-after--p" id="0144" name="0144" style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 21px; letter-spacing: -0.003em; line-height: 1.58; margin-top: 29px;">
<span class="markup--strong markup--p-strong" style="font-weight: 700;">No entiendo</span>If you are traveling somewhere with a language you don’t speak, try and learn a few basic words and customs before you go. In flight entertainment systems usually have some great guides and I always find them really interesting. Google translate and other translation apps are incredibly useful especially if you are faced with a menu you can’t decipher.</div>
<div class="graf--p graf-after--p" id="7959" name="7959" style="background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 21px; letter-spacing: -0.003em; line-height: 1.58; margin-top: 29px;">
<span class="markup--strong markup--p-strong" style="font-weight: 700;">What to do if something does go wrong?</span><br />Always make sure you have your insurance details and emergency phone numbers with you at all times. Written down and on your phone. Check in with people regularly at home.</div>
<br />
<figure class="graf--figure graf-after--p graf--last" id="7ff6" name="7ff6" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 25.2px; margin: 43px 0px 0px; outline: 0px; position: relative;"><div class="aspectRatioPlaceholder is-locked" style="margin: 0px auto; max-height: 933px; max-width: 700px; position: relative; width: 700px;">
</div>
</figure><br />
<div class="graf--p graf-after--p" id="309d" name="309d" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 21px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: -0.003em; line-height: 1.58; margin: 29px 0px 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">
In Japan there are designated tourist wifi hotspots so you can access your digital maps and contact people if you need to. Remember coffee shops like Starbucks and others always have wifi too so if you are in a town or city and feeling a bit disorientated head there and take some time out to get your visit back on track. The free wifi in 7/11s in Tokyo was a lifesaver for me!</div>
<div class="graf--p graf-after--p" id="309d" name="309d" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); font-family: medium-content-serif-font, Georgia, Cambria, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 21px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: -0.003em; line-height: 1.58; margin: 29px 0px 0px; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 1; word-spacing: 0px;">
<img src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*EW71YLTkkFiicT9_vSAIxQ.jpeg" /></div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">For the best experience (and to see embedded video content) view my blog at http://www.heatherdoran.net . Don't forget you can find me on Twitter @hapsci http://www.twitter.com/hapsci</div>Heather Doranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01743182952112081912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034888015247889941.post-16439036259393490952015-12-14T13:07:00.003-08:002015-12-14T13:07:49.492-08:00My 2015 Reading List<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
As many people are looking for presents at this time of year I thought I would round up some of my favourite books that I read in 2015 (along with a few other favourites).<br />
<br />
My plan was to write full reviews of all of these books but somehow it is the end of the year and I never quite managed it. This year has gone by so quickly.<br />
<br />
If you have any suggestions of your own please add them below. I am looking for a few new reads over the holidays<br />
<br />
<div class="value">
<b>So You've been Publicly Shamed, Jon Ronson</b><br />
I really enjoyed this book and the follow ups Jon has done with people who have become well known for all the wrong reasons due to exploits, mishaps and misinterpretations on social media. It starts to think about how and why people behave like they do online and it could go into a little more depth but is a great read to make you think about how mob mentality, anonymity and online behaviour in general can be a powerful tool but also a dangerous force.</div>
<div class="value">
<br />
<b>How to Thrive in the Digital Age, Nick Harkaway </b><br />
A great, short, positive discussion of where we are today in the digital era. It explores a lack of control in the online environment and risk but also the huge opportunity we all have.<br />
<br />
<b>Social Physics: How Good Ideas Spread - The Lessons from a New Science, Alex Pentland </b><br />
This is a brilliant book about how effective networks can be created. It's data and experiment led and includes evaluations of interventions that companies have put in place to provide a creative and idea rich environments. It's focused on offline rather than online networks but there is some discussion of the use of social media. The author quotes his own studies for most of the book and I would have liked to have seen more of an alternative perspective but for anyone who works with ideas and/or people this is highly recommended.<br />
<br />
<b>The Man Who Changed Everything: The Life of James Clerk Maxwell, Basil Mahon </b><br />
A great biography of Maxwell, it does get pretty heavy on the physics but I like that they haven't skipped on the science as often happens in books about scientists.<br />
<br />
<b>River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze, Peter Hessler</b><br />
I read this book while I was in China and it really helped me relate to the country and the people I was meeting. It took me a little while to get into the book at first but once the writers journey in China settles a bit it becomes really good. Even if you don't have an interest in China it is an excellent read. I want to read his follow up now.<br />
<br />
<b>Lost At Sea: The Jon Ronson Mysterie</b>s<br />
If you like stories about people and stories about the weird things people do and get up to then you will enjoy this collection of short stories. Easy, enjoyable reading.<br />
<br />
<b>The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot</b><br />
If you haven't read this book yet then you need to. It's an incredible story of rapid scientific development alongside a family story of understanding. I read this book when it first came out but it is one of the most important books that I have ever read and so I wanted to include it on this list. </div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">For the best experience (and to see embedded video content) view my blog at http://www.heatherdoran.net . Don't forget you can find me on Twitter @hapsci http://www.twitter.com/hapsci</div>Heather Doranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01743182952112081912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034888015247889941.post-55810451994174784982015-12-09T04:46:00.001-08:002015-12-09T04:48:03.564-08:00PechaKucha, Androids and Line: Science Communication in Japan<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The last week of my Churchill Fellowship was spent in Tokyo, Japan. I learnt an immense amount about Japan, it's attitudes to science, engagement initiatives and its use of social media ... did you know Japan has a social network called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_(application)" target="_blank">Line</a>? No, me neither... My short trip also included a PechaKucha presentation, a debate about whether we could love robots and a meeting with the ultimate in robots, ASIMO.<br />
<br />
Tokyo was incredible. I completely fell in love with its chaos, speed and the people.<br />
<br />
During my week I went along to the PechaKucha nights and spoke about my Fellowship and my journey in science communication. You can watch it below. If you don't know what PechaKucha is, you have 20 images and 20 seconds to talk about each one. It's a challenge but great fun.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi508lX_3yuSCVpGFpcwAZcVHknpPep7sXP4w-lJCjeomGcwO6gBGaSBBF2P0__z3j8YVWTo43RWtzuTt5hD1Slh9CIP2FN_KfDggo6MWp3nay74OOtfhEVABVF8SpjLgl9gIkSwdpwMWBw/s1600/IMG_4264.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi508lX_3yuSCVpGFpcwAZcVHknpPep7sXP4w-lJCjeomGcwO6gBGaSBBF2P0__z3j8YVWTo43RWtzuTt5hD1Slh9CIP2FN_KfDggo6MWp3nay74OOtfhEVABVF8SpjLgl9gIkSwdpwMWBw/s640/IMG_4264.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
The night was really enjoyable and there was about 250 people there. I really enjoy running the PechaKucha nights in Aberdeen so it was fantastic to meet with the founders and organisers of the nights. It's amazing that PechaKucha nights now run in over 800 cities around the world. All the PechaKucha team have been great to chat to via email and they were just as great in person. The other talks from the night were really fantastic too so you should check them out.<br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="450" src="http://www.pechakucha.org/presentations/565bbc26bfb6ff80d0000005/embed" width="600"></iframe>
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi508lX_3yuSCVpGFpcwAZcVHknpPep7sXP4w-lJCjeomGcwO6gBGaSBBF2P0__z3j8YVWTo43RWtzuTt5hD1Slh9CIP2FN_KfDggo6MWp3nay74OOtfhEVABVF8SpjLgl9gIkSwdpwMWBw/s1600/IMG_4264.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><u><br /></u><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6W6yOGfLv0Mn8_noWkP2eWYIjLTCPOIreuEpikK4nKFW2p6YAljLaNnq49L7fgruWWOPfTMZkCdQq1-3YI_H3qZLUo7mQYp0kIHy2XPCYU4dHJn_4Ylj7Ssqc5c0SoI4L6WneoR_9z6jN/s1600/IMG_4286.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6W6yOGfLv0Mn8_noWkP2eWYIjLTCPOIreuEpikK4nKFW2p6YAljLaNnq49L7fgruWWOPfTMZkCdQq1-3YI_H3qZLUo7mQYp0kIHy2XPCYU4dHJn_4Ylj7Ssqc5c0SoI4L6WneoR_9z6jN/s640/IMG_4286.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<b><br /></b>
<b><br /></b>
<b>ASIMO and how the Earthquake changed how Japan interacts with science</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY2ZXzS9MCKrv3wjQSEPdf-NMkj1C1HeajiYc8q5inPkDjYt8iB-4N-In5uYy-GE-yLaUqexKCKO0Ma9XtRppfsq0dai24iLhs82SYzOgO18DUHJN2YnSxzpD99SgAjNkfFG0XWZM8H2RF/s1600/IMG_4483.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY2ZXzS9MCKrv3wjQSEPdf-NMkj1C1HeajiYc8q5inPkDjYt8iB-4N-In5uYy-GE-yLaUqexKCKO0Ma9XtRppfsq0dai24iLhs82SYzOgO18DUHJN2YnSxzpD99SgAjNkfFG0XWZM8H2RF/s640/IMG_4483.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
<b><br /></b>
I was privileged to meet with staff from Miraikan, Japan's National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation. Also, the home of <a href="http://asimo.honda.com/Inside-ASIMO/" target="_blank">ASIMO</a>.<br />
<br />
I learnt how after the 2011 Earthquake the centre was closed due to some damage and during this time the team started to think about how they could still interact with the public without a physical science centre. They set up a Facebook and a website to gather science questions from the public and the sites were inundated with queries. Responses were created by the science communicators and scientists who they approached to answer questions. This dialogue seems to be ingrained within Miraikan as there are an unlimited number of opportunities to share your own views on science and our lives.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7E-dQjhD49E3fs29XkNro3KSG0fcD4kE6tfNtK_h1rufJn6jEJnlwz-l6UPPHh-DF2bvbi_5KGNji5skAtS5No-egCr6eUCXb_QvbVNEq7W5RbeemRMwoMiCovog_bUtqy34AzJ5TIVQ3/s1600/IMG_4488.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7E-dQjhD49E3fs29XkNro3KSG0fcD4kE6tfNtK_h1rufJn6jEJnlwz-l6UPPHh-DF2bvbi_5KGNji5skAtS5No-egCr6eUCXb_QvbVNEq7W5RbeemRMwoMiCovog_bUtqy34AzJ5TIVQ3/s640/IMG_4488.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The team at Miraikan, Tomonori Hayakawa, Yuko Okayama and Chiharu Yamada from the science communication, office of International Affairs and Public Relation sections.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The exhibits include the science and scientists too, you can participate in real experiments. My favourite exhibit was about the future of data and technology, <a href="http://www.miraikan.jst.go.jp/sp/anagura/en/index.html" target="_blank">Anagura</a>:<span style="color: #444444;"> <span style="background-color: white;"><i>"<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.04px; line-height: 19.5px;">It is a research laboratory for sharing people's information and turning the connections into a powerful force for humankind."</span></i></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="background-color: white;"><i><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "verdana" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.04px; line-height: 19.5px;"><br /></span></i></span></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnV9LqD39hJ5UDSgrv5kUBph-FU7pxhH6D9dJ_U1K5_1OzxPYmV0yJNbAvjiWtZGNEl3Fj1p-NnRl2ldL9wLJEFnaXQkdzi0bl3uYq-cqCb4EVCv_iBOuSLSsIgLmA1KrIqdC-QV6QYRLQ/s1600/DSC_0417.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnV9LqD39hJ5UDSgrv5kUBph-FU7pxhH6D9dJ_U1K5_1OzxPYmV0yJNbAvjiWtZGNEl3Fj1p-NnRl2ldL9wLJEFnaXQkdzi0bl3uYq-cqCb4EVCv_iBOuSLSsIgLmA1KrIqdC-QV6QYRLQ/s640/DSC_0417.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Anagura exhibition, the round projections on the floor followed you as you moved around and interacted with the stands.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFeyihLzZMLSSoSleBo-3gDHUGdfXx85KlakEulPE4GNWWoMwH_F7SDJKbgVy2pUV0zeW3sSsEn05BFqtDVMLBqXjw9nj9dZxU1_KEK_su7G_9P1lWL-yaNjS-NhyphenhyphenlRLRWs2SPPDODfIsr/s1600/IMG_4507.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFeyihLzZMLSSoSleBo-3gDHUGdfXx85KlakEulPE4GNWWoMwH_F7SDJKbgVy2pUV0zeW3sSsEn05BFqtDVMLBqXjw9nj9dZxU1_KEK_su7G_9P1lWL-yaNjS-NhyphenhyphenlRLRWs2SPPDODfIsr/s640/IMG_4507.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I got a little excited about the shop...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>Could we fall in love with an android?</b><br />
<br />
My first few days in Tokyo were spent at Tokyo Tech with <a href="http://www.ryu.titech.ac.jp/~nohara/eng/index.html" target="_blank">Professor Kayoko Nohara </a>and found out more about her work into research into translation and science communication. They have run a number of science cafe's but created a new, more interactive format that fuses art and science in a 'creative cafe'. These Creative Cafe's involve the audience in the event and sound like a fantastic exploration of science beyond the lab and lecture format.<br />
<br />
I also met with Professor Tom Hope at Tokyo Tech and was lucky enough to attend his 'Think Aloud' session where I debated whether we could ever fall in love with androids and what it means to be human and the concept of love with students who are practicing their English skills and discussing science and societal issues at the same time.<br />
<br />
The students also chatted to me about how they use social media (Facebook, Twitter and Line). Line is a little like Whatsapp and WeChat but is used to plan social events and connect with others of similar interests. It's also popular because it's 'stickers' which include dancing rabbits and other things..<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigw5VEaUHikPNGUVfPTy0xXXGooJO_Ry6ZzG8Qt2LMHgVi86hWo62jSRc6ndNyOqyLTDCceV16UlwZoOaDv-m7ims7e3jTpA_nCyu9wLvEyu9_rGgi-JU4yXg3UQ5LzZ6ZtigRao91B1Ma/s1600/IMG_4210.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigw5VEaUHikPNGUVfPTy0xXXGooJO_Ry6ZzG8Qt2LMHgVi86hWo62jSRc6ndNyOqyLTDCceV16UlwZoOaDv-m7ims7e3jTpA_nCyu9wLvEyu9_rGgi-JU4yXg3UQ5LzZ6ZtigRao91B1Ma/s640/IMG_4210.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>How many graduates from your university have traveled to space?</b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisiIsiguo1H9zRC4gvVcRIfW08fmS51JbygLFm5bToWUaW-Vx90sIXahCaX54Fz94mOFhEirQBTg7DwEBI3GyZP7y4to44hD46aHYyndWBbE20t7Rs5YjD1UmKIC2kqIMZXHtR9P1_3WPH/s1600/IMG_4321.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisiIsiguo1H9zRC4gvVcRIfW08fmS51JbygLFm5bToWUaW-Vx90sIXahCaX54Fz94mOFhEirQBTg7DwEBI3GyZP7y4to44hD46aHYyndWBbE20t7Rs5YjD1UmKIC2kqIMZXHtR9P1_3WPH/s640/IMG_4321.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
Later in the week I met with the public relations team at the University of Tokyo. They have developed a bilingual digital resource to connect people with the <a href="http://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/utokyo-research/" target="_blank">UToyko Research</a>. Discussing with them I learnt what happens when one of the Professors you work with is awarded the Nobel Prize, how the general community in Japan is pretty interested in science and technology and is also trusting of science and scientists. GMO's, climate change, vaccines are not topics of 'debate' in Japan.<br />
<br />
We had a great discussion with a wider group of staff about interactions via social media and the challenges of having to ensure that both English and Japanese translations are included. Many manage not one, but two social media sites that are the same but differ in their language. It's also challenging because the descriptors and language used for a Japanese audience aren't always what they would like to host in English.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaXnjWBu2RycXb_Ah3u3K02doXlIInGXAznia6dhmFTUy5qiDkBZuFphqc-sw3TIX8ln44FCROxL3a-gdBJ5OodScrEVYnt4vcMZfmj6V1Op0O-Pr1ehMpR5Y-8ZvlwpxAdeTwJ5Ohi_uH/s1600/IMG_4309.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaXnjWBu2RycXb_Ah3u3K02doXlIInGXAznia6dhmFTUy5qiDkBZuFphqc-sw3TIX8ln44FCROxL3a-gdBJ5OodScrEVYnt4vcMZfmj6V1Op0O-Pr1ehMpR5Y-8ZvlwpxAdeTwJ5Ohi_uH/s640/IMG_4309.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
They had a great shop on their beautiful campus too. The shop sold not only University of Tokyo branded goods but objects, items and information about spin out companies from the University and their own branded Sake, created from a strain of yeast they thought was destroyed but was found in the university archives many years later.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRE_O4g1rKmuLTxc2gqWOQMTxARR99VHDLHoba_1Enoxj1z5Im6jAeVlFWoPmyWM1PObD8Za1k4H8VoWRar4yVDPFDoTeDRnBWLJbQt8RqJLArrisf_dVZNKs2frDYjJYW3SKiDjdMD2do/s1600/IMG_4323.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRE_O4g1rKmuLTxc2gqWOQMTxARR99VHDLHoba_1Enoxj1z5Im6jAeVlFWoPmyWM1PObD8Za1k4H8VoWRar4yVDPFDoTeDRnBWLJbQt8RqJLArrisf_dVZNKs2frDYjJYW3SKiDjdMD2do/s640/IMG_4323.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The University of Tokyo campus</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimvq8j1HwjDiHGNgKvvNuXH4Rjepwi1iviyabXUct0iyx8O5zyhNT9v1N2U1DdBVhOFh10DdcwpgbQwf3TvEJat5d9l2hsh7HVK9pWCtsHNtGbrgQSJt3E6N1EF4n4rws_pCcnmlhxdiIP/s1600/IMG_4466.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimvq8j1HwjDiHGNgKvvNuXH4Rjepwi1iviyabXUct0iyx8O5zyhNT9v1N2U1DdBVhOFh10DdcwpgbQwf3TvEJat5d9l2hsh7HVK9pWCtsHNtGbrgQSJt3E6N1EF4n4rws_pCcnmlhxdiIP/s640/IMG_4466.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Participating in an experiment looking at walking styles at Miraikan</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0P9GGYcNJUOAvSgf_WqduY7XYtWaoueOjgPq_v7cCgQVrT-L-rHMIcAReZuvzIpygYnycR8xwEB-cDpDAkjcvRQD26T06oZSOyyOYwql1eSpU5P4c2Ja8RR36uMlwZ2UxabdiTtVayA_5/s1600/IMG_4222.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0P9GGYcNJUOAvSgf_WqduY7XYtWaoueOjgPq_v7cCgQVrT-L-rHMIcAReZuvzIpygYnycR8xwEB-cDpDAkjcvRQD26T06oZSOyyOYwql1eSpU5P4c2Ja8RR36uMlwZ2UxabdiTtVayA_5/s640/IMG_4222.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpwyMUa7DqB-qS6HUGaJ1mTPI_mDcDy2bpPqQ8LKHAhBnotLH9nTvUM1kBkivxfxHh1IREEo_5Xg_7_P9j9p8AVHEyNa5mF8LYIlLQ5Ptdf0jo41FeZNJgDR7_FkPGw9jvVF4KwXHoKTZ2/s1600/DSC_0464.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpwyMUa7DqB-qS6HUGaJ1mTPI_mDcDy2bpPqQ8LKHAhBnotLH9nTvUM1kBkivxfxHh1IREEo_5Xg_7_P9j9p8AVHEyNa5mF8LYIlLQ5Ptdf0jo41FeZNJgDR7_FkPGw9jvVF4KwXHoKTZ2/s640/DSC_0464.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC8WI1UYjA3OIBe1J-BVooKeohe_q3YuQLUZ0dCM057mrmELuK2hLa9YxWavBpHH7nim7rMr2t-z7aVF574sk_RTltFSV8vY1xIN1396xaKMXHlK5NP_lPW3NIq52nxQvXbWnJ6MxlgF3z/s1600/DSC_0423.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC8WI1UYjA3OIBe1J-BVooKeohe_q3YuQLUZ0dCM057mrmELuK2hLa9YxWavBpHH7nim7rMr2t-z7aVF574sk_RTltFSV8vY1xIN1396xaKMXHlK5NP_lPW3NIq52nxQvXbWnJ6MxlgF3z/s640/DSC_0423.jpg" width="424" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibFgaSHrKY-2ay69UrG6VeQ0WMfqr9TIQm4U05RfGjuH17TCM-yHmwPfeUg7Ip4qKjgHcS-AzOTPRP7YTCxuOSpXux5f9CQIchECmHrlhpKkzaUFM6A-7Gcfg8r4Er6087XEh6sK0Uu9KY/s1600/DSC_0394.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibFgaSHrKY-2ay69UrG6VeQ0WMfqr9TIQm4U05RfGjuH17TCM-yHmwPfeUg7Ip4qKjgHcS-AzOTPRP7YTCxuOSpXux5f9CQIchECmHrlhpKkzaUFM6A-7Gcfg8r4Er6087XEh6sK0Uu9KY/s640/DSC_0394.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYe0I-dI_snFKHPFKqjM6TmKLdKuAXUKq1QlvimODlKi1VfXGmW1c28DP3TBiFLYOUoH4NH1-FvCJz3q-di5BEBXK9gB-_eBxwonLJ1IvZVVoyHAjwtB8uqwrMmW3RFyzZlciq7PobYOFd/s1600/DSC_0397.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYe0I-dI_snFKHPFKqjM6TmKLdKuAXUKq1QlvimODlKi1VfXGmW1c28DP3TBiFLYOUoH4NH1-FvCJz3q-di5BEBXK9gB-_eBxwonLJ1IvZVVoyHAjwtB8uqwrMmW3RFyzZlciq7PobYOFd/s640/DSC_0397.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9gqu6x7ADNEviAdd3B0n9TzO1xNaOUBtAbik7xWQbnUS0OqYq_34YncNO_fjxpvb1Jn1Kc19gFn_p0Dh45pyvas6j5a0bq_PD9X3-BmdJmsloxI6MRnKAqU6Q0EB_YRVl9YoK3Ii9QsGB/s1600/DSC_0364.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9gqu6x7ADNEviAdd3B0n9TzO1xNaOUBtAbik7xWQbnUS0OqYq_34YncNO_fjxpvb1Jn1Kc19gFn_p0Dh45pyvas6j5a0bq_PD9X3-BmdJmsloxI6MRnKAqU6Q0EB_YRVl9YoK3Ii9QsGB/s640/DSC_0364.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWoMp2tnlysK-9GPtS1kuumM2WyIhORB4j9A29lxtGRePzgtU5DNAhVqNCu62da5ytHlH-0PXuVSddsDCxVdldRcC0gcX33LHi_3Ii6KBATh41dGwC7y-ozfelaVQ0-lDiRXG8EMCmLB4O/s1600/DSC_0347.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWoMp2tnlysK-9GPtS1kuumM2WyIhORB4j9A29lxtGRePzgtU5DNAhVqNCu62da5ytHlH-0PXuVSddsDCxVdldRcC0gcX33LHi_3Ii6KBATh41dGwC7y-ozfelaVQ0-lDiRXG8EMCmLB4O/s640/DSC_0347.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwOTF0RI02m5GJYdJTukLnELN1wPoLCd53LD7ouow3_DKOsZ7I9tuS3q3bUBtL3ImK3clkPjIhROfT7NwN263tt8lxavEjRNcZA4-Rm225ZokM6bEDQuBSMcYhcVAfsNW7sOqx01ZZyLpo/s1600/DSC_0361.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwOTF0RI02m5GJYdJTukLnELN1wPoLCd53LD7ouow3_DKOsZ7I9tuS3q3bUBtL3ImK3clkPjIhROfT7NwN263tt8lxavEjRNcZA4-Rm225ZokM6bEDQuBSMcYhcVAfsNW7sOqx01ZZyLpo/s640/DSC_0361.jpg" width="424" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_8OZa3CkBWRmjE4eq80exmk10EyTzw3zjDvyEcXZGL7HYoi-d1R3h4ka-hwiKIlByidawe55a-rwzB3rYQdQmUUpF4HYAN2YfHOrd2-joGQtpl2fpJNki9RiMkor2fmGFRPt_L9m-Lebu/s1600/DSC_0366.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_8OZa3CkBWRmjE4eq80exmk10EyTzw3zjDvyEcXZGL7HYoi-d1R3h4ka-hwiKIlByidawe55a-rwzB3rYQdQmUUpF4HYAN2YfHOrd2-joGQtpl2fpJNki9RiMkor2fmGFRPt_L9m-Lebu/s640/DSC_0366.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1WkFo6zvlq2xFfIMI1t_yD6TTJP3gemhU4NMSHKFUS6d7igI8GxxBi7RRIp8ouZ2FrlJYLe_l-2wJ6z8ZhpOYuj2Lm0XwNDWdLJeCYjXXGSRVf4FlYHetHmSE3DwfWNlTmq3dBWfBzDYX/s1600/IMG_4640.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1WkFo6zvlq2xFfIMI1t_yD6TTJP3gemhU4NMSHKFUS6d7igI8GxxBi7RRIp8ouZ2FrlJYLe_l-2wJ6z8ZhpOYuj2Lm0XwNDWdLJeCYjXXGSRVf4FlYHetHmSE3DwfWNlTmq3dBWfBzDYX/s640/IMG_4640.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">See you soon Japan!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">For the best experience (and to see embedded video content) view my blog at http://www.heatherdoran.net . Don't forget you can find me on Twitter @hapsci http://www.twitter.com/hapsci</div>Heather Doranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01743182952112081912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034888015247889941.post-48311034057064375562015-11-23T05:35:00.000-08:002015-11-23T05:35:46.839-08:00Science, China and why we should all take notice of WeChat. <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I spent last week in Shanghai exploring the use of social media to communicate science as part of my <a href="http://www.heatherdoran.net/2015/05/my-churchill-travel-fellowship-public.html" target="_blank">Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship</a>.<br />
<br />
I had an extremely busy week and was lucky enough to meet with researchers in science communication, representatives from Nature and the Royal Society of Chemistry in Shanghai. Who all gave me extremely valuable insights into science communication and social media in China.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYEH8UxWabHav2_tuS1Qs6YmRWH2u9aD1fOWzQZTMmICWNviihM1d5IHcRMXpVK9b3nTN4ZEPsZz2FIOINR7kCt3l7RZBzdIdholi_x5QmBaFvrPJCZo9PcogJgwpfLB2BBfvJnQ6A8dkH/s1600/IMG_4035.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYEH8UxWabHav2_tuS1Qs6YmRWH2u9aD1fOWzQZTMmICWNviihM1d5IHcRMXpVK9b3nTN4ZEPsZz2FIOINR7kCt3l7RZBzdIdholi_x5QmBaFvrPJCZo9PcogJgwpfLB2BBfvJnQ6A8dkH/s640/IMG_4035.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Welcome to Shanghai!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
The majority of my time was spent at <a href="http://en.sjtu.edu.cn/" target="_blank">Shanghai Jiao Tong University</a>, which is a well established institution in China. I visited researcher <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/yi-mou-5a720161" target="_blank">Dr Yi Mou</a> who has written a number of papers about the use of social media for health messaging and its uptake by academics on a professional basis in China.<br />
<br />
Yi Mou also translated some interesting findings from science communication surveys in China that have been conducted over the past number of years.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyy8pswzhHK2AFdKxNIbFpOyuMixDINhutMhurNx4RasaJMqccVkPX4G7TsZfHIXRwIfU0_hEhCOGSVIwLN9XcJIXtqCAeKKTkGIg7q9zdKA86ADNydcfli8_xiEymBb5Ip519zJVHlxBY/s1600/IMG_3958.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyy8pswzhHK2AFdKxNIbFpOyuMixDINhutMhurNx4RasaJMqccVkPX4G7TsZfHIXRwIfU0_hEhCOGSVIwLN9XcJIXtqCAeKKTkGIg7q9zdKA86ADNydcfli8_xiEymBb5Ip519zJVHlxBY/s640/IMG_3958.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me, Dr Li Mou and Dr Nainan Wen from Nanjing University where I also visited</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
I was incredibly lucky to meet with a group of people who were so accommodating. China is an interesting place and I was a little apprehensive about how I would navigate around but actually it was pretty simple. The subway in Shanghai is so easy to use and despite no access to google maps I didn't get lost once (this is unusual).<br />
<br />
In China, access to websites and social media platforms is limited. There isn't a lack of social networks to choose from as many platforms created in China have materialised. These include but aren't limited to Weibo (which is a public discussion forum limited by characters, similar to Twitter) and WeChat (which is an interesting mix of Facebook and WhatsApp where you can post publicly and interact in groups or one-to-one). I found out about another bunch too that work in interesting ways but I will save those for another post.<br />
<br />
The uptake of these platforms in China is huge, although the use of Weibo has declined rapidly recently due the shift of people to the WeChat platform and due to issues with the shutting down of accounts and deleted posts.<br />
<br />
A number of studies have been conducted on science communication on Weibo. As it is an open platform like Twitter the data is easily available. The public were found to ask questions of science and want to know more, GMO is a hot topic in China, but there are very few scientists engaged in communication with these audiences*.<br />
<br />
Social media in China is monitored and managed so participants are wary of what they share online. WeChat involves a lot of private messaging and closed group discussion but these posts are also monitored.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJFCWxDivbAd_ACiuLLNzO4OdUBSE82pUIH1we6EW58E3-in5Gn-2vuqB96KchRadwFjgi0TdFImcTGrPGp5V-gv7S-3U7V-o_fq5qSY5PP3DCQQTboJNHwoJewsWEnASd4uY00-Uc3f-X/s1600/IMG_3974.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJFCWxDivbAd_ACiuLLNzO4OdUBSE82pUIH1we6EW58E3-in5Gn-2vuqB96KchRadwFjgi0TdFImcTGrPGp5V-gv7S-3U7V-o_fq5qSY5PP3DCQQTboJNHwoJewsWEnASd4uY00-Uc3f-X/s640/IMG_3974.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Speaking to students at Nanjing University about why scientists might interact on social media</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
When it comes to social media and smartphone applications China is SWITCHED ON. Comments like, <i>"In China everyone wants everything fast" </i>and <i>"everyone wants to feel part of something" </i>highlighted to me just how attached China is to social media. The constant notification sound from WeChat that you could hear 24/7 confirmed this, and it is still ringing in my ears.<br />
<br />
WeChat is HUGE. A statistic that I was told is that 90% of China's population that have access to the internet use WeChat (trying to find a source for this, if anyone can please let me know), that is a lot of people. For some more informed but slightly outdated stats <a href="http://expandedramblings.com/index.php/wechat-statistics/2/" target="_blank">see this post</a>.<br />
<br />
It's good to note that this rise in popularity of WeChat isn't only because other networks are blocked as these can be accessed pretty easily via a VPN. Facebook and Twitter accounts are visibly advertised on business cards and other promotional material in China but WeChat is most definitely China's favourite network.<br />
<br />
Everyone is on WeChat and because of this pretty much all communication goes through WeChat. From department meetings and university announcements to communicating with your mum everything takes place via WeChat. I saw it in action when a International Student's networking night by the communication school at Shanghai Jiao Tong University was arranged via WeChat.<br />
<br />
When it comes to science on WeChat. There are some scientists that blog and have some influential pages, sharing popular science updates and comments. These are very much the minority and tend to be high profile scientists, but they do attract big numbers of followers. Beyond the public face of the WeChat superstar scientists, specialist discussions about areas of research also take place in closed groups (which can include up to and over 500 people). These chats are global, with scientists located everywhere contributing to discussion.<br />
<br />
The closed groups are great for scientific discussion and collaboration but create a problem in that unless you know they are there you can be excluded from conversations. They are monitored too of course.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9HA6-xpBuaLAk9HJkZvoxjyLv72SAAmBtSIYDrzA8nZKlMhxMH9-C_VmyZeyLpfOBzrmajcMupdw028_aTzWSg4nEpyfy5qDcCxkKxCuOscugmy2U9Y_SREHOL1pBAdqvFPt2_3bREgS1/s1600/IMG_4002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9HA6-xpBuaLAk9HJkZvoxjyLv72SAAmBtSIYDrzA8nZKlMhxMH9-C_VmyZeyLpfOBzrmajcMupdw028_aTzWSg4nEpyfy5qDcCxkKxCuOscugmy2U9Y_SREHOL1pBAdqvFPt2_3bREgS1/s640/IMG_4002.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beautiful colours on the Nanjing University campus</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The way people use WeChat and how it works is incredibly interesting. We should take note because many of the apps more common to us in the US and the UK will be moving in this direction soon if <a href="http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2015/11/features/inside-facebook-messenger" target="_blank">Mark Zuckerberg has his way</a>. A comment over dinner highlighted one key difference between WeChat and Facebook, <i>"it's interesting because Facebook TELLS you what you want, whereas on WeChat it's easy and you create what you want"</i>. The premise is that people can give you access to information faster than an internet search ever can. You can ask in a group, "can anyone tell me where to find xxx" and the answer is with you instantly. This is something that people have realised and use Twitter for too; answers, experts and papers are only a question away if you are in the right group.<br />
<br />
You can pay for goods, donate money and pay for articles (recently it's started prompting people to 'thank' people for a good post with money) via WeChat. You can book appointments, flights, anything and everything. This has created an interesting shift where people no longer visit websites or use email. No other app offers this amount of functionality. I constantly have to shift between apps and networks to do what I want. Not on WeChat.<br />
<br />
All the great suff aside, it's not without its problems, as messages can get missed (many people are in multiple groups). People I spoke to wondered if it was being overused and relied upon too much. Will people switch off to the constant updates?<br />
<br />
WeChat isn't just contained within China. Anyone wanting to do business or interact easily with those in China quickly realises how useful WeChat is for collaboration and its use outside China is increasing.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWRURKkYlt6wFeVmZ67PvN7u72h0DtmIwQ9ox81XGROb4OW3ZDiHrJL40bD1aPsJHSzVGe3KwYehPnWTS6Ymh5LgIxF0N0-m4D71mujUj2WNHWs5yeiCCtREzO-yzG9Yf9M1ut-DZI8KfB/s1600/IMG_3987.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWRURKkYlt6wFeVmZ67PvN7u72h0DtmIwQ9ox81XGROb4OW3ZDiHrJL40bD1aPsJHSzVGe3KwYehPnWTS6Ymh5LgIxF0N0-m4D71mujUj2WNHWs5yeiCCtREzO-yzG9Yf9M1ut-DZI8KfB/s640/IMG_3987.jpg" width="526" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me in Nanjing University campus</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
No matter where content comes from the content on WeChat <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2015/01/06/tencent_s_wechat_worldwide_internet_users_are_voluntarily_submitting_to.html" target="_blank">is still monitored </a>which will prevent many from signing up but I think in the future we may all find ourselves shifting to a service that allows us to do everything we need to without clicking on a website.<br />
<br />
The rise of messaging vs broadcast social media platforms may cause a bit of a problem for science communication. Conversations will take place within distinct groups of interest and between those 'in the know' rather than on open platforms like Twitter where everyone can pile in and see the conversation taking place or the content that is shared.<br />
<br />
The popularity of messaging may mean that conversations become more closed in the future rather than more open, despite us having the technology and ability to hold open discussion. This makes me feel a little worried about the rise of messaging. <br />
<br />
<br />
*This information was taken from the <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Science-Communication-2013-2014-Chinese-Edition/dp/7509760410" target="_blank">Blue Book of Science Communication in China</a>.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">For the best experience (and to see embedded video content) view my blog at http://www.heatherdoran.net . Don't forget you can find me on Twitter @hapsci http://www.twitter.com/hapsci</div>Heather Doranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01743182952112081912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034888015247889941.post-16782234412764784682015-11-03T13:23:00.000-08:002015-11-03T13:24:38.143-08:00Social media networks are becoming more like real life, not less <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This week there's been a higher than normal amount of discussion around to the topic of 'the death of social media', well, there has been on my social media networks. And that links to what I want to talk about in this post.<br />
<br />
The Atlantic published a piece yesterday on <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/11/conversation-smoosh-twitter-decay/412867/" target="_blank">'The Decay of Twitter' </a>which followed the announcement that Twitter was running at a financial loss. Today, Essena O'Neill announced that she is <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/nov/03/instagram-star-essena-oneill-quits-2d-life-to-reveal-true-story-behind-images" target="_blank">quitting Instagram</a> because social media 'isn't real life'. I've found the discussions around both of these really interesting but many discussions about social media often assume a couple of points that I think should be thought about further and these haven't really been addressed in commentary that I have seen.<br />
<br />
<b>1) Everyone should be using the same social network</b><br />
<br />
Obviously for a social network to be a social network it needs users and for business (like Twitter) additional users is a sign that they are doing well. But as a user of a network does more users mean that it is a better network to use? Many people use multiple networks because they offer different functionality. Some people like images, others like reading or connecting with videos and this need can shift depending on what content people are looking to find.<br />
<br />
<b>2) Everyone uses social media networks in the same way</b><br />
<br />
The Essena O'Neill story made me think more about how people use networks. Not everyone uses social media to broadcast their perfect life or to broadcast at all. Members of <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Fibromyalgia" target="_blank">patient and other support groups</a> use social media to communicate and help each other. People going through difficult periods of their life use social media to connect. Other use social media to communicate with friends, family and with others with shared interests like sport, or science. Not all Instagram accounts exist to promote unachievable beauty goals, some exist to <a href="https://instagram.com/exploratorium/" target="_blank">inspire curiosity</a> in science and to share <a href="https://instagram.com/womenirl/?hl=en" target="_blank">moments of real life</a>.<br />
<br />
<b>3) The way we use social media changes and that's natural</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
As we age, change jobs, location, interests and friendship groups the way we interact online with others changes to reflect this. It's natural really, so is it newsworthy?<br />
<br />
The problem is that as in our 'offline life', our online life is dominated by information from sources we choose to visit or recommendations from friends and connections. There's an increasingly diverse set of social networks, tools and functions and these open up the what we interact with or what we read in news and commentary but these are limited by who we choose to connect with. Because of this we see a skewed view of the overall picture.<br />
<br />
Social media is certainly not dying a death. The number of people interacting on social networks is <a href="http://wearesocial.net/blog/2015/01/digital-social-mobile-worldwide-2015/" target="_blank">growing</a> but the field is diversifying and becoming more reflective of different interests and ways people prefer to connect to each other. For me, I love soaking up information from different accounts and hearing from people I wouldn't be able to connect without social media. Far from consuming everything social media is valuable and offers a great amount of opportunity to explore, learn and connect.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Just a note...<br />
<br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #141823;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.5636px;">I want you to help me (and </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">researcher </span><a href="http://www.scilogs.com/from_the_lab_bench/" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Paige Brown Jarreau</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> ) to understand more about who reads this blog and other blogs related to science. </span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">You will also get FREE science art from </span><a href="http://paigesphotos.photoshelter.com/" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Paige's Photography</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> for participating, as well as a chance to win a t-shirt and other perks! It should only take 10-15 minutes to complete. You can find the survey here: </span><b style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><a href="http://bit.ly/mysciblogreaders" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/<wbr></wbr>mysciblogreaders</a></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">. </span></span></div>
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">For the best experience (and to see embedded video content) view my blog at http://www.heatherdoran.net . Don't forget you can find me on Twitter @hapsci http://www.twitter.com/hapsci</div>Heather Doranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01743182952112081912noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034888015247889941.post-3625596256460095652015-10-22T09:30:00.000-07:002015-10-22T09:30:07.444-07:00Updates from Hapsci and a call for help!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.5636px;">Next month (November) I will be continuing my Churchill Fellowship with a trip to Shanghai and to Tokyo. As you can imagine I am very excited about taking this trip. </span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.5636px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.5636px;">I</span><span style="line-height: 17.5636px;"> will be meeting with a number of interesting people including two research groups that focus on science communication in China and in Japan.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's going to be a new experience for me and I'm looking forward to the trip. But before I head on my way I wanted see if there are any particular questions people wonder about science and science communication in China and Japan from my blog readers. </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It would be great if you could tell me if you<span style="line-height: 17.5636px;"> interact/follow any great science focused accounts that are based in China or Japan. I would be interested to know if there are any particular pages or accounts that people really love.</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 17.5636px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #141823;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17.5636px;">I also want you to help me (and </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">researcher </span><a href="http://www.scilogs.com/from_the_lab_bench/" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Paige Brown Jarreau</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> ) to understand more about who reads this blog and other blogs related to science. </span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">You will also get FREE science art from </span><a href="http://paigesphotos.photoshelter.com/" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Paige's Photography</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> for participating, as well as a chance to win a t-shirt and other perks! It should only take 10-15 minutes to complete. You can find the survey here: </span><b style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><a href="http://bit.ly/mysciblogreaders" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/<wbr></wbr>mysciblogreaders</a></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">. </span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thanks for helping me out! </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYv8v4WpKeTRKO8bSzPayqwLVr9mK5UNAG2AHeEiY6JSVN1DIbnC-9Y2Z4o6SbqV4zgijRJWCCzpTGr62qnlAPoIZ6C3GTD-cgmBYOAREpql3WHrfK7IsPbM7vLnFG2xD8W1-tyexQeSch/s1600/AguqWa-CAAA1SiQ.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYv8v4WpKeTRKO8bSzPayqwLVr9mK5UNAG2AHeEiY6JSVN1DIbnC-9Y2Z4o6SbqV4zgijRJWCCzpTGr62qnlAPoIZ6C3GTD-cgmBYOAREpql3WHrfK7IsPbM7vLnFG2xD8W1-tyexQeSch/s640/AguqWa-CAAA1SiQ.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">For the best experience (and to see embedded video content) view my blog at http://www.heatherdoran.net . Don't forget you can find me on Twitter @hapsci http://www.twitter.com/hapsci</div>Heather Doranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01743182952112081912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034888015247889941.post-32526448592949341592015-09-01T09:26:00.001-07:002015-09-01T09:26:19.915-07:00How to Be A Social Media Wizz: Top Tips for Researchers <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I have written a Buzzfeed post of the 10 top tips I have gathered from science communicators, universities and science writers in the US and Canada... click on the image below to be taken through to the guide. I hope you find it useful. <br />
<br />
This list was compiled as I undertook my Churchill Travel Fellowship. I also wrote up some good example case studies and how to plan a social media engagement strategy on the <a href="http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2015/07/30/online-engagement-strategy-dont-go-it-alone/" target="_blank">LSE Impact Blog</a>. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/hapsci/how-to-be-a-social-media-wizz-a-guide-for-researc-1j14j" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.buzzfeed.com/hapsci/how-to-be-a-social-media-wizz-a-guide-for-researc-1j14j" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmZ-IBZZCUEmdfwPY7tQ_DXgIM3sBIZmrhINJ4hBF8kD6yjN0XTSZfPWp8_hS7_Yrfh7OzH1DCiaLdjOZkePDjQaDhrqmnc05sUPc_398HjLppaAy4rNQOEpJdBdVyB3AUPSvalBjbT92j/s1600/socialmediabuzzfeed.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
I wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone that supported me and met with me during my Fellowship. Everyone I met was so open about discussing what they do. <br />
<br />
I was worried that people wouldn't want to speak openly to a stranger who was external to their organisation but that wasn't the case at all. Every single person I interacted with was incredibly welcoming. Their thoughts and views have definitely impacted on me and how I will approach everything in the future. Many discussions included not only the focus of the sharing of science and engagement with science on social media but more general discussions around the nature of scientific discovery, evolution of science communication as a field and chats about life in general. I've created a happy photo collage of some of the amazing people I met. It doesn't include everyone as sometimes we got carried away chatting and I forgot to take a photo.<br />
<br />
A special thanks goes to the University of Aberdeen and to <a href="https://twitter.com/LouWoodley?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" target="_blank">Lou Woodley</a> who helped support my Fellowship. Lou also helped me edit my Buzzfeed :) and it was great to meet up with her and the Trellis team in Washington D.C.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvg7_PG14nwlIiEpJUpJdHb7M2hbe8i36s-FPMd3DyDP9UURFjK4MffEyYcp53vqV23Hqkfn23Beu66I8KZBa3twR4uCFzZGdHOEQj6rp9aVN9nIf9ovBjutETSXq6bhVGkLtYnX3_GegO/s1600/photovisi-download.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvg7_PG14nwlIiEpJUpJdHb7M2hbe8i36s-FPMd3DyDP9UURFjK4MffEyYcp53vqV23Hqkfn23Beu66I8KZBa3twR4uCFzZGdHOEQj6rp9aVN9nIf9ovBjutETSXq6bhVGkLtYnX3_GegO/s640/photovisi-download.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; language: en-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-index: 1; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: black; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: text1; mso-style-textfill-type: solid;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Just to summarise this part of my Fellowship covered:</span></span><br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; language: en-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-index: 1; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: black; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: text1; mso-style-textfill-type: solid;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">4 weeks</span></span></li>
<li><div class="O0" style="-ms-word-break: normal; language: en-GB; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 4.8pt; mso-line-break-override: none; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; language: en-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-index: 1; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: black; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: text1; mso-style-textfill-type: solid;"></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; language: en-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-index: 1; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: black; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: text1; mso-style-textfill-type: solid;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">5 cities (2 countries)</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div class="O0" style="-ms-word-break: normal; language: en-GB; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 4.8pt; mso-line-break-override: none; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; language: en-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-index: 1; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: black; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: text1; mso-style-textfill-type: solid;"></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; language: en-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-index: 1; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: black; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: text1; mso-style-textfill-type: solid;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">10 Museums/Science Centres</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div class="O0" style="-ms-word-break: normal; language: en-GB; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 4.8pt; mso-line-break-override: none; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; language: en-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-index: 1; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: black; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: text1; mso-style-textfill-type: solid;">3</span><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; language: en-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-index: 1; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: black; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: text1; mso-style-textfill-type: solid;">7 interviews </span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div class="O0" style="-ms-word-break: normal; language: en-GB; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 4.8pt; mso-line-break-override: none; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; language: en-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-index: 1; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: black; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: text1; mso-style-textfill-type: solid;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; language: en-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-index: 1; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: black; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: text1; mso-style-textfill-type: solid;">310,000 </span><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; language: en-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-index: 1; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: black; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: text1; mso-style-textfill-type: solid;">steps</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div class="O0" style="-ms-word-break: normal; language: en-GB; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 4.8pt; mso-line-break-override: none; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; language: en-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-index: 1; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: black; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: text1; mso-style-textfill-type: solid;"></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; language: en-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-index: 1; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: black; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: text1; mso-style-textfill-type: solid;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">400 tweets</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div class="O0" style="-ms-word-break: normal; language: en-GB; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 4.8pt; mso-line-break-override: none; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; language: en-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-index: 1; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: black; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: text1; mso-style-textfill-type: solid;"></span><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri; language: en-GB; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: +mn-cs; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-color-index: 1; mso-fareast-font-family: +mn-ea; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast; mso-font-kerning: 12.0pt; mso-style-textfill-fill-alpha: 100.0%; mso-style-textfill-fill-color: black; mso-style-textfill-fill-themecolor: text1; mso-style-textfill-type: solid;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">8 blog posts</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div class="O0" style="-ms-word-break: normal; language: en-GB; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0.38in; margin-top: 4.8pt; mso-line-break-override: none; punctuation-wrap: hanging; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.38in; unicode-bidi: embed;">
2 (and maybe a bit) bags of Cheetos</div>
</li>
</ul>
<br />
It was an incredible experience and I really can't thank those that I met enough. <a href="http://www.wcmt.org.uk/" target="_blank">The Churchill Trust Fellowships</a> are open for applications this year. So you should take a look.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">For the best experience (and to see embedded video content) view my blog at http://www.heatherdoran.net . Don't forget you can find me on Twitter @hapsci http://www.twitter.com/hapsci</div>Heather Doranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01743182952112081912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034888015247889941.post-63865661519022696292015-07-23T03:46:00.000-07:002015-07-23T03:46:47.941-07:00Churchill Fellowship: Toronto and the Social Media Lab <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Ah, beautiful Toronto. I wasn't expecting to fall in love with this city as much as I did, but I really did. I met some fantastic people and had some great discussions about the use of social media for public engagement with science.* <br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">*disclaimer, there are lots of city skyline shots in this blog post.</span> </div>
<div style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I spent a good four days in Toronto exploring over the weekend and meeting with scientists and staff at the University of Toronto and speaking with the fantastic <a href="http://socialmedialab.ca/" target="_blank">Social Media Lab at Ryerson University</a>. I was invited to speak at the Ryerson University Social Media Lab about my Churchill Fellowship. I've included my slides and a YouTube video of my talk 'How scientists are using social media' at the bottom of this post.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT4ddJTYxyQxMiv7dktoM9kZvjqziOZKffDeUPCLZ_lYA_tAqyDKM_17hRVB9qXrId9qO8LKAFOPcUSyiAUede3QsbLK23a7aoJE6k16NniwFZh06wprbrqUTXKxgQCTkm5ThyfuFRg3eK/s1600/DSC_0308.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT4ddJTYxyQxMiv7dktoM9kZvjqziOZKffDeUPCLZ_lYA_tAqyDKM_17hRVB9qXrId9qO8LKAFOPcUSyiAUede3QsbLK23a7aoJE6k16NniwFZh06wprbrqUTXKxgQCTkm5ThyfuFRg3eK/s640/DSC_0308.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Toronto by day</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<br /></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghiZvQFY3bMJZkJEoHQ0y-ViJs-K3pmyOq6-gXgdiL5uLwOwhCxcCt-FBT39m6MswCeGBhz36hYK-PsxORObXyaro9xSBCvMQZZhgo8axpV8uIrp5-EmkhZJuvGnnvzwJ1SDN3ZGNWENuM/s1600/DSC_0322.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghiZvQFY3bMJZkJEoHQ0y-ViJs-K3pmyOq6-gXgdiL5uLwOwhCxcCt-FBT39m6MswCeGBhz36hYK-PsxORObXyaro9xSBCvMQZZhgo8axpV8uIrp5-EmkhZJuvGnnvzwJ1SDN3ZGNWENuM/s640/DSC_0322.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br />
Toronto by night</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
The space they have in the Social Media Lab is great (it's based within offices once lived-in by Google). I tried out one of the 'chairs' in the image below although thankfully that experience isn't recorded in a video. <br />
<br />
The <a href="http://socialmediaandsociety.com/" target="_blank">Social Media and Society</a> conference is taking place at the Social Media Lab from the 27-29 of July this year. There are some fantastic sessions scheduled and I am looking forward to following through the hashtag <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SMSociety15?src=hash" target="_blank">#SMsociety15</a> . <br />
<br />
<br />
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><img height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjikUczf82fJ9Me5RU_1ClZ7ZquZzzZZHBbo8ovzlVWTkm2_zURfZW0zBHdh1ZBqdVbJ2tapYyPOKylk5g0iQGUV8fyaEMujNMEUnvwxlVWYMCXdkoSJ_rwi2ti-RDiAJifSXAGWw735ntl/s400/IMG_1541.jpg" width="300" /></td>
<td><img height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgow7x5ZDghFGkjnpWY2-NJtV43-_KKkYQ5Tf1yj4NIRk11PSWZRIbjYFqXlmFdYCthFBatn1oIYK3pV9zGby4CJ79HXaHcyWG2oXGEkTrQ09FWQBPrCiItQPFYumb2miK8cehwfzIFyvKb/s400/IMG_1540.jpg" width="400" /></td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The audience at my talk was great and asked lots of questions. I started to sum up some of my thoughts from my trip. One message I wanted to get across is that social media can be a really valuable tool but it isn't always the answer to all problems and setting up a Twitter account isn't automatically going to connect you with a public audience. Social media is one tool of many that can be used for public engagement but in order to do that requires planning, knowledge of the network and the setting of clear, achievable goals. <br />
<br />
We had a really open discussion about the value of social media and how the use of it can be implemented within universities. You can hear it all on the YouTube video at the bottom of this post. <br />
<br />
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipVgRuiVJ5w91U5PVzkR5pX_J1r9ALNgZtCg0dvbpjF0HajKNLkDDatdgctFXe3A76aIXtEj8_O-vUnjcusMDDnHgTOhbzyOZ5xmhV2to2eFSgF2_A_UnzL4vu8LhBPLIMF62bab3wnHoW/s1600/IMG_1545.jpg" width="350" /></td>
<td><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJvSSp-1P57Zk40JxCFA5KuVgocZKdlaqgBYoXyMUwkJPEyLuu-traJfc-fUVmTdztsBPP7NUUj-xUe6ciuRhf97oBJYfhKlfYhYEvw1DWWb3vfmHtu6PVGlkJxO3Hy7MqDnEJyfpEBqhR/s1600/IMG_1552.jpg" width="350" /></td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
In the afternoon I met with the wonderful Ophira Ginsburg (<a href="https://twitter.com/ophirag" target="_blank">@opheriaG</a>) at the Women's College Research Institute at the University of Toronto where we discussed how social media had changed her outlook on engaging with public audiences and a particular focus on engaging with active patient groups. Ophira has led and been involved with large scale twitter chats for International Womens' Day and leads the Lancet Series on <a href="http://www.globalwomenscancers.com/" target="_blank">Health, Equity and Womens Cancers</a>. This discussion happened while live interactions on Twitter were taking place!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZb7unQayeAgV8Lm9D962oyza5-3RGBLM91xwqNar2echiu8B_eObaY7xGE9F7K1TR2FTCXRVblogb02IBfPoAUtyJt4y_C16yjLC8Ppz0Zl_izXi-JEWqtqO8TlX2QYMIIKtSf3k8eidh/s1600/IMG_1579.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZb7unQayeAgV8Lm9D962oyza5-3RGBLM91xwqNar2echiu8B_eObaY7xGE9F7K1TR2FTCXRVblogb02IBfPoAUtyJt4y_C16yjLC8Ppz0Zl_izXi-JEWqtqO8TlX2QYMIIKtSf3k8eidh/s640/IMG_1579.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The University of Toronto campus</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Visiting the University of Toronto I met with a number of groups including Liam Mitchell from the Communications office in Faculty of Medicine and Paul Fraumeni in the Office of the Vice-President of Research and Innovation. It was great to chat to people across the institution about their visions for how the university could be communicating in the future. They are approaching a new structure and approach to communications across the institution and it was really interesting to hear how they are looking to implement that.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Up until now they haven't embraced social media as much as they could but they are moving in a new direction where for every element of communications they will think about which medium would be best for that particular communications. In the past traditional routes have been the default option - print. Now they are looking to approach communications (including interaction with research) in a way that utilises many different tools.<br />
<br />
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUlgje900uTrIatE4VLAidtk9ir2iSvuiialMIIrLAwNU8hBvgoV4elZeGzc3O1pEcJ8KEqsS6g-VX8sZ0BL7zRBR_NMSqSLVLuWeORSK_TjBiGLZZo3aKeqD4YL3aAn-Da4bNXqZbQ-ju/s1600/IMG_1567.jpg" width="350" /></td>
<td><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdeYwXXJolGjTxONtoo9ro1kwjjRd7B7YD2tAXI2_A9AbD9MEaE9mXH-ai6qlPk_RyJ1eLzw7yqvdI3fB295nnfbOPM7DhsL3nfJfnUwLISTK566bFYBT87neRWb3VXcWHE0_OQQ0O3svG/s1600/IMG_1597.jpg" width="350" /></td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Sometimes it might be print, sometimes via social media but the important change is that the communication medium is thought about at the start and, like I discussed at the Ryerson Social Media Lab, social media becomes part of a toolbox as they approach communications rather than an add on or an afterthought.
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
On my final day in Toronto I was invited to speak to a group of scientists at Ryerson University about how social media can be used as an effective tool for networking and helping career progression. It was a chance to talk about a subject I am very familiar with and discuss what networks can be useful for PhD students to PIs. Thinking about what people can find out about you online is important. Google yourself! Make sure your online profiles reflect what you want future employers/collaborators to see. For scientists there are a number of networks that can be helpful, for example ResearchGate which allows you to easily collate your published papers and academic career (much easier than LinkedIn) but you shouldn't overlook the more general channels. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU8LYMvFevKvhdQytCtRYFbZA0xkf6rbpo21ZjsS4XaPvtbaIgbS84tY7mu8nPKD4eN57y-R0AylgBZXAeERuPCIfvp2hutWVBg31wX3JxGB4xs2H-9OPasJJCDL3yuloQIJFUc0QDSvG0/s1600/IMG_1638.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU8LYMvFevKvhdQytCtRYFbZA0xkf6rbpo21ZjsS4XaPvtbaIgbS84tY7mu8nPKD4eN57y-R0AylgBZXAeERuPCIfvp2hutWVBg31wX3JxGB4xs2H-9OPasJJCDL3yuloQIJFUc0QDSvG0/s640/IMG_1638.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
So Toronto, you were fantastic and I hope I can visit again soon. I even managed to pop into my PhD supervisors lab and remind myself that I can still pipette, if needed! <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="420" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/key/dZXmNK4jcvPb3L" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin-bottom: 5px; max-width: 100%;" width="510"></iframe> </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 5px; text-align: center;">
<strong><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/heatherdoran1/social-media-use-and-opportunities-for-academic-researchers" target="_blank" title="Social Media use and opportunities for academic researchers">Social Media use and opportunities for academic researchers</a> </strong> from <strong><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/heatherdoran1" target="_blank">Heather Doran</a></strong> </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 5px;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 5px; text-align: center;">
YouTube video of the talk</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/nesvJ4ed1Is" width="420"></iframe> </div>
</div>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAD8TlIqhbVumVcDjMf-wEMSZU_awBY0aeAjuAMxMAFQ9whJz1_2ML-QsFmVC5ORBAltCkieQZaAHKb3UtosirwH5LW2F6PL2EwVt1wS4SOo0fPUJ_rz7LQizQxwh7-7OjZkWK5TW1fmkG/s1600/IMG_1565.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAD8TlIqhbVumVcDjMf-wEMSZU_awBY0aeAjuAMxMAFQ9whJz1_2ML-QsFmVC5ORBAltCkieQZaAHKb3UtosirwH5LW2F6PL2EwVt1wS4SOo0fPUJ_rz7LQizQxwh7-7OjZkWK5TW1fmkG/s320/IMG_1565.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yoga in the distillery district</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td> </td>
<td><br />
MORE PHOTOS! </td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgokqIkhGIWjFeZPZiEcATsh2brbXN8yYAPo1VmucHyLNwE1mM6Otf7wqu5NL_AhlviHbNJWLK37sqe9jSm_CG5T2pDBNvqzYKQEZ_pW8MZgk0vjWYKogJx3LLcB40Xv_QHQy8DledMgaRg/s1600/IMG_1448.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgokqIkhGIWjFeZPZiEcATsh2brbXN8yYAPo1VmucHyLNwE1mM6Otf7wqu5NL_AhlviHbNJWLK37sqe9jSm_CG5T2pDBNvqzYKQEZ_pW8MZgk0vjWYKogJx3LLcB40Xv_QHQy8DledMgaRg/s640/IMG_1448.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKJ-OVg2iSI-lWhKQcVi7ngtVsqx36j4bObPk6Hi5HSXLnS3_ZjvldbndSZCembiFurTFUcf5wMIvYTkl0Z4glS-GtU52Wbc0pFhaW_qhrgRq9WZLjsP0mXVd-gO590Z7JH1y17XCo6nAg/s1600/IMG_1449.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKJ-OVg2iSI-lWhKQcVi7ngtVsqx36j4bObPk6Hi5HSXLnS3_ZjvldbndSZCembiFurTFUcf5wMIvYTkl0Z4glS-GtU52Wbc0pFhaW_qhrgRq9WZLjsP0mXVd-gO590Z7JH1y17XCo6nAg/s640/IMG_1449.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy-EFtYK8Otyd0IPvXbGQjGWzDUUlmducMM_N-gkgM8HAHE_t5WR2JD3eVfFwg5XjgD3MgqoKLmAbdLLuM1BpDgJl98ps2Ib9LQkbEr7B3a7sU_Q9p6cV0vOKIzcyzqu2Z5YWyiQ2VoyU4/s1600/IMG_1475.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy-EFtYK8Otyd0IPvXbGQjGWzDUUlmducMM_N-gkgM8HAHE_t5WR2JD3eVfFwg5XjgD3MgqoKLmAbdLLuM1BpDgJl98ps2Ib9LQkbEr7B3a7sU_Q9p6cV0vOKIzcyzqu2Z5YWyiQ2VoyU4/s640/IMG_1475.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">For the best experience (and to see embedded video content) view my blog at http://www.heatherdoran.net . Don't forget you can find me on Twitter @hapsci http://www.twitter.com/hapsci</div>Heather Doranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01743182952112081912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034888015247889941.post-58313812824129661982015-06-28T22:31:00.001-07:002015-06-28T22:34:49.832-07:00Churchill Fellowship: Science policy and public engagement in Washington DC<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Washington DC was a VERY HOT whirlwind of interesting conversations. new experiences and lots of lessons in American history. I think the time I spent in DC is going to spawn a number of blog posts focused on different topics but for now, here's what I got up to and my thoughts from DC. I've included a summary of my take home messages at the bottom of the post.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqL2R35JeEh5JJi0B-PIJkAcYyhU5pkVWyOLe9kkq0BVBd9o846JMzBJuODJvdztkdTNpl2i_1lLnYJKHSgqUixXrVltsW8pCuwv8iVGlTCXBXMmw3kco_juYJm1T_Bi1S6iJBc4z7FuGl/s1600/IMG_1055.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqL2R35JeEh5JJi0B-PIJkAcYyhU5pkVWyOLe9kkq0BVBd9o846JMzBJuODJvdztkdTNpl2i_1lLnYJKHSgqUixXrVltsW8pCuwv8iVGlTCXBXMmw3kco_juYJm1T_Bi1S6iJBc4z7FuGl/s640/IMG_1055.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
First stop was the American Association of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology's (<a href="http://www.asbmb.org/" target="_blank">ASBMB</a>) 'Hill Day'. This is where a group of scientists from the association meet with with their representatives, Senators and Congressmen to discuss their science and issues in funding.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg-87aeCk4sSAJQLNOlB298Ldh-YyNQaRYEnNhlb9wEy9a4jt3dxiSv-ny1QeIsOliabAy5isdpqcAMnhIJCOV2MSAuKlQ7VwtckyNQbXRRF2ZIcJCjjwOVppZpDJdBJw58xB5yMCBNK2p/s1600/IMG_1052.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg-87aeCk4sSAJQLNOlB298Ldh-YyNQaRYEnNhlb9wEy9a4jt3dxiSv-ny1QeIsOliabAy5isdpqcAMnhIJCOV2MSAuKlQ7VwtckyNQbXRRF2ZIcJCjjwOVppZpDJdBJw58xB5yMCBNK2p/s640/IMG_1052.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/bwcorb" target="_blank">Benjamin Corb</a> and the policy team at ASBMB do an excellent job of training the scientists in what to expect from their meetings with Senators and Congressmen, how to structure their short discussions and get the most out of them.<br />
<br />
It was fascinating to see the interaction between scientists and their representatives(and see the Capitol in action)! Policy engagement is incredibly important to ensure that the bills and recommendations that are made help the investigation of science in a responsible way. Ben even managed to give me a quick tour of the Capitol in between meetings. I managed to snap a quick picture with Churchill too.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7qVlg7I_9GcpOF8t_O8Yi-XfdVbIlNIVL5S4A5g4xqyfS11Aa4LTJAOCOteUS5JvY7x_zLAKXHOdc_sgxDq6mSkBZ4ZVBeEJSqRAjcqp7_iB7qJ0ibx87ojZofT_RXG1UuWpg3vNYrTWZ/s1600/IMG_1058.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7qVlg7I_9GcpOF8t_O8Yi-XfdVbIlNIVL5S4A5g4xqyfS11Aa4LTJAOCOteUS5JvY7x_zLAKXHOdc_sgxDq6mSkBZ4ZVBeEJSqRAjcqp7_iB7qJ0ibx87ojZofT_RXG1UuWpg3vNYrTWZ/s640/IMG_1058.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
When the busy day had ended all the participants gathered for some wind-down drinks. The discussions about their day showed how much they had learned from the experience. They were all enthusiastic about their time on the hill and keen to keep connected in with policy and their representatives about science.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFks-7FNOaP5kOBV6wXRuZbtnWD-CDmQbcjEApEYVIpYRYcRk-bGj3rlrD6RK3H5_yxX9viItLIuqzp1FzQQu_UsCOWZNOJCbGU7Lh_11gDgy2cpEQe55AWkibu3bVCWtz_ty-uVL9HqVj/s1600/DSC_0061.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFks-7FNOaP5kOBV6wXRuZbtnWD-CDmQbcjEApEYVIpYRYcRk-bGj3rlrD6RK3H5_yxX9viItLIuqzp1FzQQu_UsCOWZNOJCbGU7Lh_11gDgy2cpEQe55AWkibu3bVCWtz_ty-uVL9HqVj/s640/DSC_0061.jpg" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Library of Congress Building</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I also got to spend some time in the ASBMB offices. It's quite possibly the friendliest office in the world. I had some great discussions about their plans for public engagement training for scientists, and their thoughts on the use of social media by scientists and by them as an organisation. ASBMB have been extremely proactive in supporting and encouraging scientists to engage with new audiences and the use of online tools. During my PhD I was invited to blog for them at the annual Experimental Biology Conference about the conference and science being presented.<br />
<br />
During the week I met the deputy head of Social Media at NASA, Jason Townsend and Sarah DeWitt who is a Communications Officer at NASA. I had fantastic discussions with both of them about the approach NASA has to engagement on social media and the training programmes they have. It was incredible to spend time with both of them, and share some similar frustrations and thoughts too.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhfCrzq3cypMlb8fGnyVXTWHWcWoYNBeqsAVSklLraeLfAiTN01owjWEt1blH8l8NpxwpA2o1BJSNS0vXBvg_AllEC7zTIS4mOvJuO_aS-89r3P99agrU96XU3PVDa-dpOZRuPWuG9vY_j/s1600/DSC_0134.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRYiBCm8pKlhHNZcNswzpONe1FrD3EeWBUxwEUi9378P8pZMzhIccFt7s2QYNjxQVrb8xCsPXFcuNR8KXVuLpbrufZb8dIcocFzI6Fim6K2Ige8wS0Lr04kjBfH_Oza1oW4sPEg1879hgc/s1600/DSC_0191.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">The Lincoln Memorial at night</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Many science communicators and writers are based in DC and I met a number of familiar and new faces at the <a href="https://twitter.com/dcscitweetup" target="_blank">DC science tweet-up</a>. This informal gathering was a nice break to the more office-based settings I had been in during the day. There were some great chats about social media but also about general thoughts about working in the States in DC, interactions with government, politics and what happened the day the <a href="https://twitter.com/NIH_Bear" target="_blank">@nih_bear</a> came to visit.<br />
<br />
The <a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/" target="_blank">Union of Concerned Scientists</a>, a non-profit organisation focused on science advocacy, had some fantastic examples of engagement beyond an audience of scientists online. They've worked with partner organisations focused on particular drives and themes to get their messages out online. Great use of hashtags. I've written a little about them in my <a href="http://www.heatherdoran.net/2015/06/why-scientists-use-social-media.html" target="_blank">previous blog post</a>.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4034888015247889941" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhfCrzq3cypMlb8fGnyVXTWHWcWoYNBeqsAVSklLraeLfAiTN01owjWEt1blH8l8NpxwpA2o1BJSNS0vXBvg_AllEC7zTIS4mOvJuO_aS-89r3P99agrU96XU3PVDa-dpOZRuPWuG9vY_j/s640/DSC_0134.jpg" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Monument (the DC by moonlight 'trolly tour' is a great way of seeing the sights in the summer when it is really hot!)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
As I spent the weekend in DC I got the opportunity to explore many of the museums and famous landmarks. I know fairly little about American history and so this trip was a real learning experience. I didn't appreciate just how big the monuments are and, of course, it was great to see the White House. DC is easy to get around using the metro system.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxi2AlbB4uMalM6nt4LapwCBrJtw_L2_sdeH1RRc6hvfHOs-K-NUoRfePaBx554PMwMUgNF9cAwgxfllzWj09s0iA6zmJuRK-wXNB1QZvtdCRSNftSt9HpDTtaheWszHhYst_zPS6PFvvF/s1600/IMG_1105.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxi2AlbB4uMalM6nt4LapwCBrJtw_L2_sdeH1RRc6hvfHOs-K-NUoRfePaBx554PMwMUgNF9cAwgxfllzWj09s0iA6zmJuRK-wXNB1QZvtdCRSNftSt9HpDTtaheWszHhYst_zPS6PFvvF/s640/IMG_1105.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
The <a href="http://www.si.edu/" target="_blank">Smithsonian museums</a> in DC are incredible (and free!). I spent over half a day in the <a href="https://airandspace.si.edu/" target="_blank">Air and Space Museum</a> and still didn't see everything. I love a planetarium and this one didn't disappoint. The show on 'Dark Matter' narrated by Neil De Grasse Tyson left you with a clear message ringing in your ears, <i>"there are still many great discoveries to come, we just have to keep exploring</i>".<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuSYJZYL_4FPlBid8j3iHNGTGwUpfJH5OrfpvxaKHP1pBfHmfjDG04uHapPlJ3oo8NbxRQhhXj2evI9X4FLumU1iqeg4qka2KZ3m-ZqRBB86UK5Wsuq-V8lq_GW5fIgLlm_OgaC7FI_559/s1600/IMG_1121.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuSYJZYL_4FPlBid8j3iHNGTGwUpfJH5OrfpvxaKHP1pBfHmfjDG04uHapPlJ3oo8NbxRQhhXj2evI9X4FLumU1iqeg4qka2KZ3m-ZqRBB86UK5Wsuq-V8lq_GW5fIgLlm_OgaC7FI_559/s640/IMG_1121.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">American Dinosaurs at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The museum is also home to a replica of the Hubble, the Wright Brothers' plane and many other important and significant artefacts from the human and space exploration. It's amazing to think that the first flight was only just over 100 years ago.. and the technology we have now has exceeded what we could even dream of (I'm actually writing this sat in an airport lounge so it makes it even more real to me at this moment in time)!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1WL8rbJrjTWwLz3kbVm0FydvqPGOLxA1MWP3vUyn1topzNCs7gYS03LlE76Td9WJQqhT_-fOsH2N6QHh3MqJMFpxkaNm0iC2YQfGynCW3LeQwnHDPW3auURBhGvgVjrHLCKaAFec7I9pv/s1600/DSC_0081.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1WL8rbJrjTWwLz3kbVm0FydvqPGOLxA1MWP3vUyn1topzNCs7gYS03LlE76Td9WJQqhT_-fOsH2N6QHh3MqJMFpxkaNm0iC2YQfGynCW3LeQwnHDPW3auURBhGvgVjrHLCKaAFec7I9pv/s640/DSC_0081.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5YKcZdxN2OUrWF6lU0TU3clgxwI5AwZ0Sd3Pcq9lNykYLjeXNshwID6hyphenhyphennLM-W91v1mTVOjgS8qQhJd8mvjoXG9xUtxDer8kj896TpzUuW4djJO_9mkG9UsnRfrGHq1ny4xuMIAAYBFTl/s1600/IMG_1143.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5YKcZdxN2OUrWF6lU0TU3clgxwI5AwZ0Sd3Pcq9lNykYLjeXNshwID6hyphenhyphennLM-W91v1mTVOjgS8qQhJd8mvjoXG9xUtxDer8kj896TpzUuW4djJO_9mkG9UsnRfrGHq1ny4xuMIAAYBFTl/s640/IMG_1143.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgarJ8KV5q3JIQV-oObHvkXxnruUhB4EgsSwSONy5D0lZUc0OdNiidV0jytbRZkfoDR-aXfNp3XwQOBYCf5giRwwWweV_swgUxGDiAPvSxsYKjdOWp0fy-tWmT7hqZals_EalTPrNedEa5V/s1600/DSC_0074.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgarJ8KV5q3JIQV-oObHvkXxnruUhB4EgsSwSONy5D0lZUc0OdNiidV0jytbRZkfoDR-aXfNp3XwQOBYCf5giRwwWweV_swgUxGDiAPvSxsYKjdOWp0fy-tWmT7hqZals_EalTPrNedEa5V/s640/DSC_0074.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
The Air and Space museum has a <a href="https://airandspace.si.edu/support/volunteer/" target="_blank">volunteer programme</a> too. I find this approach interesting as a community building initiative and wondered what incentives (if any) people get - or if this programme relies on people being passionate about the subject.<br />
<br />
My week in DC was crammed full of more meetings and discussions than I have mentioned in this post, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science and their Public Engagement team. It would be silly to try and cover all the conversations so I will cover my biggest realisations from when I was in DC below. Some common themes started emerging over the week and a half I spent in DC.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG3owKTyHWZw486V-zrFXeHg3dwgtPaG74kpqildr8zJFvtIgPwJDjBbpb83NgJ1Cil87ZX8HVmMy9KvR6_02GuykvBuW0rZo4oE_NKvvk9XvKrt7PBnOg3pNNLFn_7uHqEdRK9ZL6LAs8/s1600/IMG_1270.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG3owKTyHWZw486V-zrFXeHg3dwgtPaG74kpqildr8zJFvtIgPwJDjBbpb83NgJ1Cil87ZX8HVmMy9KvR6_02GuykvBuW0rZo4oE_NKvvk9XvKrt7PBnOg3pNNLFn_7uHqEdRK9ZL6LAs8/s640/IMG_1270.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Without proper resource, planning, training and knowledge connecting with new audiences via social media and building a community is difficult. </li>
<li>Everyone wants to engage (rather than disseminate) more but time and resource is an issue</li>
<li>A common comment is that social media isn't always the answer and it it isn't an easy solution but sometimes it can be an extremely useful tool </li>
<li>Many researchers discuss how useful social media has been for their own networking but there is little discussion of its use for public engagement </li>
<li>Rather than trying to build your own empire online, think clearly about what your goals are. Does it make sense to work with others that have already built an audience?</li>
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPs3C2whM4bF_Ugc7v4swMNLkkDTT7C92NqMJRY7JsXKMiQ9aAbRC2JokceycDqFlrzMDYDpOnYZBHY5z3cvL5Vir1FicC-SiKyaxLPmlYkNNpleYJjJl-32Ur_x2h6U1YZXn2TNaWNyFM/s1600/IMG_1376.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPs3C2whM4bF_Ugc7v4swMNLkkDTT7C92NqMJRY7JsXKMiQ9aAbRC2JokceycDqFlrzMDYDpOnYZBHY5z3cvL5Vir1FicC-SiKyaxLPmlYkNNpleYJjJl-32Ur_x2h6U1YZXn2TNaWNyFM/s640/IMG_1376.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
This June I am undertaking a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship to look at the communication of science via social media. I will be traveling to North America and I am looking to connect with people as I go. You can <a href="http://www.heatherdoran.net/2015/05/my-churchill-travel-fellowship-public.html" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.3s; color: #00b2b4; display: inline; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; outline: none; text-decoration: none; transition: color 0.3s;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #1b6b79;"><em>read more about it here</em></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><em>.</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<iframe height="480" src="https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=zWX1nElmznso.kWD-gZfZZI2Q" style="display: inline-block; max-width: 100%;" width="640"></iframe></div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">For the best experience (and to see embedded video content) view my blog at http://www.heatherdoran.net . Don't forget you can find me on Twitter @hapsci http://www.twitter.com/hapsci</div>Heather Doranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01743182952112081912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034888015247889941.post-53643348591678612082015-06-23T07:09:00.000-07:002015-06-28T22:39:43.416-07:00Why scientists use social media <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="text-align: left;">Over the past few weeks, as part of my </span><a href="http://www.heatherdoran.net/2015/06/churchill-fellowship-engagement-at-yale.html" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank">Churchill Fellowship</a><span style="text-align: left;">, I've been speaking to scientists across the US and Canada about their motivations for using social media. It has been interesting to hear what motivated them to start and their motivations to continue. </span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxLrkch1LjWf1-yhHFqMQfk5zeyQTEzNQYPSy9xF6C_mxYguFuAcUlNamXu_wivfCOJHYI4_MAzTJZ3-QYZ513ZUmrwROfUpxK2JLSRWsHz7jvUbTWYlycidHBNoS2OGmvLwUdavpev54l/s1600/Ipadhd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxLrkch1LjWf1-yhHFqMQfk5zeyQTEzNQYPSy9xF6C_mxYguFuAcUlNamXu_wivfCOJHYI4_MAzTJZ3-QYZ513ZUmrwROfUpxK2JLSRWsHz7jvUbTWYlycidHBNoS2OGmvLwUdavpev54l/s640/Ipadhd.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
The reasons scientists made the first step in setting up social media accounts for professional use have included being 'told to get online/start a Twitter account' by research funders or their institutions; to voice general frustrations and/or connect with others outside of their immediate research lab; because they heard it was 'a good thing to do' from others or they wanted to connect with the public about their work. For many, it is of course a combination of those reasons.<br />
<br />
Very few started out with an aim or vision of what they wanted to achieve. Their navigation of the networks and their choice of network was determined by what they were told to do (e.g. 'get on Twitter') or by word of mouth from other colleagues (e.g. 'You should use Twitter, it's great). Examples of why that was a good thing to do have included the opportunity for them to connect directly with the media, promote their own work, connect with policy fellows, interact with students, patient groups and other researchers. Their navigation of the network and the content they decided to post was on a trial and error basis. They tried what they thought was interesting and see if anyone responded.<br />
<br />
No-one I have spoken to so far started engaging after a training event nor did they have any training before starting their social media accounts. Although this may be a sign of timing. The majority of people I have interviewed have been using social media for a number of years already - so before training sessions were available.<br />
<br />
My own experience was that I started using Twitter after reading a book (Ben Goldacre, Bad Science) and realised that there was a community that existed online that shared my interest of evidence based decision making and thinking. That opened many doors for me to develop new ideas and connections in an area that interested me. I entered into that community and there was an immediate positive feedback - I gained insights, comments, entertainment and information that made my job easier and better so I continued to engage. It also increased my personal satisfaction in my PhD role.<br />
<br />
An important step in the initial take-up of social media is the ability to find a 'role model' or entry into a familiar community (e.g. #phdchat) where the 'account' can then begin to contribute and add their perspective or content. This first step can determine whether or not people find value from the network. Many people reported opening a Twitter account and then not knowing what to do with it, ignoring it for a few weeks/months and then slowly going back to it after finding a community that interested them or a person that they were interested in following.<br />
<br />
These first interactions can determine within what community the account sits on the network and this obviously tends to be one that is familiar to the person/group running the account. Once in this network, the feedback needs to be positive and useful and this is key to whether the account continues and grows. If the person enters into this community and they find it supportive and helpful then they continue to engage online and use social media where they can. The examples of positive outcomes are similar to those listed above (the reasons others encouraged that person to begin a social media presence, e.g. new collaborations, support, advice).<br />
<br />
From there, this first community can open up a network beyond the initial one, through shared conversations and interests, and leads to conversations and interaction with new connections. This again has led to the formation of new scientific collaborations, informal support, scientific advice and discussion of topical issues.<br />
<br />
The amount of time that scientists spend on social networks isn't pre determined. They log on when they have a spare moment, in evenings or weekends and sometimes if they know a particular event is taking place at a certain time (for example a live-stream or a Twitter event). This approach, although overlapping with their day-to-day schedule happens on on 'if I can', 'if I think something is really important' basis. It's occurs around what is easiest for the scientist and what is timing works with their schedule.<br />
<br />
The growth of scientist-led accounts has been mostly organic and driven by the individuals behind them because they think it is of benefit for them. They drive their own communication for their benefit. Also and this isn't a secondary point, they find it fun and entertaining.<br />
<br />
This organic growth in the #scicomm area is why I think (especially on Twitter) we have many overlapping audiences of accounts in the scientist or scientific communications-led content. These conversations are taking place between people that are in areas around the globe, have many different roles but share very similar interests. This is extremely powerful network and is why those that can get value from the networks are vocal and supportive of their time spent on social media. I'm interested in finding out more about how this network works together and it's growth and development.<br />
<br />
The question I am interested in is how to engage beyond that group that is already involved within science and science communication. From conversations I've noticed how those those that have a particular plan or goal online can navigate beyond these familiar audiences into other groups that are of benefit to do this. Quite often they report using key leaders within those communities to gain entry and interactions but they do this in a conversational way that benefits that new community and isn't in a 'We are telling you what the best thing to do is' - they encourage debate and discussion around a familiar topic that links the two communities. One example of this approach is the <a href="http://www.ucsusa.org/" target="_blank">Union of Concerned Scientists</a> who hosted Twitter chats in collaboration with the <a href="https://twitter.com/MomsRising" target="_blank">Mom's Rising</a> network to discuss issues around sugar in processed food. The other key step here is the <a href="http://topsy.com/s?q=%23bullsugar&window=a" target="_blank">use of a hashtag</a> that is relatable and can move across networks to continue conversations elsewhere. This fosters a new community around a new topic of interest, creating new connections and reaches beyond the initial community.<br />
<br />
To utilise social media networks to their full potential I think this targeted approach prevents a large opportunity for research-led engagement. However, it takes an increased amount of time and development than the organic approach and requires time built within job plans and projects. Also, the employment of people with the right skill set and knowledge to perform these tasks. This approach means the engager needs to determine the communities needs, rather than just their own. What is the most useful network for the community? How does that network work? What language does that community use? How do form connections within it? When are they online? All of this takes a level of skill, learning and time to invest into that community.<br />
<br />
This second model I think provides a huge opportunity for online engagement with science. It can foster real two-way conversations about science with new audiences. This cannot be measured with 'exposures' or 'impressions' but with knowledge of long term outcomes and the quality of conversations.<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;">This June I am undertaking a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship to look at the communication of science via social media. I will be traveling to North America and I am looking to connect with people as I go. You can </span><a href="http://www.heatherdoran.net/2015/05/my-churchill-travel-fellowship-public.html" style="color: #00b2b4; display: inline; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; outline: none; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #1b6b79;"><em>read more about it here</em></span></span></a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"><em>.</em></span><br />
<br />
<iframe height="480" src="https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=zWX1nElmznso.kWD-gZfZZI2Q" style="color: #333333; display: inline-block; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; max-width: 100%;" width="640"></iframe><br /></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">For the best experience (and to see embedded video content) view my blog at http://www.heatherdoran.net . Don't forget you can find me on Twitter @hapsci http://www.twitter.com/hapsci</div>Heather Doranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01743182952112081912noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034888015247889941.post-39796976425022126892015-06-16T09:31:00.002-07:002015-06-16T09:32:15.898-07:00Churchill Fellowship: Engagement at YaleFor the second part of my Churchill Fellowship I took the train from Boston to New Haven, the home of Yale University. I caught up with scientists in the Geology and Geophysics group, visited the amazing Peabody Museum (definitely one of my new favourite museums - more below) and met up with science writer and blogger Carl Zimmer.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimF95NZFFkkCgeOWa5LTxTXNVGVaT0EexCQRKGdNVJHjLZ53YBEJ66Xj5cA1t1MwRrAPEi7s7y3TMvfQE8qCcVJw__KNdSxao0ViAiIPPEdlRRqLRT0556zizUqqqrj9ID_pKdegEMings/s1600/IMG_0897.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimF95NZFFkkCgeOWa5LTxTXNVGVaT0EexCQRKGdNVJHjLZ53YBEJ66Xj5cA1t1MwRrAPEi7s7y3TMvfQE8qCcVJw__KNdSxao0ViAiIPPEdlRRqLRT0556zizUqqqrj9ID_pKdegEMings/s640/IMG_0897.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
I was extremely grateful to Carl for giving up some time to meet with me. I think it is important to speak with communicators as well as scientists as they are experts in knowing both how science works and also how to engage the public about science.<br />
<br />
We spoke about how the low barrier to entry on social media (no cost, no paperwork) makes it easy for scientists to put themselves out there online. But, how they choose to use social media platforms is up to them.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm9ZuUe6klVjzHjfRikcU7x_cufdYqFrSYw2LjBGHeKb2fh07ruE_BV5qq8tdOtws9iLDWVay7hg_NGcVV3qnueIx_m7uEiIdJsNuwFh6y0qX4BhZerOQq38Ozz3l1RVGJeRBYMVguylVK/s1600/DSC_0035.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm9ZuUe6klVjzHjfRikcU7x_cufdYqFrSYw2LjBGHeKb2fh07ruE_BV5qq8tdOtws9iLDWVay7hg_NGcVV3qnueIx_m7uEiIdJsNuwFh6y0qX4BhZerOQq38Ozz3l1RVGJeRBYMVguylVK/s640/DSC_0035.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Yale Graduate building</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
For Carl, he said the use of social media by scientists is interesting as you can see what really excites them about the work they are doing. Scientists share when they are happy with their work and discuss at length elements of their work that would not be covered in press releases. Giving you an access to their daily lives that you otherwise would not see.<br />
<br />
He also uses it as a filter mechanism - keeping up with everything in science is impossible and so Twitter can help filter quickly through lots of information and pick out the most interesting papers and stories.<br />
<br />
One downside is trying to find a balance between being switched on and concentrating on other work, it's too easy to be online all the time.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUt48wK7JRNTS3Jk04QgvpCUZjevXafhhbSNrdTw9WezxnmqSzMBybDrS1rKqevzoRYUmvkLJK9C9Yz-2f8x878Uv71Y06L3Ds785ySWk2wqcI9tGMrKBwGOx89byST8gHOAlNTSXRinvJ/s1600/IMG_0971.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUt48wK7JRNTS3Jk04QgvpCUZjevXafhhbSNrdTw9WezxnmqSzMBybDrS1rKqevzoRYUmvkLJK9C9Yz-2f8x878Uv71Y06L3Ds785ySWk2wqcI9tGMrKBwGOx89byST8gHOAlNTSXRinvJ/s640/IMG_0971.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yale!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We also spent some time thinking about the future. Podcasts and video have created new and eager audiences for science through the use of smartphones (I will be exploring this in more depth a little later on the trip). There's been a decline in quality blog comments and discussion tends to happen away from the original article and commentator. Is there a way of pulling that discussion back together and what would be the benefits? Establishing quality interactions online has always been a difficult thing to do.<br />
<br />
As I was in Yale over the weekend I had plenty of time to explore. A friend from my PhD <a href="http://seanmcmahon.co.uk/" target="_blank">Sean McMahon</a>, who is now a post-doctoral researcher in Geology and Geophysics at Yale, gave me a fantastic tour of the university and surrounding area. Like many universities Yale is also home to a number of museums and has significant collections in art and science.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvvdCdnsHO_OVi7fIKJcj3w7gYMzu7NBTX4W7hKdQ4jMvEiz8ZVIVe__pmCqwk-95YlflXRoGmzg_jUOdUAQsRrZHBZ-eSXZ7N9TAyjRLOoV2BUnzBr4heQAqdq8g_n0IISSO-0PEWsZhu/s1600/DSC_0040.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvvdCdnsHO_OVi7fIKJcj3w7gYMzu7NBTX4W7hKdQ4jMvEiz8ZVIVe__pmCqwk-95YlflXRoGmzg_jUOdUAQsRrZHBZ-eSXZ7N9TAyjRLOoV2BUnzBr4heQAqdq8g_n0IISSO-0PEWsZhu/s640/DSC_0040.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sean in the Yale Library</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhny_FwFLvjMAWfqX-dJPv4DoKHLvIvj5k-T9q60lfpDkJAimZf0QSQycX4RpL-wrEj3bO9lYBWmYgZVTn4llb5x5u58Hsa3r8d4-CkeXvrA6Q1ErRe3DlqfBS_DIIac8EcijNqeSo6Umwa/s1600/DSC_0042.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhny_FwFLvjMAWfqX-dJPv4DoKHLvIvj5k-T9q60lfpDkJAimZf0QSQycX4RpL-wrEj3bO9lYBWmYgZVTn4llb5x5u58Hsa3r8d4-CkeXvrA6Q1ErRe3DlqfBS_DIIac8EcijNqeSo6Umwa/s640/DSC_0042.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There are lots of interesting details on the Yale buildings if you look close enough</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Yale is home to the <a href="http://peabody.yale.edu/" target="_blank">Peabody Museum of Natural History </a>which has a fantastic fossil and dinosaur collection. Painted on the walls is a pretty famous mural too, 'The age of reptiles'<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://peabody.yale.edu/sites/default/files/images/store/reptileposter.jpg.crop_display.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://peabody.yale.edu/sites/default/files/images/store/reptileposter.jpg.crop_display.jpg" height="110" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFre6EYAL0XLvKJfzcnkIbo_gEHsVMQ2u3QYOQta6XrlVSYWFTTodD7KJSXfUFCDXU2cvvhyphenhyphenURkrfhD0vXGIvXNs6hXKLRNZqbQerBLLJ4m-fPap145Tov1sRf45DTKUdrEi-l4XDEF-63/s1600/DSC_0045.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFre6EYAL0XLvKJfzcnkIbo_gEHsVMQ2u3QYOQta6XrlVSYWFTTodD7KJSXfUFCDXU2cvvhyphenhyphenURkrfhD0vXGIvXNs6hXKLRNZqbQerBLLJ4m-fPap145Tov1sRf45DTKUdrEi-l4XDEF-63/s640/DSC_0045.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dinosaur collections at the Peabody Museum</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL41ybtCksU16NrsvUTJ-hQlJJl1kwVdHvheIkG7XPpPOyaQa9dJjSsUazLAcWfVHhvRgPOddu3Bm4C8zhUuJrjIlB9T0asFzJQyJRsE_UBqw2nOUxk60vu2314j1t1dnU_ptvtaGFuZVv/s1600/IMG_0949.jpg" width="350" /></td>
<td><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA_lglrH3dUqI9ctgNtWpdHolg8wAW96r1piUSZ-dLNZKTPdZi8I_6kuwsW4N976_kNrwaqogPfPfSHE_UmyrgSuKSSik5j5qgemixAb7__4XfUlGyKbJjlsgk7wyKPc1AMR5sVnh7DVSo/s1600/IMG_0932.jpg" width="350" /></td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
What I loved the most about the museum was the incredible dioramas. The are created to make it appear as though you are looking out on a natural habitat. They used a curved background and were were created by the artists Perry Wilson and Frances Lee Jaques along with the Peabody's Chief Preparator Ralf C. Morrill. The backgrounds matched perfectly with the foreground. Can you tell in the picture below where the foreground ends and the background starts?<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAhzmMWxPegW8dahDOPCeFGDmXn6-oD2wUHTCbCjUYviHEubaBKrIrziDY6CDViek71rYI3gQzQYj7igbtqcXFY4iPi39-MatRLrIpjgS6VtEl3OdUI82dp2qffAk5xZ7tSCPGJtHaByNS/s1600/DSC_0051.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAhzmMWxPegW8dahDOPCeFGDmXn6-oD2wUHTCbCjUYviHEubaBKrIrziDY6CDViek71rYI3gQzQYj7igbtqcXFY4iPi39-MatRLrIpjgS6VtEl3OdUI82dp2qffAk5xZ7tSCPGJtHaByNS/s640/DSC_0051.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5sp8Oql9tZr2QIYS821jEfPuGfr5gp3Xow6gOLk52F2MJK05d7N5yFC_mNljmI9YlQ3gXRPvRIBspsPsn4-Bj6pn9lAFqbxdS3DMlaGilrTiWICGM_jR9nXwFWi73fmMM-PUpn8D7UTIr/s1600/IMG_0963.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5sp8Oql9tZr2QIYS821jEfPuGfr5gp3Xow6gOLk52F2MJK05d7N5yFC_mNljmI9YlQ3gXRPvRIBspsPsn4-Bj6pn9lAFqbxdS3DMlaGilrTiWICGM_jR9nXwFWi73fmMM-PUpn8D7UTIr/s640/IMG_0963.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dioramas at the Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The museum was of particular interest to me as a hub for engagement. It's interesting to see how university museums work with researchers to engage with with public audiences. As museums have a year-round offering and infrastructure to connect with the public it can mean there's a ready audience for researchers to interact with. Researchers can add value to the museum too as they can discuss the relevance of the collections. The Peabody museums' collections, (there's 13 million objects), are used for research purposes.<br />
<br />
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmSpAGCw1sr5SlfkweWf3CuISIixUoKF5nxr9uBFPmuECdKITZ1gP-96Wa-ZUoyB7ToB29gmOn63wMcc4ngKBgR_ILFKvRbYUQIY6nBD5Qeqpeqtri99XyWY61aukMQcGNUFQ7a2jgidNt/s320/IMG_0954.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Geology building, apparently built to represent a mine</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td>
<td><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtXd7oZzqjKRSmC26rbkjcvooo5K543OBXJsMtW4yXrSjl1MjjOa-qBp-hlbavGobC1gJ8M4Juz1OfhSRcQTTt24oLi-QQY_pMAl29IhH4GhGTvRhWY4RJQa7oOSGUJiXa5HCh0micVgls/s320/IMG_0958.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I even stepped back into the lab to 'help' Sean (actually, some genuine help in using a bit of equipment in the lab that I had used (once) during my PhD. </span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I spoke to researchers about how they have worked with the museum for engagement events and outreach schools events. These activities have all been be face-to face, rather than digital, and have included drives such as the <a href="http://peabody.yale.edu/events/yale-peabody-museums-bioblitz" target="_blank">Bioblitz</a> that has run in the past and frequent 'meet the researcher' type events and public talks. It was good to see the two organisations running closely together to benefit each other. Many university institutions have museums and collections but they do exist as separate entities with different management, not all museums and researchers have a such a close relationship.<br />
<br />
The other positive thing I noted from those I spoke with at Yale was that the museum is linked to research right through research grant applications, where appropriate. This approach solidifies the partnership between them and provides some funding benefit in return for the museum which is important for its sustainability.<br />
<br />
The Peabody museum does have a significant social media output with a <a href="https://twitter.com/YalePeabody" target="_blank">Twitter </a>account, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/yalepeabodymuseum" target="_blank">YouTube</a> channel (with a great video on the creation of the dioramas) and a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/YalePeabodyMuseum" target="_blank">Facebook page</a>.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhROSPG4s7Iop8m3tURLak9DAKLZkXoxrEqF6xR-xRTV_OwYcM77oqjR0R2plR_M8-RvpKq6PYK3j-Yqhhq5LISh4HISaIKO4pfqpaaViV76h_4sXeRy7QcVDjinoRHG-z9vxvcX7Vc0z1j/s1600/IMG_0973.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhROSPG4s7Iop8m3tURLak9DAKLZkXoxrEqF6xR-xRTV_OwYcM77oqjR0R2plR_M8-RvpKq6PYK3j-Yqhhq5LISh4HISaIKO4pfqpaaViV76h_4sXeRy7QcVDjinoRHG-z9vxvcX7Vc0z1j/s640/IMG_0973.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More of the Yale Campus</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Meeting with the communications team and social media lead, Jim Shelton and Mark Stricker, at Yale was really informative. They spoke about how the digital landscape has shifted the way news communications is carried out. Now quite often they find the<a href="http://news.yale.edu/" target="_blank"> Yale News </a>website as being the news source online, rather then the previous model where their role was to distribute news via press releases and a journalist writing about the press release would become the news source. Universities are increasingly becoming their own 'News Hubs'. This gives some increased flexibility in how they approach news too. <br />
<br />
They specifically target some news to social media using video and images. This approach means that a wider spread of research-led news is distributed by the university across different platforms than the press release model could ever manage.<br />
<br />
They also host informal 'brown-bag' lunches to share best practice between those using social media which I think is a great way of stimulating discussion and sharing knowledge. Importantly, this can also help prevent duplication of efforts within the university.<br />
<br />
The use of social media isn't imposed on everyone, but those that wish to use it can be supported in getting the most out of it. Like many other institutions there is no social media 'policy' and this approach removes barriers to engaging online. They also have some best practice advice for those that wish to get online.<br />
<br />
While in New Haven I also managed to sample some of the local 'delicacies', pizza - it was great. I also attended a public talk delivered by Sir Roger Penrose on 'before the beginning and beyond eternity' to a packed-out audience. The talk was great, and the best presentation using an overhead projector I have ever seen.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFbnohkfxtg-FhoJJXMUCR30lsl2zauUvh7mcj5nmaSSCeQJpvSWr_KS5de3XKYOAp-MtqRZzI-Ao1T90rstB0e6jXNvV_XvZwAOZQzvz5fXUT_1w6PHugqu1ThBOc27bWuYMDd8xB7w3h/s1600/IMG_0944.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFbnohkfxtg-FhoJJXMUCR30lsl2zauUvh7mcj5nmaSSCeQJpvSWr_KS5de3XKYOAp-MtqRZzI-Ao1T90rstB0e6jXNvV_XvZwAOZQzvz5fXUT_1w6PHugqu1ThBOc27bWuYMDd8xB7w3h/s640/IMG_0944.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sir Roger Penrose at Yale</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
The students of Yale have their own science engagement initiatives. There's an active <a href="http://www.yalescientific.org/" target="_blank">science magazine</a> (although sadly I didn't get to meet up with anyone from this group) and the <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/sciencediplomats/" target="_blank">'science diplomats</a>'. I met with Dr Kenneth Buck who talked me through the activities of this group, mostly arranging face-to-face interactions with public audiences through talks. This group plays an important role in passing on expertise about engaging with a public audience to graduate students and post-doctoral researchers at Yale as before each talk they provide hands on training for each of the presenters. They aren't doing much online engagement yet but would like to expand in this area, so watch this space.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
The Yale art gallery is fantastic and had a great exhibit on the favourite equations of mathemeticians and physics, <a href="http://www.gregkucera.com/concinnitas.htm" target="_blank">Concinnitas</a>. The museum has some great non-science art too, but this particular exhibit seemed the most relevent to include on the blog. I'm not sure I have a favourite equation of my own!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm-irGRxuxYKE75rLASzq_02Tyf2ck10r_iZkDJjWXmarruJZSlcL3ri5nL1Jts16ioy2IbhKJdtidRSI7bsLj6V8GPXpntXngR1AsF4NiKkdYlovwZM0amqI6sMkQawigXOvLuN3CgnRI/s1600/IMG_0917.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm-irGRxuxYKE75rLASzq_02Tyf2ck10r_iZkDJjWXmarruJZSlcL3ri5nL1Jts16ioy2IbhKJdtidRSI7bsLj6V8GPXpntXngR1AsF4NiKkdYlovwZM0amqI6sMkQawigXOvLuN3CgnRI/s640/IMG_0917.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Finally, during my time in New Haven I went to visit the new medical school Qunnipiaic University. A former pharmacology colleague, Dr Douglas McHugh is part of the teaching faculty at the institution. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
It's a fantastic medical training facility with a great use of technology. The course has also put some <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obeQIpB33Gg" target="_blank">learning materials </a>on YouTube for use by students. They were surprised to learn (without any promotion) that these have been shared and picked up around the globe - showing that if you put something online that people are looking for, they will find it! Now something that wasn't originally created as a promotional tool or engagement activity is generating lots of interest. I suppose that it is a reminder that sometimes in the online environment you can't tell what is going to do well and reach a global audience and what isn't. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/obeQIpB33Gg" width="560"></iframe>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
The next stop on my trip is Washington DC! </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This June I am undertaking a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship to look at the communication of science via social media. I will be traveling to North America and I am looking to connect with people as I go. You can </span></em><a href="http://www.heatherdoran.net/2015/05/my-churchill-travel-fellowship-public.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #1b6b79;"><em><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">read more about it here</span></em></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><em><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">.</span></em></span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe height="480" src="https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=zWX1nElmznso.kWD-gZfZZI2Q" width="640"></iframe><br /></div>
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">For the best experience (and to see embedded video content) view my blog at http://www.heatherdoran.net . Don't forget you can find me on Twitter @hapsci http://www.twitter.com/hapsci</div>Heather Doranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01743182952112081912noreply@blogger.com0Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA41.3163244 -72.92234309999997841.2208749 -73.083704599999976 41.4117739 -72.76098159999998tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034888015247889941.post-74730139144754784712015-06-11T04:30:00.000-07:002015-06-11T05:09:51.844-07:00Crowdfunding Research: Could it bring scientists and the public closer
together?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Research funding comes from a <a href="http://undsci.berkeley.edu/article/0_0_0/who_pays" target="_blank">few, fairly limited places</a>. </span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With the increase in crowdfunding platforms online there's an opportunity to bolster funding from traditional routes with additional cash direct from the public pocket. What this new funding route might bring about, rather unintentionally, is increased understanding and trust between the public and scientists as it brings them closer together through this new, more direct, funding model. In the long-term it could also contribute to the personalisation of science and the democratisation of scientific research. </span></span><br>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
<br></div>
<div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: white;">
Traditionally, researchers have received research funding by applying for competitive grants that are overseen by governments, charitable bodies and/or private investors. Although these grants are distributed by the research bodies and funders, other than private investment a significant portion of the money comes from the public's pocket, either through donations or taxes.<br>
<br>
These funds are then distributed through the grant system. Researchers apply to a grant and a panel of expert reviewers decides who gets what. This decision is made in private but the projects that are funded are shared with the public. The competitive model has its problems but overall it has proven to be a success, in theory ensuring that the best research gets funded and that the research environment is continually challenged to be better. But, as I mentioned earlier funding pots are getting smaller and there isn't enough funding to go around the excellent research both in the <a href="http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-mh-the-funding-decline-in-basic-research-20150428-column.html" target="_blank">US</a> and the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/apr/26/guardian-view-on-britain-choice-2015-science-policy" target="_blank">UK</a>. </div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: white;">
<br></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: white;">
There's a social responsibility for researchers to share the work that they are doing with the public who are funding much of the research through their taxes. Researchers also have to report to the grant funders, their own institutions and often their own supervisors. It's a big task. This method also contributes to dehumanising the process of 'science' and also the 'public' creating an unintentional divide between us and them. The 'public' don't see this method of funding dissemination and the scientists don't see who and where the money is really coming from. Many efforts go into bridging this gap as the benefits of having the perceived two camps coming together mean that better research is conducted.</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: white;">
<br></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: white;">
Removing the 'middle man' allows the public to directly interact with the researcher and for the researcher to see who is funding their work. Although there is no barrier (other than time) preventing these interactions the dynamic of crowdfunded research is different. Rather than investment from an institution, funder or large organisation the researcher receives a personal cheque, from someone who wants to support the project and know more about the project. They have personally invested in it and the researcher sees that investment.<br>
<br>
<a href="http://experiment.com/">Experiment.com</a> is just one site specialising in supporting researchers in crowdfunding research projects.<br>
<div>
<br></div>
<div>
This week I spoke to Marissa McMahan, a PhD candidate at Northeastern University about her experience of using experiment.com to crowdfund a <a href="https://experiment.com/projects/new-fish-on-the-block-ecological-implications-of-black-sea-bass-in-the-gulf-of-maine" target="_blank">portion of her research</a> on black seabass in the Gulf of Maine. Before using experiment.com she didn't (and still doesn't) use more traditional social media channels to talk about her work. She had done outreach with school groups but she, like many others, wondered about the value of sharing work via social media platforms - is it just self promotion? Is anyone really interested in what I am doing? Why bother?</div>
<div>
<br></div>
<div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm1PU6DKnQ_chYdKGZRO2bAfDsoreW25hCu3UM4NBVB3A-8bZN_i6VgV8T_fNy9Oj5aXTNbCvm0MKkJ491YyT6uGMIlattLy4VS_6DghaCYS8xsuFwUKGC8rK7WcknZccyIY2Y6qk5BAuS/s640/blogger-image--87424212.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm1PU6DKnQ_chYdKGZRO2bAfDsoreW25hCu3UM4NBVB3A-8bZN_i6VgV8T_fNy9Oj5aXTNbCvm0MKkJ491YyT6uGMIlattLy4VS_6DghaCYS8xsuFwUKGC8rK7WcknZccyIY2Y6qk5BAuS/s640/blogger-image--87424212.jpg"></a></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<br></div>
<div>
Her project was fully funded within 35 days by a public audience, some funders she knew, others she didn't. She realised that her direct funders had a genuine interest in the work she was carrying out (on Black Seabass movement in the Gulf of Maine). </div>
<div>
<br></div>
<div>
To encourage people to donate to her research she realised that her communication needed to be clear and understandable to a wide audience. She also offered 'incentives' which are commonplace in crowdfunding projects, where if you pledge a certain funding level you receive extra benefits. She chose to offer increased information about the project and photos from her field trips as she worked on the boat. She spoke to me enthusiastically about how she uses experiment.com like her own, personal, social network to connect with her donors.<br>
<br>
She shares updates on the research but also letting them know what she is doing, for example stuffing 1500 envelopes for a large survey. A survey that has actually stemmed from her interaction with her public donors. Not only was she telling them information they also contacted her about things they had noticed and recorded in the local area - from when certain fish had been caught but also from fishermen letting her know what the fish they had been catching had been eating. It's bringing a whole new social aspect to her work. </div>
<div>
<br></div>
<div>
She sees the correspondence not as a chore, but as an integral part of her work. Even getting excited about sharing her work with the public audience. </div>
<div>
<br></div>
<div>
Local publicity about the project has also helped her connect with a wider audience at public meetings and forums. </div>
<div>
<br></div>
<div>
Her perspective on her own work and her perceptions on working with the public have changed completely, " Scientists aren't an exclusive club, They should feel responsibility to interact in a timely manner with the public about their work" </div>
<div>
<br></div>
<div>
But the experience of speaking directly to funders made her realise the importance and value of bringing the public into research that is taking place. It hadn't occurred to me before then that this method of funding you are achieving a level of engagement with the public that can be difficult to achieve via traditional routes.</div>
</div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: white;">
<br></div>
<div style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: white;">
There are still lots of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/jan/02/crowdfunded-science-scientists-fund-research" target="_blank">questions and debate</a> to be had around the process of crowdfunding research. How can the public be sure they are funding quality research and that scientists don't over-promise what they will achieve with the funds they get?<br>
<br>
For me, meeting with Marissa offered a completely new perspective on how funding via this route isn't just about the monetary value. The process can really increase engagement in a way that brings the public into the research process and can make the research, and the researcher, better.</div><div style="font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; background-color: white;"><br></div><div><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" trbidi="on"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><em>This June I am undertaking a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship to look at the communication of science via social media. I will be traveling to North America and I am looking to connect with people as I go. You can </em><a href="http://www.heatherdoran.net/2015/05/my-churchill-travel-fellowship-public.html" target="_blank"><em>read more about it here</em></a><em>.</em><br></span><div style="text-align: start;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><iframe height="480" src="https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=zWX1nElmznso.kWD-gZfZZI2Q" width="640"></iframe><br><br></span></div>
</div></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">For the best experience (and to see embedded video content) view my blog at http://www.heatherdoran.net . Don't forget you can find me on Twitter @hapsci http://www.twitter.com/hapsci</div>Heather Doranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01743182952112081912noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034888015247889941.post-11236892919394928482015-06-09T07:32:00.000-07:002015-06-09T07:32:11.493-07:00Online engagement and learning in practice at Harvard and MIT<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
For the next part of my journey I visited the beautiful Harvard campus. I met with a number of scientists that use social media and a number of social media managers.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeSyy1PUodBqglkmju7lxp91iS18NNzVCv_beYRoQDL8SsvU0MyXp81dk1QGBd4rc5IwJ0k86BhI4LkF-9JEZlIdXl5DC_nvBUUZ_vnRIFUSVK7vTD5W5aKh9T0yCYZog2gJJ6ZkX-4Zlu/s1600/IMG_0821.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeSyy1PUodBqglkmju7lxp91iS18NNzVCv_beYRoQDL8SsvU0MyXp81dk1QGBd4rc5IwJ0k86BhI4LkF-9JEZlIdXl5DC_nvBUUZ_vnRIFUSVK7vTD5W5aKh9T0yCYZog2gJJ6ZkX-4Zlu/s640/IMG_0821.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Harvard</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Harvard is really easy to get to on the T line and is a beautiful campus to explore. The graduations had taken place the day before. There were lots of tents and food-trucks set up around the campus and a really vibrant atmosphere. It helped that the sun came out too!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf7eXRQAeaU2HsFKpxdHjh9Lyk_Rc8mTG010dLK2Zn0la4KdExyvT7hyXUyXofj00CNIJS_Jrn_FhQ_L2_u8ZE_xcIWjMIsa3e7iMjSPTwlyQmphBx-mQEMZ_olxB0oP3CkT9uowq3Bs5_/s1600/IMG_0833.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf7eXRQAeaU2HsFKpxdHjh9Lyk_Rc8mTG010dLK2Zn0la4KdExyvT7hyXUyXofj00CNIJS_Jrn_FhQ_L2_u8ZE_xcIWjMIsa3e7iMjSPTwlyQmphBx-mQEMZ_olxB0oP3CkT9uowq3Bs5_/s640/IMG_0833.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<span id="goog_1577680478"></span><br />
Here's a video round-up of my visit - no hair in my face this time!<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OGIhfTiyKAk" width="560"></iframe>
</div>
<br />
Between meetings I took a quick tour of the Harvard Museum of Natural History which has some incredible collections.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8SqEWSMAn1en0mWLeJRraJBlAs4of0U9rO8rNNvLVGRgsoI4bMXROhvYQ5L7dyRjUXBVbIkJx80-0sJeh5vwVLXiO1IGDyuTFoEZ_vzS-AcFjBQTxtVb0m2UNzlXnVTKpyBOm5wC3Rur1/s1600/IMG_0850.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8SqEWSMAn1en0mWLeJRraJBlAs4of0U9rO8rNNvLVGRgsoI4bMXROhvYQ5L7dyRjUXBVbIkJx80-0sJeh5vwVLXiO1IGDyuTFoEZ_vzS-AcFjBQTxtVb0m2UNzlXnVTKpyBOm5wC3Rur1/s640/IMG_0850.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
My favourite exhibit in the museum is the <a href="http://hmnh.harvard.edu/glass-flowers" target="_blank">glass flower</a> collection, which I stumbled upon by accident. I thought these were persevered flowers but they they were all made from glass for the teaching of botany.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimGNXCpNrUeEdx8bvdSvEQcSHi7nt433ZCEErSGXXTJZTe225KEaJgOEae2TOUZ7IQRBFSatszpqBPy-ELthbxg3u2IJolRu2VTOjlrbCsJ3X4eWdVaP920DWcw-dhn4-RaWLmn1_X3IEZ/s1600/DSC_0001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimGNXCpNrUeEdx8bvdSvEQcSHi7nt433ZCEErSGXXTJZTe225KEaJgOEae2TOUZ7IQRBFSatszpqBPy-ELthbxg3u2IJolRu2VTOjlrbCsJ3X4eWdVaP920DWcw-dhn4-RaWLmn1_X3IEZ/s640/DSC_0001.jpg" width="518" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yep, not a real flower...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipTwEoDb4D9lI9LQiQI6YTBgdd6DxPIDR48qd40T9tfJmW44UaT6m9-W75gNyJQiaDinZRg9k_1xNDs0MWB5MH9MYzZZ5yijE-DxKxQpQ40BpFrJQpHhEY0egOVatF5VnmU5yS2Ox2J2RA/s1600/DSC_0003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipTwEoDb4D9lI9LQiQI6YTBgdd6DxPIDR48qd40T9tfJmW44UaT6m9-W75gNyJQiaDinZRg9k_1xNDs0MWB5MH9MYzZZ5yijE-DxKxQpQ40BpFrJQpHhEY0egOVatF5VnmU5yS2Ox2J2RA/s640/DSC_0003.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cabinets of glass flowers at the Harvard Museum of Natural History</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The museum is really active on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Harvard-Museum-of-Natural-History/20101645677?fref=ts" target="_blank">Facebook</a> and they host a number of interesting talks and events throughout the year. All the staff were really helpful and knew a lot about the collections. I didn't have long to spend in the museum but it was great to chat with those that I met.<br />
<br />
Other than the glass flowers I loved their displays of beetles and insects. So beautiful.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXOmLOjcu2YJCyXW5Owuv5WWr78X5jQkbFkmVWfTQlzyp2be90siQugYy2SezbQ_Jouo4mNasmMloF6RVyBOUMaU5kWB_AGCLMh23q1RG4hW5OxVC2G3LP17lm1gN7ew9yLokatm0MhFdh/s1600/DSC_0016.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXOmLOjcu2YJCyXW5Owuv5WWr78X5jQkbFkmVWfTQlzyp2be90siQugYy2SezbQ_Jouo4mNasmMloF6RVyBOUMaU5kWB_AGCLMh23q1RG4hW5OxVC2G3LP17lm1gN7ew9yLokatm0MhFdh/s640/DSC_0016.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkM7C7Rl479iGNSv7l541AEnDHch50WjHFlSa07xf8Vub3dll2ZQUCGu8AVmynnBXYWdEG-KmNWw19cOtlVg9srkKZglejfuVar85g87ABTyi7Vx72vlfCcZNFQZpjZd8DYgyGP2fEjIi5/s1600/DSC_0007+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkM7C7Rl479iGNSv7l541AEnDHch50WjHFlSa07xf8Vub3dll2ZQUCGu8AVmynnBXYWdEG-KmNWw19cOtlVg9srkKZglejfuVar85g87ABTyi7Vx72vlfCcZNFQZpjZd8DYgyGP2fEjIi5/s640/DSC_0007+%25281%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So shiny! Beetles at the Harvard Museum of Natural History</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDFSE2J-C_dElZahCoG0DcpgVkC8XZKonYcXtHKAu43dBcZCd76e9EcvfQnPZrGlR08DViGtthovTxQQj2QU4lVzwd4O2uhtSVQnNgySN9ZEzRoaKTmyZD-3TmZIAt4d2YjXbyJu7KOZBP/s1600/DSC_0015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDFSE2J-C_dElZahCoG0DcpgVkC8XZKonYcXtHKAu43dBcZCd76e9EcvfQnPZrGlR08DViGtthovTxQQj2QU4lVzwd4O2uhtSVQnNgySN9ZEzRoaKTmyZD-3TmZIAt4d2YjXbyJu7KOZBP/s640/DSC_0015.jpg" width="638" /></a></div>
<br />
There was also an exhibition on cockroaches and their importance and 'life in a rotting log'. It's great to see the creepy crawlies getting some well deserved attention.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsgVnEuxut1aU5hg1Qfj2Knu5OmbLN0umRlFUt5EmuQmJvA4wSdqNLibB0v0LH3iTvds_O-fnQfJyANQBO0cU1qFOERw6HovEnAYkIEe0P2jaxiaFp1TPUf5Uo5S5F6Ok6QUgdx_XpldUF/s1600/DSC_0014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsgVnEuxut1aU5hg1Qfj2Knu5OmbLN0umRlFUt5EmuQmJvA4wSdqNLibB0v0LH3iTvds_O-fnQfJyANQBO0cU1qFOERw6HovEnAYkIEe0P2jaxiaFp1TPUf5Uo5S5F6Ok6QUgdx_XpldUF/s640/DSC_0014.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-yHNFCODvB0DXv6W9MVw2Ovx-QhAvxu4M8XpsECYoGKz0sJHM3gaS2Sq6sO9s1oBf6ojRCYBWuyhZX79IPcTB7pnxyyyw4j8oZWTBPT-09yS_dUiee2TiJ3bSChu4dxUJEmG4jE_foaLx/s1600/DSC_0013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-yHNFCODvB0DXv6W9MVw2Ovx-QhAvxu4M8XpsECYoGKz0sJHM3gaS2Sq6sO9s1oBf6ojRCYBWuyhZX79IPcTB7pnxyyyw4j8oZWTBPT-09yS_dUiee2TiJ3bSChu4dxUJEmG4jE_foaLx/s640/DSC_0013.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVGPHTZvvBQoeAIVCk7wNZyCt7MvtuMNHZXxrYHFn8ss11DwEu_jIkwL3gfOYPRn4VZN4YJBa7KB_ZF4ujhrBMXVcFk7UBVre6Pt22gq3x5B349NIY03lLxBLYn3iymCmJhCRj2INM_GbZ/s1600/DSC_0020.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVGPHTZvvBQoeAIVCk7wNZyCt7MvtuMNHZXxrYHFn8ss11DwEu_jIkwL3gfOYPRn4VZN4YJBa7KB_ZF4ujhrBMXVcFk7UBVre6Pt22gq3x5B349NIY03lLxBLYn3iymCmJhCRj2INM_GbZ/s640/DSC_0020.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
I met with a number of academic staff at Harvard and spoke to them about their online engagement. I also learnt about Harvard's online courses <a href="http://harvardx.harvard.edu/" target="_blank">http://harvardx.harvard.edu</a> which are a diverse set of free online courses taught by Harvard staff available for everyone to access.<br />
<br />
Many of the courses also support their own Facebook, Twitter and social media pages. These exist not to promote the course but to engage with the students. The pages create their own communities between students and academic staff. The visibility of the questions and discussion stimulates more input in a way that one-to-one conversations via email never could.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I headed back to MIT later in the day and I met with Stephanie <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">Hatch </span><span style="line-height: 18px;">Leishman</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;">, Social Media Strategist at MIT, </span></span>in her fantastically decorated office (she made the icons herself -AMAZING).<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPJZJsh66egPh9gAXb6PS1I5Rzfni-kmygIRsHzpcHeIfa0PFw3ACiSpG9fQ3XbzzPADBzxDeT6SG4cHA1LyjqsxjFAbFlSgfUEbK8vJ-XDiOTiEH3wlNOxpV1Vm_zCMzPdI2VXSmMiPOI/s1600/IMG_0852.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPJZJsh66egPh9gAXb6PS1I5Rzfni-kmygIRsHzpcHeIfa0PFw3ACiSpG9fQ3XbzzPADBzxDeT6SG4cHA1LyjqsxjFAbFlSgfUEbK8vJ-XDiOTiEH3wlNOxpV1Vm_zCMzPdI2VXSmMiPOI/s640/IMG_0852.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
We spoke for quite a while about how MIT as in institution approaches social media engagement. I discovered <a href="http://connect.mit.edu/" target="_blank">MIT connect </a>, a fantastic example of how a diverse organisation can bring together it's online engagement and output.<br />
<br />
There's also <a href="http://k12videos.mit.edu/askmit" target="_blank">#askMIT</a> an outreach initiative led by MIT's engineering school that encourages and promotes online science engagement through video, Facebook and Twitter. Ask the researchers a question and they will answer. This kind of idea isn't new, but I haven't seen an example of it being led at an institutional level before. Formal Social media chats tend to last for a set period of time (1 hr or so) and then vanish so it's great to see a project that keeps building and continues over time.<br />
<br />
<br />
These are a few perspectives and views from those that I have met so far that I thought were interesting to share:<br />
<ul>
<li>No Professor or research group lead (or PhD student..) should be managing a group social media output. Write it into a grant and employ someone to do this - it's a full time job to do it properly and get the most from it.</li>
<li>Freedom online is important to make mistakes, learn and develop new areas</li>
<li>MOOCs can create their own social media networks with public audiences and become an engagement platform </li>
<li>Exploit the support networks you can find on social media to help you in your career </li>
</ul>
<br />
<div dir="ltr" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This June I am undertaking a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship to look at the communication of science via social media. I will be traveling to North America and I am looking to connect with people as I go. You can </span></em><a href="http://www.heatherdoran.net/2015/05/my-churchill-travel-fellowship-public.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #1b6b79;"><em><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">read more about it here</span></em></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><em><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">.</span></em></span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<iframe height="480" src="https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=zWX1nElmznso.kWD-gZfZZI2Q" width="640"></iframe><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">For the best experience (and to see embedded video content) view my blog at http://www.heatherdoran.net . Don't forget you can find me on Twitter @hapsci http://www.twitter.com/hapsci</div>Heather Doranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01743182952112081912noreply@blogger.com0Harvard Museum of Natural History, Harvard University, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA42.3784698 -71.11554380000001218.172782799999997 -112.42413780000001 66.5841568 -29.806949800000012tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034888015247889941.post-31661012834599395372015-06-07T08:09:00.000-07:002015-06-07T08:13:33.438-07:00Churchill Fellowship Science Online: Visiting MIT and BABY LOBSTERS<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
</div>
I packed my bags and headed to Boston this week for the first part of my <a href="http://www.heatherdoran.net/2015/05/my-churchill-travel-fellowship-public.html" target="_blank">Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship </a>to investigate how scientists are using social media to connect with the public.<br />
<br />
Here's a round-up of the first part of my trip<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFzWQO_-R53OI_TZVLPuKeqJnSokPhadqlVRq8iEKj_8MscrOmpo9gmbgkWWThCho6AAqsD2LuqidMkHSuKqFuBsEPwX9Wv6N9ToNm8XgdPgYgXV6m5lHlezhUniL9wluWuGp1FLdB7wgJ/s640/blogger-image--720877872.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFzWQO_-R53OI_TZVLPuKeqJnSokPhadqlVRq8iEKj_8MscrOmpo9gmbgkWWThCho6AAqsD2LuqidMkHSuKqFuBsEPwX9Wv6N9ToNm8XgdPgYgXV6m5lHlezhUniL9wluWuGp1FLdB7wgJ/s640/blogger-image--720877872.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There were stunning views from the flight all the way to Boston.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Hotel accommodation in Boston is super-expensive so I tried out <a href="https://www.airbnb.co.uk/" target="_blank">Airbnb </a>for the first time. It was really easy to find an Airbnb place located half-way between Harvard and MIT in Cambridge despite the lack of affordable hotels in this area. The apartment is lovely and my hosts were great. I'm definitely going to be using Airbnb more. I was pretty exhausted after the flight and so having a nice place to relax and rest was just what I needed.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCpiZgnD3PmLLyq-2bkgcRNKGmpTPjpJHEAm_5yqNCSUwQoPRRUC-VJuZaILP61kzxIrZR8cnx6wm8b2y-1j7y_CgGLr8mTYTt68FWFtGTUEdSARCLFXMRfMWSXUfRbGKBtGsM8xKnCxZE/s640/blogger-image--404479452.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCpiZgnD3PmLLyq-2bkgcRNKGmpTPjpJHEAm_5yqNCSUwQoPRRUC-VJuZaILP61kzxIrZR8cnx6wm8b2y-1j7y_CgGLr8mTYTt68FWFtGTUEdSARCLFXMRfMWSXUfRbGKBtGsM8xKnCxZE/s640/blogger-image--404479452.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
Cambridge is a great area full of coffee shops and leafy streets. I got to know the area well on foot. It's easy to navigate and feels like around every corner is a lovely coffee shop, perfect for a cup-of tea and a think about the conversations that have been taking place.</div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjECpxImLiCqcuhI1NiRmCX0F4w-xD5bT7Q6bbycoZXfTKCPKGhyx1nH9mtwAG6T5HtVP9b2qA4cET1HeaA8s5PysCaVwLVNTMmND-KCxQs5sGFP2BCXYA3jv2pqyOKfvVV8MNG55f115H-/s640/blogger-image-73573988.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjECpxImLiCqcuhI1NiRmCX0F4w-xD5bT7Q6bbycoZXfTKCPKGhyx1nH9mtwAG6T5HtVP9b2qA4cET1HeaA8s5PysCaVwLVNTMmND-KCxQs5sGFP2BCXYA3jv2pqyOKfvVV8MNG55f115H-/s640/blogger-image-73573988.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
On the first day of the project I attended the <a href="http://sciencefestivals.org/event/the-2015-international-public-science-events-conference-ipsec-and-inaugural-science-live-workshop-2/" target="_blank">International Public Science Events Conference</a> in the <a href="http://media.mit.edu/" target="_blank">Media Lab</a> at MIT. It was a great conference with plenty of ideas for new science events and information about science festivals that run around the U.S. There was lots of discussion about how science engagement events could be an 'immersive experience', similar to the secret cinema type events and 'haunted house' style. These are fun ideas which can challenge how people think about and interact with science.<br />
<br />
At the conference I also met a number of people that I haven't seen for a very long time, or people that I have spoken to online but never met.. and quite a few new faces too. I was feeling pretty jet lagged so it was quite full on for day one of the trip and after the conference I headed straight home to nap!<br />
<br />
I missed day one of the conference as I was travelling but there's lots of the discussion captured online via <a href="http://topsy.com/s?q=%23IPSEC2015&window=m" target="_blank">#IPSEC2015</a><br />
<br />
It was fantastic seeing inside some of the MIT buildings. I loved the displays and small exhibition they have downstairs in the media lab.<br />
<br />
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqpD3VGzB6gl_GHEiONGurqFtVYyqvV0oY1mtxl2kUVuRGjLQTfqmTfTNDItHVEpf_gJjkiGI1aMoumrol3cyrQTyjNsGzc4dUWycms4lbQYLmEuIimgZeyCjRA2ZTG7UPG5XDVZKIh-Tt/s640/blogger-image-56737211.jpg" width="350" /></td>
<td><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8KJRQHb0kvydq6clRieYSJlRC6CMdgUCTsdtg_ExEzvK5veb57-jqd-IRfw3dmf591zDm25OMGXX93hyVrPz-7vNjbUu6gPcaPR38ppJm_ld0eEZWweWRuAFwc7bfN1bRpDrczEcSf8kf/s640/blogger-image-267551563.jpg" width="350" /></td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipKHFCUcNlA89V0m425ylqWkKS7VYWBtie-PNxI0KkE0ie1ktecumL9_dpOQ1G_SYQIQApPkxlOyhF1Lc2923CvMbRib7ZOIJPKPxPrxY6uCa9JjDg8FOpx7sCGKZrgb6krdBdypgXLFPG/s640/blogger-image-736567828.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipKHFCUcNlA89V0m425ylqWkKS7VYWBtie-PNxI0KkE0ie1ktecumL9_dpOQ1G_SYQIQApPkxlOyhF1Lc2923CvMbRib7ZOIJPKPxPrxY6uCa9JjDg8FOpx7sCGKZrgb6krdBdypgXLFPG/s640/blogger-image-736567828.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"></span></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKLGmFaIrkKolH_mrKLnAiSjQhnDD0ciM-3-DcQXlyBewg6mFdYgu_JTBYytBGIv9PvKj-AxYZNPXdgGeDRgwDF5pY-Vn6RvDXMjFUtvjQl2bolAlkLF9uwdsAoarlqAL47FlCihyphenhyphenBSB78/s640/blogger-image--527727361.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKLGmFaIrkKolH_mrKLnAiSjQhnDD0ciM-3-DcQXlyBewg6mFdYgu_JTBYytBGIv9PvKj-AxYZNPXdgGeDRgwDF5pY-Vn6RvDXMjFUtvjQl2bolAlkLF9uwdsAoarlqAL47FlCihyphenhyphenBSB78/s640/blogger-image--527727361.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The iconic <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_and_Maria_Stata_Center" target="_blank">Stata Center building</a> at MIT</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">On my second day in Boston I met with Ben Kotrc who's a postdoctoral researcher in the NASA astrobiology group at MIT. He splits his time 50/50 between research and outreach. We met in a great coffee and breakfast place close to MIT called </span><a href="http://www.darwinsltd.com/" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Darwin's</a><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">.</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It was great to chat to him informally about how he manages outreach for a diverse research group located not only at MIT but around the US and how they have integrated social media into their outreach programme. You can see more about his work and the research group <a href="http://www.complex-life.org/team/benjamin-kotrc/" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
<br />
Science is EVERYWHERE around MIT!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlaVVKCF34XcvlqMEeORgMfkL3kCm8qEtUFf2Bwkt6Rts4BKa4kLRJyDtrZ8lnkX2NeBW482w9Bz0-v-0CWtxO-G6ZZ1mGyjHstA4b4NnQ5k89-Tq4HOTyLqj0nFSjiCkBrPgsJLACayL_/s640/blogger-image--211976163.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlaVVKCF34XcvlqMEeORgMfkL3kCm8qEtUFf2Bwkt6Rts4BKa4kLRJyDtrZ8lnkX2NeBW482w9Bz0-v-0CWtxO-G6ZZ1mGyjHstA4b4NnQ5k89-Tq4HOTyLqj0nFSjiCkBrPgsJLACayL_/s640/blogger-image--211976163.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-t94bFTmdO1QJOr40PS0KzXQKxT3wg__Y_5PgU7PLaXTByZyO91kCLsTE1jrUXcCRCQhr59N3dwUy6pqaK3rHJRakaA3IIogQfitR-YNMOUoEUzZsOysmjFxDb1FyQwskl72BsjOyL51J/s640/blogger-image--529431798.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-t94bFTmdO1QJOr40PS0KzXQKxT3wg__Y_5PgU7PLaXTByZyO91kCLsTE1jrUXcCRCQhr59N3dwUy6pqaK3rHJRakaA3IIogQfitR-YNMOUoEUzZsOysmjFxDb1FyQwskl72BsjOyL51J/s640/blogger-image--529431798.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Ben kindly gave me a tour of some of the MIT spaces including the beautiful and extremely peaceful engineering library and this Sol Lewitt designed floor. He also introduced me to the underground tunnels of MIT which I loved, although without him guiding me I think I would have been stuck under MIT forever. The tunnels connect all the buildings via underground passageways and I loved how industrial they are.<br />
<br />
It's always worthwhile getting some local knowledge when exploring a new place.<br />
<br />
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzvglb6TIUF809hkID2OjDM2q6NXaZ-BJgS6XNvYLoPqF2Yb2eQm9LN23SI-l3HqV9xgnVpail2owbOvmzCWUU8fade6Vb8FJCOqhZqg_KevjFdqNiQddiyH3bdbXT61FZnQwPb3U1dJAy/s640/blogger-image-192216762.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="350" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The engineering library at MIT</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td>
<td><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisqaZDaNKzOAWBZQ9DYwvFWqcnNc6UFquJ80I9J20vt0S5879yWuKuAjknIhCr-I2uX5QiRQNUhQV83gdHG0XaH-7_NF4UzRdToYBaijE6g6yTTe4vZn6nYaJMgpG0x9jwFBkyk8It8DnN/s640/blogger-image--1914646691.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="350" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Sol Lewitt designed floor at MIT</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBtTXra8uIosaGUUMdUu-hUrCbncNm61sJaVoDYLDzvFHedeUxvvCps3vZ_hMkSYbpHbCBPEK0z-KcVc_P2wWCoQj-6rYZtYBDQuy5lNZ1OxOENXVnQZ8Ncp6fjD9s9STQwsyGN60guCED/s640/blogger-image-155983098.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="350" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The tunnels at MIT</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td>
<td><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfwUfUZw3uzPW-KDOh7QsRhgZ9Ajq41rcVfd540jpgpPTpEeSBBZi4ycOtnuYcxQa4L53pAIeMljPg8axGQNjq8T1yL4EW3lEQN2EFP9N1mvUb40MTsq4OLkxOX69whM9CrCOutQq-QAFb/s640/blogger-image-363608787.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="350" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More MIT tunnels!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
In the afternoon I travelled north of Boston to the <a href="http://www.northeastern.edu/cos/marinescience/about/" target="_blank">Northeastern University Marine Science Centre</a> (MSC) to meet Marissa, a PhD student who used online crowdfunding to fund part of <a href="https://experiment.com/projects/new-fish-on-the-block-ecological-implications-of-black-sea-bass-in-the-gulf-of-maine" target="_blank">her research project</a>. I headed to 'Wonderland' on the T line (the T is easy to use and came in handy when the weather was too bad to walk). While waiting at the station I had a bit of time and walked along to Revere beach. I thought I would try recording some video.. I'm trying to experiment with different types of online communication as I go on this trip. As much as I love blogging and Twitter I want to make sure I take myself out of my comfort zone. The lesson I learnt while recording this was that filming in windy locations with long hair is tricky. I could't see my face in the screen as the sun was too bright!<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qCM0M9y0JwU" width="560"></iframe><br /></div>
<br />
<br />
The Marine Science Centre lab is located on the peninsula at East Point in Natant and is housed in old WW2 bunker and defence area (!!). This is a photo of the entrance - pretty cool!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGcwQzryna7BqskeMqyrU0vywCiYIA_Ks36bH3suWEvPxxUX1opM1jfpj2qzAP5PLWg0JLGg_yObLVjMgd0i90xUZxS2G9avj16crp_CMFxnF1p7-dvf8K6mvDTVmOZLPlHE8U_ss6T0nb/s640/blogger-image-1159214037.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGcwQzryna7BqskeMqyrU0vywCiYIA_Ks36bH3suWEvPxxUX1opM1jfpj2qzAP5PLWg0JLGg_yObLVjMgd0i90xUZxS2G9avj16crp_CMFxnF1p7-dvf8K6mvDTVmOZLPlHE8U_ss6T0nb/s640/blogger-image-1159214037.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
I had a great chat and tour with Marissa about her experiences of using <a href="http://experiment.com/">experiment.com</a> a site designed especially for the crowdfunding of research projects. I'm going to cover some extensive thoughts on this in a separate blog post. Marissa shared lots of thoughts with me, including some tips for going about crowdfunding your work. For now, here's Marissa giving her view on her experience.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rqqyNeKt454" width="560"></iframe><br /></div>
<br />
The lab is very cool. Marissa was very kind and gave me a tour of the facility and introduced me to this little dude, a 2 year old BABY LOBSTER, who is still so tiny. I also learnt that these blue lobsters are1 in a million.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcHtcqK-JgNB1rJ5FkveeoPw2fFQuAn0zP87fj85WqWN1q-b5Hj-9dZgMDdx2P8noHPztsrQ7wfKJ8G1cx0MH3Gt4XMa5kG8_w3iBG5S6t3gkILAwZP3__9QNa4zqgOtV50AdJHw9ID-H3/s640/blogger-image--1463798658.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="361" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcHtcqK-JgNB1rJ5FkveeoPw2fFQuAn0zP87fj85WqWN1q-b5Hj-9dZgMDdx2P8noHPztsrQ7wfKJ8G1cx0MH3Gt4XMa5kG8_w3iBG5S6t3gkILAwZP3__9QNa4zqgOtV50AdJHw9ID-H3/s640/blogger-image--1463798658.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhisj9H5ORjTHNKW5ElveI8_9QElsStC8u3l1yj_38UEXyY0KnWg85jB9HdRm3Dh4gzM1xJxkKruj8LKlV8dRqBEds6j8_K0lLV8_ELUTZE7rWDFa9bzXMbgbNwQNPRdpGCGs-ThNsVfbmd/s640/blogger-image--1040913616.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhisj9H5ORjTHNKW5ElveI8_9QElsStC8u3l1yj_38UEXyY0KnWg85jB9HdRm3Dh4gzM1xJxkKruj8LKlV8dRqBEds6j8_K0lLV8_ELUTZE7rWDFa9bzXMbgbNwQNPRdpGCGs-ThNsVfbmd/s640/blogger-image--1040913616.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
In the afternoon I had time for a visit to the <a href="http://www.mos.org/" target="_blank">Museum of Science</a> in Boston. It's a huge science centre, and is really impressive. Like most science centre's it's aimed at children and families but the exhibits here are really great even if you are there on your own.<br />
<br />
It's home to the worlds largest indoor Van der Graaff generator. Unfortunately I was too late to see the electricity show so I just took a selfie. I have heard that the electricity show has been shared via their snapchat account. Snapchat appears to be the social media of choice for science centres and museums at the moment.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTEn725pf5xnBHGusgulCjPSb422Yt-bTMc_9wNNcv5EQ3S4d288rHtu7KOlf9nEDeEIPOwhPvwWnyGPx9gBpl7Zv5Ku2K57gVtvRObRA2S67Rbs87e-x2DVF2PMGUjLdm-iTPSBStfZ1j/s640/blogger-image-1841170404.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTEn725pf5xnBHGusgulCjPSb422Yt-bTMc_9wNNcv5EQ3S4d288rHtu7KOlf9nEDeEIPOwhPvwWnyGPx9gBpl7Zv5Ku2K57gVtvRObRA2S67Rbs87e-x2DVF2PMGUjLdm-iTPSBStfZ1j/s640/blogger-image-1841170404.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
I had a great time in the Theater of Electricity and loved their interactive exhibition on Mathematics. </div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKVoqmkYsg3vy_f9ZqWmLVK_35t5HslP6x3UcqdugjlZHgG9I9Mm0si3_610iN2eysdY2Angjvve0UAYJr-0-0UFga-7Mb_Onb2FkPf53KWwzM9Mi9jXE4t4KDMTswbukf2SVHTH-AD7x8/s640/blogger-image--650399192.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKVoqmkYsg3vy_f9ZqWmLVK_35t5HslP6x3UcqdugjlZHgG9I9Mm0si3_610iN2eysdY2Angjvve0UAYJr-0-0UFga-7Mb_Onb2FkPf53KWwzM9Mi9jXE4t4KDMTswbukf2SVHTH-AD7x8/s640/blogger-image--650399192.jpg" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I wish I had a bit more time to explore the museum! I got a little carried away/overexcited making some videos for vine (short, 6 second loops)<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe class=" pinged" frameborder="0" height="637" src="https://vine.co/v/eh3XQVtjjvZ/embed/postcard" width="290"></iframe>
</div>
You can keep up with the <a href="http://www.mos.org/museum-online" target="_blank">Museum of Science online</a> and I've heard they have a great snapchat account.<br />
<br />
Next stop on my tour is Harvard where I will be looking at how universities manage social media output of their staff and researchers.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This June I am undertaking a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship to look at the communication of science via social media. I will be traveling to North America and I am looking to connect with people as I go. You can </span></em><a href="http://www.heatherdoran.net/2015/05/my-churchill-travel-fellowship-public.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #1b6b79;"><em><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">read more about it here</span></em></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><em><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">.</span></em> </span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<iframe height="480" src="https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=zWX1nElmznso.kWD-gZfZZI2Q" width="640"></iframe><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br /></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">For the best experience (and to see embedded video content) view my blog at http://www.heatherdoran.net . Don't forget you can find me on Twitter @hapsci http://www.twitter.com/hapsci</div>Heather Doranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01743182952112081912noreply@blogger.com0Boston, MA, USA42.3600825 -71.0588801000000142.1722125 -71.3816036 42.547952499999994 -70.736156600000015tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034888015247889941.post-87481406811980430382015-05-15T04:00:00.000-07:002015-05-24T11:26:33.995-07:00Friday Favourites 15 May<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A round up of the best things that I have discovered online this week. Covering everything from posts on public engagement with research, how we use social media and other good stuff.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="article-content entry-content" dir="ltr" itemprop="articleBody" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I posted this week about PhD students and their use of social media. Are they really as 'switched on' as people seem to think? You can </span><a href="http://www.heatherdoran.net/2015/05/are-phd-students-switched-on-to-social.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #1b6b79; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">read it here</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span data-mce-style="font-family: Verdana;"><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1) LIFESAVING TOOL: </span><a data-mce-href="https://www.tripit.com/" href="https://www.tripit.com/" shape="rect" target="_blank"><span data-mce-style="color: #1b6b79; font-family: Helvetica;" style="color: #1b6b79; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">TRIPIT </span></a></strong></span><span data-mce-style="font-family: Verdana;" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> This app is incredible if you travel quite a lot. It can; collate your itineraries, automatically plans routes from place a to b (e.g. if you arrive at Airport X and staying at Hotel Y it plans a route between them), sync with your diary and can include meeting details and locations. By far the best bit about this app is that YOU DON'T HAVE TO INPUT ANY INFORMATION!! You can either forward booking confirmation emails to Tripit or give Tripit access to your email account and then TA-DA!, you have a list of where you are going, how you are traveling, the times and your ticket details all in one place. PERFECT. I haven't used it on </span><span data-mce-style="font-family: Verdana;" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">the road yet but for planning a complex trip like my <a href="http://www.heatherdoran.net/2015/05/my-churchill-travel-fellowship-public.html" target="_blank">Churchill Fellowship</a> it has worked a treat. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<a data-mce-href="http://pixabay.com/en/folding-map-road-map-travel-route-360382/" href="http://pixabay.com/en/folding-map-road-map-travel-route-360382/" shape="rect" target="_blank"><strong><strong><span data-mce-style="font-family: Verdana;" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img alt="" class="en-media" data-mce-src="https://www.evernote.com/shard/s202/res/2256e484-3e6e-4ff9-b659-ced15403821e.jpg" data-mce-style="margin-top: 30px;" height="426" name="2256e484-3e6e-4ff9-b659-ced15403821e" src="https://www.evernote.com/shard/s202/res/2256e484-3e6e-4ff9-b659-ced15403821e.jpg" style="margin-top: 30px;" width="640" /></span></strong></strong></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span data-mce-style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong>2) ARTICLE: <span data-mce-style="color: #33cccc;" style="color: #33cccc;"><a data-mce-href="http://theconversation.com/heres-what-baboons-can-teach-us-about-social-media-41723" href="http://theconversation.com/heres-what-baboons-can-teach-us-about-social-media-41723" shape="rect" target="_blank"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><span data-mce-style="color: #00b2b4; font-family: Helvetica;">Here's</span> what baboons can teach us about social media</span></a> </span></strong>by Robert John Young, </span>Professor of Wildlife Conservation at University of Salford. A great short article on how we form cliques and tend to stick with what we know even when we have access to a global population. A reminder that only looking to your friends and people that are similar to you limits your access information. <span data-mce-style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></span></div>
<span data-mce-style="font-family: Verdana;" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;" style="text-align: left;">
<span data-mce-style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong>3) BLOG:</strong> </span><a data-mce-href="https://www.bloglovin.com/blog/post/1855569/4336079999" href="https://www.bloglovin.com/blog/post/1855569/4336079999" shape="rect" target="_blank"><strong><span data-mce-style="color: #00b2b4; font-family: Helvetica;" style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">How to be a super productive blogger </span></strong></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span data-mce-style="color: #00b2b4; font-family: Helvetica;" style="color: #3d85c6;">by Rosalilium</span><strong><span data-mce-style="color: #00b2b4; font-family: Helvetica;" style="color: #00b2b4;">.</span></strong> I don't often read posts like this but I did thought this post contained some really useful tips and advice for someone who is looking to start blogging or develop their existing blog. </span></span><br />
<span data-mce-style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;" style="text-align: left;">
<strong><span data-mce-style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">4) EVENT: Do zoos have a role to play in polar bear conservation? </span></strong></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;" style="text-align: left;">
<span data-mce-style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I attended this event at the University of Aberdeen Sir Duncan Rice Library on Thursday night. I learnt that there are 19 different subpopulations of polar bears and that the zoo community over the last 20 years have helped reintroduce a number of extinct animal species to the wild. Polar bears have a real struggle on their hands at the moment due to climate change and so maintaining a captive population in zoos with a view to reintroduction in the future is seen as important to make sure they don't go extinct. I didn't really have a true appreciation of this. </span><br />
<br />
<span data-mce-style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The talk was delivered by Douglas Richardson from the </span><a data-mce-href="http://www.highlandwildlifepark.org.uk/" href="http://www.highlandwildlifepark.org.uk/" shape="rect" target="_blank"><span style="color: #047ac6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Highland Wildlife Park</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. They've spent time creating a park with enclosures suitable for their animals. I've never visited the park but the talk has made me want to see more. This talk was linked to an exhibition currently taking place in the library all about the </span></span><span data-mce-style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.abdn.ac.uk/library/about/special/exhibitions/" href="http://www.abdn.ac.uk/library/about/special/exhibitions/" shape="rect" target="_blank"><span style="color: #047ac6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Far North: Frozen stars, Shifting Ice and the Silence Beyond</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. The exhibition is running until the 20th of September. </span><a data-mce-href="http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CAcQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.abdn.ac.uk%2Flibrary%2F&ei=rcRVVe-2MMvcUa2ygLgK&bvm=bv.93564037,d.d24&psig=AFQjCNFY-iXxx-bHdV-pkM-LWyFYwKBB_Q&ust=1431770666274407" data-mce-style="border: 0px currentColor;" href="http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CAcQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.abdn.ac.uk%2Flibrary%2F&ei=rcRVVe-2MMvcUa2ygLgK&bvm=bv.93564037,d.d24&psig=AFQjCNFY-iXxx-bHdV-pkM-LWyFYwKBB_Q&ust=1431770666274407" shape="rect" style="border: 0px currentColor;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a data-ved="0CAcQjRw" href="http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CAcQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.abdn.ac.uk%2Fevents%2F7223%2F&ei=6M9VVZSTHcuAUZ_WgbAF&bvm=bv.93564037,d.d24&psig=AFQjCNHlUb4ldIHo9JvXCQsRivtamcXJpg&ust=1431773541406123" id="irc_mil" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk;irc.il;" style="border: 0px currentColor; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="http://www.abdn.ac.uk/library/images/uploads/web_A4.jpg" height="486" id="irc_mi" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="343" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;" style="text-align: left;">
<span data-mce-style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong>5) VIDEO: From Buzzfeed UK</strong> 8 Water Tricks to wow your friends </span></span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;" style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;" style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OTuZgwxzVJ8" width="560"></iframe><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
<span data-mce-style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span data-mce-style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;" style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
<span data-mce-style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong>6) OFFLINE: <a data-mce-href="http://www.breakoutgamesaberdeen.com/" href="http://www.breakoutgamesaberdeen.com/" shape="rect" target="_blank"><span style="color: #047ac6;">BREAKOUTGAMES Aberdeen</span></a> FUN! </strong>A friend from work (shout out to <a data-mce-href="http://www.twitter.com/sci_fun" href="http://www.twitter.com/sci_fun" shape="rect" target="_blank"><span style="color: #047ac6;">@sci_fun</span></a>) organised for us to try out the new Breakout Games in Aberdeen this week. We had to solve clues around the room to unlock various padlocks and doors. It was science themed and awesome fun. We completed it in 45 minutes which we thought was pretty good (we didn't quite beat the top score of 24 minutes!) I think these games are popping up all over now. I would highly recommend checking them out.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div>
<span data-mce-style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Other than that I've had a productive week rattling through lots of lists of 'things to do' that I have had to put off over the last few months due to lots of work. It feels good to be able to get those completed. I'm hoping the weather is nice this weekend so I can get stuck in to my allotment!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div data-mce-style="text-align: left;" style="text-align: left;">
<span data-mce-style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">7) PHOTO: Breakoutgames fun!</span> </strong></span><br />
<span data-mce-style="font-family: Verdana;" style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLsJPAzpCxYCU0fCbYnNxXRoj7WLESyRvv7uC-L9Imo6AoeNNFENpr6PwIvf9LkUdIjmYjxGoDqzfpQh7q8h5dREseqLS5b7zplMt2wrAmbwXLRYv0Yrpl9X1NFuHcJprxl4_BZdQ0YbJv/s1600/breakoutgames.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLsJPAzpCxYCU0fCbYnNxXRoj7WLESyRvv7uC-L9Imo6AoeNNFENpr6PwIvf9LkUdIjmYjxGoDqzfpQh7q8h5dREseqLS5b7zplMt2wrAmbwXLRYv0Yrpl9X1NFuHcJprxl4_BZdQ0YbJv/s400/breakoutgames.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/HappyScience" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Sign up to receive my blog posts to your email!</a></div>
</div>
<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">For the best experience (and to see embedded video content) view my blog at http://www.heatherdoran.net . Don't forget you can find me on Twitter @hapsci http://www.twitter.com/hapsci</div>Heather Doranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01743182952112081912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034888015247889941.post-34908745437458509342015-05-13T04:34:00.002-07:002015-05-13T04:46:49.211-07:00Are PhD students 'switched on' to social media?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Do you presume that all PhD students are using social media to network and talk about their research work? In March I presented at the 2nd International Conference on Developments in Doctoral Education and Training about the use of social media by PhD Students.
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Texting by Jhaymesisviphotography, on Flickr" border="0" src="http://farm8.static.flickr.com/7025/6497720551_79c434a2a0.jpg?random=1431516005714" height="427" href="http://purl.org/dc/dcmitype/StillImage" rel="dct:type" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Texting by Jhaymesisviphotography, on Flickr" width="640" xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"> by </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/jhaymesisvip/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"> </span></a><a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/jhaymesisvip/" property="cc:attributionName" rel="cc:attributionURL" target="_blank" xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Jhaymesisviphotography</span></a><a href="http://www.imagecodr.org/" target="_blank"></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span> </div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The conference focused on all elements of studying for a doctorate around the globe but this year they included a focus on <em>'Doctoral Candidates in the Digital Age'</em>. There were a number of really interesting presentations and talks on this theme (all linked to below).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">We presented a talk based on a small study of social media use by researchers here in Aberdeen. For this we focused on the results from the PhD students about their social media use. Many presume that the current cohort of students are using social media proficiently for their own benefit. I don't think that tells a true story so wanted to explore what they were doing in more detail. </span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><o:p><strong>Are doctoral candidates switched on to the impact of social media?</strong></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><o:p>Dr Heather Doran & Dr Kenneth Skeldon</o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>University of Aberdeen</i></div>
<div align="CENTER">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><o:p>It might be assumed that today’s doctoral students are aware of and active in the use of social media tools in the course of their work. In this session we question whether doctoral students are really utilising these tools to effectively and responsibly strengthen and progress their work and careers? </o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><o:p>In the rapidly evolving area of social media, support and advice is often sporadic, presented with different foci depending on whether training is delivered by individuals, institutions and funding bodies. Differing policy between these groups also causes confusion around how best to use such digital tools. Coupled with this, there are different approaches and guidelines on what is appropriate to be discussed online. Individual social media accounts have come under scrutiny for being ‘self-promoting’ with many opting for a research group output instead. However, this latter approach presents its own difficulties in building attributable voices and a corresponding audience. This landscape can be daunting for those navigating a doctorate and wishing to benefit from these digital tools. </o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><o:p>We will address some specific questions, such as whether doctoral candidates have the confidence, knowledge and responsibility to utilise social digital networks in the context of their work and whether those that don’t might be disadvantaged. We will present conclusions based on general surveys of digital use and attitudes by researchers across the globe (Lupton, 2014) and a local, targeted review of attitudes and uptake of social media tools by the University of Aberdeen research community. We will comment on how our analysis and evaluation has informed knowledge to steer effective engagement with the research community about social media including the design and delivery of tailored training modules. Lastly, we will present initiatives to support the use of digital tools aimed at enhancing the competitiveness of doctoral candidates and enriching their skillsets.</o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: magenta;">
</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">The full presentation can be found via the link below (click on the talk title at the bottom of page 2) - there doesn't seem to be an easy way of sharing this! A </span><a href="https://storify.com/UKCGE/icddet2015" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Storify of the conference</span></a><span style="color: #0b5394;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> was created for those that want to see further discussion.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm interested to know what people think about this and to collate any experiences that people might have had as a PhD student or as someone working to support PhD students. Please comment below! </span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<a href="http://www.ukcge.ac.uk/documents/ICDDET2%20Draft%20Prog%20with%20hyper-linked%20presentations%20and%20posters%20v3_1.pdf"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://www.ukcge.ac.uk/documents/ICDDET2%20Draft%20Prog%20with%20hyper-linked%20presentations%20and%20posters%20v3_1.pdf</span></a><br />
<span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><em><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This June I am undertaking a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship to look at the communication of science via social media. I will be traveling to North America and I am looking to connect with people as I go. You can </span></em><a href="http://www.heatherdoran.net/2015/05/my-churchill-travel-fellowship-public.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #1b6b79;"><em><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">read more about it here</span></em></span></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><em><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">.</span></em> </span></span><br />
<br />
</div>
<iframe height="480" src="https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=zWX1nElmznso.kWD-gZfZZI2Q" width="640"></iframe><br /></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">For the best experience (and to see embedded video content) view my blog at http://www.heatherdoran.net . Don't forget you can find me on Twitter @hapsci http://www.twitter.com/hapsci</div>Heather Doranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01743182952112081912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034888015247889941.post-50487772136976225382015-05-08T03:15:00.000-07:002015-05-08T03:15:44.805-07:00Friday Favourites 8 May <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A round up of the best things that I have discovered online this week. Covering everything from posts on public engagement with research, how we use social media and other good stuff.</span><br />
<div class="article-content entry-content" dir="ltr" itemprop="articleBody" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I posted this week about my upcoming trip to North America to look at the communication of science via social media. If you missed it, you can </span><a href="http://www.heatherdoran.net/2015/05/my-churchill-travel-fellowship-public.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #1b6b79;">read it here</span></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong>1) LIFESAVING TOOL: <a href="https://macfreedom.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #1b6b79; font-family: Helvetica;">Freedom</span></a></strong> thanks to <a href="https://twitter.com/DrMRFrancis" target="_blank">@DrMRFrancis</a> for this one. It's an app that blocks the internet so you can concentrate when you need to. You just let the app know how long you need to stay offline and that's it, work away. I think this might be one for the thesis writers! </span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong>2)</strong> <strong>ONLINE DISCUSSION: <span style="color: #1b6b79; font-family: Helvetica;"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/nasinterface?f=realtime&src=hash" target="_blank">The #NASINTERFACE discussion on trust in science</a></span></strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This roundtable discussion with academics and journalists looked at aspects of trust and public perceptions of science. There were some interesting side conversations on Twitter and you can view the talks online. It was focused on the life sciences (just to add some context). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3) VIDEO: The video from the #NASINTERFACE discussion</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span></strong><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3_b1xDhThJY" width="560"></iframe>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<strong><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">4) EVENT: </span><a href="https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/codethecity-4-environment-tickets-16785390555" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #1b6b79;">Codethecity Aberdeen </span></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">is back 20-21 June theme, ENVIRONMENT</span></strong></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">No need to know anything about coding to get involved. Just a will to make the city better and create potential solutions to problems. It's free, the people involved are fantastic. Make some new friends.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong>5) ARTICLE: </strong><a href="http://t.co/flmWDZexYJ" target="_blank"><strong>Digital storytelling revives the art of gossip</strong></a> by Katherine May in Aeon this week. Because we all know gossip is good for you. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong>6) BLOG:</strong> <strong><a href="http://lenfisherscience.com/80-seeing-what-everybody-else-has-seen-and-thinking-what-nobody-else-has-thought/" target="_blank">Len Fisher Science</a></strong>. I always enjoy the blog posts from Len Fisher. This post is about the discovery of heat. Titled <em>'Seeing what everybody else has seen, and thinking what nobody else has thought'. </em>His posts are always snappy and extremely thought provoking</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong>7) OFFLINE: </strong>I got very excited about the almost, very nearly, last episode of Mad Men. I've loved following the show from the 1950s into the 1970s. It's incredible to see how much things have changed in the workplace since then and how much hasn't. The US was changing at such an incredible rate at that time. Of course the clothes are amazing too. </span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong>8) PHOTO: </strong>On Monday I had the day off. I spent the day at home catching up and organising my upcoming trip to the US. It did mean I got to spend the day with my pet rabbits Coco and Pop. They spent most of the morning hiding in this box. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"></span><br />
</div>
</div>
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="4" itemprop="articleBody" style="background: #FFF; border-radius: 3px; border: 0; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 658px; padding: 0; width: -webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width: 99.375%; width: calc(100% - 2px);">
<div style="padding: 8px;">
<div style="background: rgb(248, 248, 248); line-height: 0; margin-top: 40px; padding: 50% 0px; text-align: center; width: 100%;">
<div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="margin: 8px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 4px;">
<a href="https://instagram.com/p/2QPwzBJQ_k/" style="-ms-word-wrap: break-word; color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" target="_top">This is our box and we are the kings of our box and no one will take it away because we love our box and we are safe in the box and we will defend our box and no one can see us here in the box. Silly bunnies #rabbitstagram #bunny #bunniesofinstagram #bunnylove</a></div>
<div style="-ms-text-overflow: ellipsis; color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0px 7px; text-align: center; white-space: nowrap;">
A photo posted by Heather Doran (@hapsci) on <time datetime="2015-05-04T08:47:53+00:00" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;">May 4, 2015 at 1:47am PDT</time></div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<div class="article-content entry-content" itemprop="articleBody" style="text-align: center;">
<script async="" defer="" src="//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js"></script>
</div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">For the best experience (and to see embedded video content) view my blog at http://www.heatherdoran.net . Don't forget you can find me on Twitter @hapsci http://www.twitter.com/hapsci</div>Heather Doranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01743182952112081912noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4034888015247889941.post-14084295170810863342015-05-06T05:58:00.002-07:002015-05-06T06:14:59.740-07:00My Churchill Travel Fellowship - Public Engagement with science online<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img class="zoom-large" height="300" src="https://c4.staticflickr.com/4/3051/2668834386_ef9cfbd4e0_b.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image from <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/balleyne/2668834386/">https://www.flickr.com/photos/balleyne/2668834386/</a> </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
This June 1 - 26 I am heading to North America to undertake the first part of my Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Travel Fellowship focusing on online science communication. <br />
<br />
I've created a travel map so others can see where I am and when. I'm keen to connect with people as I go (and I will add to this map as I travel). Follow my journey through my <a href="https://twitter.com/hapsci" target="_blank">Twitter account</a> and through my blog (you can subscribe via the grey box on the right hand side of the page). <br />
<br />
'Public engagement with science online' is clearly a very large area so for this part of my trip and in the time frame I have I will be focusing my efforts on these three questions:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Can quality two-way dialogue and engagement between scientists and the public take place on social media? </li>
<li>What training and environment is needed to foster this quality two-way dialogue?</li>
<li>What can go wrong and how can that be managed?</li>
</ul>
These questions are broad and there are many themes I want to explore within them. Does social media offer an untapped opportunity for early career scientist? Or is this too risky? Can social media be properly recognised as part of the role of a scientist and does it need to be? These are just some. My next post will follow up on some further discussion. <br />
<br />
My aims are still flexible and I welcome any thoughts or feedback on them. <br />
<br />
For a broad overview of the project and how the Fellowship came about then I have written a little more about my <a href="http://www.heatherdoran.net/2015/03/my-winston-churchill-memorial-trust.html" target="_blank">project plan here</a>.<br />
<br />
Of course I will be Tweeting conversations as I go, I am going to use the hashtag #engagescionline<br />
<br />
I am also looking to connect with people via Skype! So please get in touch. <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe height="480" src="https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/embed?mid=zWX1nElmznso.kWD-gZfZZI2Q" width="640"></iframe><br /></div>
<br />
<div align="center">
</div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">For the best experience (and to see embedded video content) view my blog at http://www.heatherdoran.net . Don't forget you can find me on Twitter @hapsci http://www.twitter.com/hapsci</div>Heather Doranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01743182952112081912noreply@blogger.com0