Author: Dr. K

Why is Dead Animal the Default?

On By Dr. KIn Environment, Ethics, Food, Health, SustainabilityLeave a comment

Have you ever stopped to consider why dead or abused animal by-products (aka meat, milk, and eggs) are the default ingredients in nearly every catered event, restaurant, bakery, café, food stand, or airplane meal?

Even if you are a meat and/or dairy consumer, you have to wonder why animal products are so ubiquitous in our food products, even those that in no way require them (e.g., baked goods and desserts) and when we know that an over-consumption – or really any consumption – of animal products is more deleterious to our health than plant-based options?

Not to be rude, but…

I am not a confrontational person, and I hate making a fuss even if I get served the wrong dish in a restaurant or have a bad customer service experience. But I have to admit I’m getting to the end of my rope with the lack of awareness about the impact we have on our planet (and animal suffering) by assuming dairy, egg, and meat filled foods are ‘normal’ and ‘expected’ and that plant-based options are a mere after-thought. Nearly every coffee shop in Santa Barbara, where I live, offers one vegan pastry item. By why only one? Why should the twenty other items be filled with pig, chicken, and cow tissues or secretions when it is just as easy to make wonderful vegan croissants, Danishes, donuts, and breads (check these out if you don’t believe me). Why shouldn’t animal-based items be the token extra option instead? There’s plenty of people who are sensitive or allergic to animal products that would be grateful as well.

With food like this, from vegan sushi to vegan smores, its pretty easy to ditch the animal products these days.

With amazing plant-based options like these (vegan sushi and vegan s’mores dessert), ditching meat and dairy is easier – and tastier – than ever.

Until very recently, I was one of those vegans that just felt grateful when there were non-dairy milk options at cafes (regardless of how ridiculous the up-charge was) or vegan-friendly options at meat-heavy restaurants. But perhaps thanks to getting older, plus recently joining a community group composed of strong, inspiring women, I am starting to appreciate the need to take bolder steps to push the boundaries of what people accept as ‘normal’ and force us all to question our assumptions about how we treat animals, our planet, and each other.

The group I joined is called Vegan Lady Bosses (VLB), a community of women who seek to lift each other up, support each other in professional and personal endeavors, and together build awareness and appreciation for a plant-based, sustainable, cruelty-free lifestyle. These women mean business, and they don’t politely accept that they should pay up to a dollar more for their latte because they choose the cruelty-free option. The VLBs don’t blindly accept that ‘vegan’ means outlier; they intend to make plant-based the mainstream, and empower people in their choices and activism. For a quiet, non boat-rocking introvert such as myself, this newfound power is both a bit frightening and incredibly enlightening.

My local VLB group has been successful in pressuring local cafes to remove the up-charge for cruelty free milk, and to add more vegan options to their menus. They also rally behind businesses that make positive changes toward plant-based options, supporting them in person as well as on Yelp and social media. The VLBs show on a local scale the power of combining forces behind a cause, and the power we all have as concerned consumers and citizens.

I don’t expect everyone in the world to immediately go vegan. It’s not always practical, or available, depending on where you live or who you live with. But it is certainly time for mainstream discussions centered on why we are so complacent about the lack of concern for our unsustainable, unhealthy food system. Even if you don’t eat meat but consume dairy and eggs, or buy leather or wool products, you are (perhaps unwittingly) supporting very large, very cruel – to animals and humans – and very dirty industries that treat living beings like cheap objects. You shouldn’t have to feel like NOT supporting these industries is too difficult or radical.

Time to Rock the Boat

Just this week, the organization I work for sent around an email announcing that our Christmas party would be catered this year, and we have the option of three types of tamales – all of them meat or cheese based. This organization’s main mission is to focus on solving environmental issues for the benefit of people and the planet. Yet most times when we cater an event (such as the dozens of working groups and workshops and parties per year) at our office, the main dishes are centered on meat and dairy with plant-based options as the exception. Only one other person in my organization that I know of, out of nearly 100 people, is vegan. A handful are vegetarian. I am slowly losing my patience for a whole field of experts on environmental and climate issues who can’t seem to change their lifestyles in the way they keep arguing we all must do in order to ‘save’ ourselves from the worst impacts of climate change and pollution.

I probably wouldn’t have done this in the past, but with my newfound confidence and feeling of community support, I responded to my organization’s email, very politely asking if there would be a vegan option available. I also volunteered to lead a sustainability task force to look into making sustainable choices for our organization as a whole, including how we source food, office supplies, and how we run activities. I look forward to seeing whether my colleagues are receptive to such changes.

I understand that I do not make perfect choices. For example, I want to reduce how much plastic I buy, and how much plane travel I participate in. But choosing a plant-based diet seems like such no-brainer, particularly in California, where it is nearly effortless to do so and in fact you can find some of the most incredible vegan food and restaurants in the world. Eating plant-based has a huge positive impact on fossil fuel emissions, but also makes a statement that you refuse to accept that we must abuse and torture animals to sustain ourselves. Like it or not, think about it or not, that is what is happening to nearly every animal whose meat or milk or eggs you end up consuming, unless you or your benevolent neighbor raised them yourselves (even then, you assume that killing an animal before their natural time is humane).

I am even more dismayed that the very people at the forefront of climate change and sustainability research by and large consume meat (including fish, shrimp, and other unsustainable fisheries products) and dairy regularly, drive everywhere, and fly to multiple scientific conferences per year. If they didn’t change their transportation but changed their diet, that alone would be huge. If conferences provided better support for remote participation and focused on making their events zero waste, that would be even more significant. When the very people and institutions studying climate change can’t lead by example, how are we to expect the rest of the world to change their ways? What is it about human nature, our tendency toward cognitive dissonance, that prevents us from changing our behaviors even when we know our current behavior is detrimental to ourselves?

This is a topic I am beginning to explore in depth. We all have mental, socio-economic, or cultural barriers to change – the question is how can we learn to overcome these when we know that such change is beneficial? Based on some initial conversations I’ve had with colleagues, it appears that feeling supported (or pressured!) by peers is one important factor in whether someone chooses to change their diet. If a person is surrounded by others who eat vegan, and who enjoy cooking plant-based foods, they are more likely to adopt this lifestyle change. Many people, even those working in climate science, feel overwhelmed or intimidated by a plant-based diet because they don’t know where to start – what products to buy, what recipes to use, what restaurants they can go to, etc. Having trusted friends and family members that can guide them through this process lowers the barrier to entry in making this change.

Another key element is being exposed to pleasant plant-based meals. This is again where friends and colleagues can make a big difference, but also where organizations, companies, and restaurants can play an important role. If plant-based foods become the default option, and they taste great, people will either not notice that meat and dairy are ‘missing’ or better yet feel more inclined to choose plant-based options in the future. At scientific conferences where they have experimented with this, they’ve found that there were no riots or complaints when plant-based options were front and center; on the contrary, many people appreciated the switch or didn’t even notice. A lot of times, we make things harder for ourselves than they need to be, or assume an easy fix will be more controversial than it ends up being.

Some people are even convinced to go vegan based on watching powerful documentaries (e.g., Cowspiracy, Game Changers) or books about this topic. I went vegetarian, and later vegan, at the age of thirteen, after reading a book called ‘A Teen’s Guide to Going Vegetarian’ that opened my eyes to the horrors of factory farming and environmental and health benefits of eating plants. But for most of us, it’s ourpersonal connections that have the largest impact on our lifestyle choices, no matter how much knowledge we have about a subject via books and research papers. Community support is important for many things, and shifting behavior change is one of them – if the community is conducive to change.

I realize that terms like ‘animal cruelty’, ‘animal abuse’, ‘violence’, and ‘needless death’ make animal consumers uncomfortable. But instead of directing anger at the messengers, perhaps we need to more deeply explore why we find it hard to hear these words spoken about actions we choose to directly or indirectly support through our lifestyle choices. Did you choose to kick that injured baby cow or slice the beak off that turkey? No, of course not. But by drinking your nonfat latte (even if its organic) or eating your Thanksgiving meal, you implicitly gave permission for those actions to occur. Did you pour thousands of gallons of pig waste into river ways, or inject millions of cows with antibiotics that are creating super bugs? Again, no; but your purchases directly support industries that are doing these things. If you don’t feel good about that, you are a prime candidate for considering a plant-based lifestyle.

Not all plant agriculture is benign, of course. Choosing crops that are locally grown, organically produced, and produced by farms that pay living wages to their workers are all important things to consider no matter what you eat. Every type of food we eat has some sort of environmental consequence – but the evidence is unequivocal that raising livestock is much more intensive than growing most crops. For those people who are concerned that they aren’t able to maintain their health, or strength, or certain vitamin levels on a plant-based diet, I’ve found that often they simply haven’t received sufficient information and guidance about how to do so – or have received some of the abundant misinformation that’s out there. I’ve been vegan for over a decade and have never had abnormally low levels of B12, vitamin D, protein, or other essential nutrients or minerals.

Eating plants instead of factory-farmed animals is a no-brainer for most of us. It’s better for your health, your peace of mind, animals, and the planet as a whole. But I get that we can’t always make such a big shift on our own. I encourage you to reach out to community groups in your area to find the support and comradery to help make your transition to plant-based eating successful and enjoyable. Besides the VLB group I found (there are many VLB chapters throughout the country), I’ve found a sense of community by joining vegan potluck Meetups, animal welfare and environmental sustainability groups, and visiting local farm animal rescue centers.

If you ever have questions or want to discuss topics about plant-based eating and sustainable agriculture, I am always open to conversations. I don’t feel that forcing anyone to choose a specific diet (or worldview) is conducive to positive change, and I like to consider different perspectives and approaches. So please feel free to reach out! What challenges or barriers do you face in changing your diet or lifestyle? There is so much more I could go into about this topic, but I will save that for future posts.

In the meantime, here are just a few sources of inspiration for the vegan-curious out there. Stay tuned for more exploration in the near future.

Happy Cow website and app – helps you find vegan and vegetarian restaurants in cities around the world!

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine

Information about a plant-based diet for children 

Awesome, easy vegan recipes

Powerful vegan activism

Environmental impact of meat/dairy production

Inspiring new Netflix movie, The Game Changers, about top athletes who’ve gone vegan (and here’s their resources page)

The Vegan Society – Why go vegan

ASPCA facts about animals on factory farms

Negative effects of meat/dairy on human health

christopher-carson-i4XLJmlYit4-unsplash.jpg

Featured

Watch Out World – A Group of Women is Coming to Straighten You Out

On By Dr. KIn Environment, Life, science communication, SustainabilityLeave a comment

Three hundred women. Three hundred women fighting to save our world, our health, and our future. Fighting and sailing.

I had the unbelievable luck to join the ranks of these 300 planet warriors on part of their epic global journey. I never considered myself a fighter, but if fighting means standing up to the industries pumping us full of toxic plastic chemicals, or protecting the health of our children and the lives of ocean animals, then bring it on.

Three hundred women are sailing around the world over the course of two years on a yacht named S.V. TravelEdge, 10 women at a time spread across 30 Legs. Their combined goal? To sample every region of the world’s ocean for plastic pollution so that we can better understand the global distribution of plastic trash – how it circulates through the ocean, how it breaks down, and where it ultimately ends up. All the plastic samples gathered over these two years will be sent to scientists who will analyze the data that could provide unprecedented clarity on the fate of plastics in the ocean, their impacts, and where we should target action.

Finding solutions to plastic pollution is a key aim of this voyage, but it’s about much more than collecting plastic samples. The entire trip is designed and managed by eXXpedition, an organization that is on a mission to help solve the plastic pollution crisis by empowering multidisciplinary all-female crews on sailing expeditions around the world. Participants conduct scientific research, explore solutions and learn how their unique skillsets can intersect the issue. Each leg of the journey is led by a Mission Leader who guides, supports, and motivates the team to realize their internal strengths and articulate what skills and passions they can bring to solving the plastic pollution problem.

00100lportrait_00100_burst20191124095123483_cover-e1575741366618.jpg

Exploring Antigua

I joined Leg 3, which sailed for 4 days around the waters of Antigua, in the eastern Caribbean. Spending several days in a beautiful tropical setting was certainly special, but the real magic was in the team our Mission Leader Sally pulled together: ten women from five different countries, each with a unique and inspiring story that led them to eXXpedition – and every single one of them a powerhouse in their own way (read more about all of these impressive women on our Leg 3 page).

Take Lara for example: an architect and professor who teaches sustainable design and encourages her students to push boundaries of self-expression – even if it means illegally hanging posters about plastic pollution along one of the busiest streets in Los Angeles. Or Kirsten, a psychotherapist who helps rehabilitate some of the most abused and traumatized people in the world, yet still manages to radiate the most dazzling kindness and joy you can imagine. Oh, and she rescues animals, builds boats, and advocates for mental health policy in her spare time.

Every woman onboard had a similarly remarkable story. Among us were artists, novelists, scientists, sailors, teachers, entrepreneurs, and innovators. Most of us work full-time in addition to volunteering with organizations (or starting our own) and tackling issues we care about. But we all have one critical thing in common – we love the ocean and want to figure out how we can help rid her of plastic.

I would have never imagined how close I would become to nine other women in so few days. We immediately bonded and acted as one unit, a sisterhood held together by respect, enthusiasm, and grit. This bond only grew over the course of our trip. Some of us had no sailing experience, others years’ worth. We all worked together, and our impressive all-female crew (Anna, our captain, Maggie the first mate, and Sophie the deckhand and professional photographer) led us with poise, confidence, and patience.

Those women who were used to sailing on boats with men noted the massive difference in the energy onboard our all-women yacht. In an all-female environment, each of us felt safe to ask questions, we took care of each other, we felt nurtured. And there was always chocolate. Lots and lots of chocolate. And laughs, and hugs. It was beautiful.

“Women learn and communicate differently than men; not better or worse, just different,” said Jeanne, who leads a women’s sailing team in Seattle. Her crew was the first all-female team to win the 750 mile Race to Alaska, with no motor, no showers, and no toilets – just a bucket. We all marveled at Jeanne’s harrowing stories of race mishaps and challenges. She was our ship ‘mom’ and sailing queen, teaching us sailing basics with strength and patience, her voice filled with encouragement. Fortunately, S.V. TravelEdge is equipped with two (mostly) functioning bathrooms, tiny but sufficient beds for each of us, and power to run an engine as well as charge all of our devices. But we still felt some of the thrill of being at sea for several days.

img_20191125_173020.jpg

Each evening we were assigned an hour of ‘anchor watch’ for one hour during the night, where we sat on deck with a partner and made sure everything was fine with the boat and that we weren’t drifting off into the open ocean. The night watch pair from the previous hour would wake the next pair up at the end of their shift. I’ll never forget the soft brush on my arm and Jeanne’s sweet, gentle voice whispering, “It’s time to wake up Kristen, the stars are beautiful!” Each of the three nights we were paired with a different team member, three peaceful hours under a tapestry of constellations, the time spent in soft conversation with another kindred spirit.

On our first watch, Leah and I learned of our mutual background in coral reef science and conservation as well as environmental outreach. But I can only hope to achieve as much as Leah has in her life already. She has a master in coral reef ecology, and now teaches high school geography in her home country of Trinidad as well as running both her own ecotourism business and an environmental nonprofit organization. Oh, and she writes a Caribbean travel blog just for fun. Leah’s soft voice and poised demeaner belie the contagious joy and confidence she exudes. I loved spying her make little narrated videos of her experience throughout the voyage that she will no doubt share with her students as inspiration.

Chantal was another magical member of our team. She bounced around the boat like a sprite, every word rolling from her tongue a little gem of poetic truth. During our anchor watch together, I was drawn into her stories of spiritual, intellectual, and creative exploration. As an actor, director, writer, and all-around artist, Chantal’s lens of the world is always tinged with metaphor and symbol. Her ability to communicate these layered meanings to others is an unparalleled gift, one that allows people to connect more deeply with the world around them.

I shared by last anchor watch with Steph at the dark, still hour of 3am. Spending time with Steph is like sitting beside a gently flowing forest stream – she embodies a calming, quiet, yet welcoming nature that make everyone feel at ease. Originally from the Netherlands and now living in the south of France, Steph works in the yachting industry and leads sustainability campaigns in her company. Talking under the stars about our similar histories of pain, anxiety, and healing felt like dipping my feet in cool, rejuvenating water. Our conversation easily flowed from careers, to health, to spirituality. But Steph isn’t all demure; she’s a fiend on the dance floor and loves music! We had one gleeful giggly night of re-working lyrics to Johnny Nash’s “I Can See Clearly Now” into a song about ridding the oceans of plastic pollution. Our entire team ended up learning the song so we could sing it with the elementary school kids we visited at the end of the trip.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Sailboat

There are so few opportunities these days to spend concentrated time with a group of people, talking face to face without cell phones or emails or calls to distract us. Each day of our sailing journey we took time to sit in a circle around the galley table or up on deck, the sparkling turquoise Caribbean waters our backdrop as we learned about each other and from each other, and conspired together on ideas for reducing plastic pollution at several scales. I’ll cherish our shared laughs over Bobby the weird plastic toy we found on our beach cleanup, turning dish-washing into a 90s music dance marathon (pump up that jam!), and fanning each other in a conga line as we prepped meals over a stove in sweltering heat. Our Leg 3 mantra (and perhaps the mantra for the entire eXXpedition) became ‘sailing, science, and sisterhood.’

I didn’t step onboard S.V. TravelEdge expecting to gain 10 new soul sisters, but I left feeling I had. I grew up an only child, so the bond that so quickly grew between our team is all the more special to me, as it’s not something I easily find. Not only did each of the women on Leg 3 bring with them a valuable story and perspective, but we each contributed complementary traits that synergized our individual abilities, like a team of super heroes that combine into one giant, undefeatable foe. And that’s how we felt as we grew to know each other over the course of several days – like individual pieces of a greater whole that only combined could realize our full strength.

On day three we spent an hour sitting in a circle sharing the qualities we most appreciated about each of the others. I found myself sketching a diagram with four corners – air, earth, water, and fire. Within these four extremes I placed each of our team members, based on their dominant qualities.

Air is lightness, an innate joy that uplifts others. I put Kirsten and Leah in this category, along with Lisa, a luxury travel advisor from San Diego who’s enthusiasm is palpable. Any time the crew asked for volunteers to winch a sail, pull a line, or lower a manta trawl, Lisa was the first to jump in – always with a determined smile. She is gung-ho about everything and has a contagious delight for life and adventure.

Earth is grounded, solid, and supportive. I grouped Steph and Jeanne in this corner, as women who act as graceful, nurturing leaders to their peers.

Water is flexible, a far-reaching entity that connects disparate people. Here I placed the ever- flowing Chantal, as well as Jeanine, a multi-talented author, environmental consultant, and outdoor enthusiast. Jeanine is one of those amazing people that can fit in anywhere – she could just as easily hob-nob with top corporate CEOs as she could march on the frontlines with a group of environmental activists or captivate a group of elementary school children with her oratory skills. And she’s done all three!

Fire is strength, boldness, and leadership. There was no question that Lara fit in this category, as did Lindsey, a woman from D.C. who runs her own company that empowers young women and teaches them life skills. She also volunteers with animal rescues and works for a heavy metal festival every year. Lindsey is not afraid to flex her power to achieve her goals – but she does so with empathy and a deep concern for protecting the vulnerable.

Each of us contains some level of each of these qualities, of course, but I found it remarkable that the variety of personalities in our team covered the spectrum and complemented each other so harmoniously. It was nothing less than magic. By the end of our journey, we all felt stronger, more connected, more powerful, and more inspired to go out and take on the world’s problems. I can’t imagine how much more powerful we will feel after all 300 women have sailed. What an incredible network to span the globe.

It’s not ‘party done’ ladies, it’s party just beginning!

Stay tuned for more stories of science and sailing with eXXpedition in the days and weeks to come.

IMG-20191128-WA0016.jpg

7 Qualities of a Respectful SciComm Community

On By Dr. KIn science communicationLeave a comment

This was originally a guest blog I wrote for shareyoursci.com. They’re a great site for science communication resources, so you should go check them out!

The theme for the 2019 Science Talk Conference in Portland, Oregon, was ‘Community’, a fitting topic considering how quickly the field of science communication is growing and evolving.

Science communicators engage with both science and non-science communities, and must be adept at maneuvering between the two. But what about the SciComm community itself? How can we nurture a space where science communicators of all kinds can feel connected and supported in their efforts? The importance of building a strong SciComm community—one that welcomes diversity and practices inclusion—was the focus of much of Science Talk.

Many of this year’s presenters talked about the qualities that they feel define a strong community, and these same qualities were discussed in the workshop I led on the second day of the conference. I’ve distilled these qualities down to seven key components of a successful community, which just so happen to spell out the acronym R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

respect

1. Representation

Keynote speaker Maryam Zaringhalam addressed the question of who speaks for science head on. “Representation is a big problem in SciComm,” she said, encompassed by sexism, racism, and elitism.

Most people immediately think of Bill Nye when they hear the term ‘science communication’. Many of us have cringed at being called “the Bill Nye of…(fill in the blank)” or “the female Bill Nye”, as if this one well-known (white, male) person sets the standard for what a science communicator looks like and acts like. Nothing against Bill Nye—he’s done a lot for SciComm—but its problematic that other types of SciComm identities and perspectives may be considered less valid or visible in comparison.

Representation is important because we all need to be able to see ourselves in our community, be able to relate to others, and feel confident in our individual identities.

2. Empathy

This is a huge one for me. I believe that a lack of empathy is at the root of many of our societal problems, from political polarization to the detrimental “war on science.”

While as science communicators our goal to responsibly present science by being transparent, and often objective, we must also recognize that we are all driven by personal values. If we can’t acknowledge and respect the values of those we are communicating with, we will likely fail to reach them or build lasting relationships. We need to be able to empathize with others, even if they hold different values than our own.

As many presenters at Science Talk mentioned, being a successful science communicator means being a good listener. Listening to your target community is a big step toward making meaningful connections. Indeed, if you can connect with that community based on some shared values or goals, they are much more likely to be receptive to new ideas. This extends to our own SciComm community too; we should be able to respect that we each have valid experiences and perspectives.

3. Support

We all want to feel supported. How do we create a community where we can effectively support each other? Susanna Harris, founder of The PhDepression website and social media platform, spoke to this in her talk about creating online communities. According to Susanna, a successful community is a place (virtual or otherwise) where you gain something by participating, but also feel responsible for the wellbeing for other people in the community. It’s a place where we lift each other up and feel mutually supported, where we can celebrate our differences while recognizing what binds us together.

4. Protection

I’m not talking about Godfather-style mafia protection, but a strong community should create a ‘safe space’ where its members can be themselves without being judged or harassed. For science communicators, having a strong community means that your peers have got your back when you are attacked by trolls or abusive voices.

Building a community where members feel protected involves creating rules and guidelines for that community that establish a foundation of respect and inclusion. Panelist Sarah Myhre emphasized the importance of creating safer institutions where women, ethnic minorities, LBGTQ+ individuals, and others are free from abuse and prejudice. Without safe communities and institutions to support us, she argued, how can we focus on being successful communicators, scientists, etc.?

5. Equality

In a similar vein, equality is critical to maintaining a community where members feel like they can contribute effectively without bias or prejudice. Many Science Talk participants spoke about their experiences as minorities being blocked by gatekeepers to media, journals, institutional leadership, or other avenues of power controlled by non-minorities.

The tide is slowly turning in some institutions where leadership and participation is diversifying—but we still have a long way to go. Creating a strong SciComm community will require conscious effort toward supporting equality, diversity, and inclusivity; and as Francesca Bernardi and Katrina Morgan (founders of Girls Talk Math) mentioned in their presentation, this in turn will help diversify science more broadly.

6. Connection

A common thread among Science Talk presentations was the important role of storytelling in connecting with your audience. We all have personal stories, and sharing those stories helps us connect with others—whether they are part of “our” community or one we are reaching out to.

As one Science Talk audience member said to panelists, “I want to know your personal story, what got you here, what kept you going. I want you to go beyond reason, and into emotion.”

Hearing how others overcame obstacles (internal or external) to get where they are today helps inspire us and connect us to each other. Many presenters emphasized that a “successful” SciComm interaction means making a meaningful connection. This applies both within and between our communities.

7. Trust

Finally, any community must be built on mutual trust. We must be able to trust that we have each other’s best interests in mind, are willing to support each other, and that our communication is based on integrity. Just as we as individuals want to be considered as trustworthy sources of science information to our audiences, our community should reflect this same trustworthiness by upholding the values we feel are important for respectful scicomm.

Just A Little RESPECT

Feeling supported, connected, and heard are the things that lay the foundation for effective science communication (or effective anything). It was encouraging to hear such wide consensus among SciComm-ers of all kinds about the need for building a community based on mutual respect, where we can boost each other and in doing so boost ourselves and raise the bar for SciComm as a whole.

While the seven elements I outline above are relevant to any community, there are a few additional qualities identified at Science Talk that are particularly important for catalyzing our science communication community: namely, enthusiasm, creativity, and curiosity.

The youngest presenter at Science Talk this year was Parin Shaik, a freshman in high school who participates in the Science & Us SciComm program led by and for high school students. She described how entering the world of SciComm helped her overcome her fears about studying science, and opened up a world where “Sailor Moon and photosynthesis can co-exist!” In other words, SciComm allowed her to integrate her love of art and entertainment with her interest in science. She found her enthusiasm.

“Make your enthusiasm for science contagious.” Encouraged Dianna Cowern, YouTube’s “Physics Girl”, who gave the final keynote address. Her talk galvanized participants into celebrating their curiosity and making it ‘go viral’.

I think this is one of the things that I love most about our growing SciComm community—our common enthusiasm for and curiosity about the world around us, and our passion for sharing what we learn with others. In the workshop I led, participants described their aspirations for a strong SciComm community. You can review the list of aspirations and measurable results we came up with, and even contribute your own, on this google doc. I hope that the ideas captured in this document provide a basis for ongoing conversations about the qualities we want our SciComm community to embody into the future.

I hope we can use the elements of RESPECT to create a space where science and scicomm welcomes everyone. As Maryam said in her keynote, “the greatest asset we have is our community.”