#MySciComm: Kristina Young on SciComm and founding the Science Moab radio show

This week, Kristina Young responds to the #MySciComm questions!

Kristina Young at the mic recording Science Moab at KZMU. (photo courtesy of Kristina Young)

Kristina is a desert dweller, graduate student, and communicator of place-based science.  She produces science shows for a regional audience on Moab, Utah’s, community radio station KZMU.  As a graduate student, she researches dryland ecology and hopes to inspire a love of science and place in her local community.  Connect with her @arid_ecology and her website.

The #MySciComm series features a host of SciComm professionals. We’re looking for more contributors, so please get in touch if you’d like to write a post!

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Okay, Kristina…

1) How did you get into the kind of SciComm that you do?

I get unabashedly enthusiastic talking about science. I also get unabashedly enthusiastic talking about my home in the red-rock country of southern Utah.

#MySciComm: Skylar Bayer on saying “yes, and…” to science storytelling on radio, national TV, and beyond

This week, Skylar Bayer responds to the #MySciComm questions! Click here to listen to an audio version, or scroll to keep reading.

Skylar co-hosting a 2015 Story Collider show in Maine (Photo by Jesse Stuart)

A storyteller specializing in radio, Skylar Bayer holds a Ph.D. in marine ecology from the University of Maine. She is currently a postdoctoral associate at the Downeast Institute investigating population dynamics in mussels. Skylar has appeared on and produced for The Story Collider, and she recently collaborated with Ocean Science Radio to produce the Ocean Lovin podcast series. She has also appeared on Maine Public Broadcasting Network’s Maine Calling about storytelling and scallops, The Colbert Report, TEDxPiscataquaRiver, and as a contributor for AGU’s The Plainspoken Scientist. Closer to home, she performers at The Corner, and she is currently on the board of Sound Bites. Skylar and her husband host their sometimes-monthly podcast, The Strictlyfishwrap Science Radio Hour, out of WRFR-LP in Rockland, Maine. Connect with Skylar @strctlyfishwrap and on her website.

The #MySciComm series features a host of SciComm professionals. We’re looking for more contributors, so please get in touch if you’d like to write a post!

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Okay, Skylar…

1) How did you get into the kind of SciComm that you do?

Well, as these stories often do, it started off with a blog. And then a national TV show appearance!

#MySciComm: Rebecca Johnson on citizen science, building community, and discovering together through #scicomm

This week, Rebecca Johnson responds to the #MySciComm questions!

Rebecca Johnson (center) examines a discovery made by volunteers during a bioblitz in San Francisco. (Photo by Alison Young)

Rebecca co-directs the Citizen Science program at the California Academy of Sciences. She holds a PhD in biology (ecology and evolutionary biology) from the University of California, Santa Cruz where she studied the evolution of color pattern in chromodorid nudibranchs (really beautiful sea slugs).  She combines historical museum collections data and current observational data to understand climate and land use change. Her core work at Cal Academy is building and facilitating a community of naturalists working together to discover nature, in special places and in their everyday lives. Connect with her @rebafay or @rebeccafay on iNaturalist.

The #MySciComm series features a host of SciComm professionals. We’re looking for more contributors, so please get in touch if you’d like to write a post!

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Okay, Rebecca…

1) How did you get into the kind of SciComm that you do?

I have my dream job. I spend about ⅓ of my time in nature, ⅓ in a natural history museum, and the other ⅓ in meetings with awesome partners talking about how to make the first  ⅔  more meaningful.

#MySciComm: Greg Nickerson on shifting from history and journalism to scicomm

This week, Greg Nickerson responds to the #MySciComm questions!

Greg with an Irish Elk; photo courtesy of Greg Nickerson

Greg is a writer and filmmaker for the Wyoming Migration Initiative, a project at the University of Wyoming that tracks wildlife migrations and shares that information with the public. He studied history of the American West and worked as a journalist in the Wyoming State Capitol before turning his interest to the human stories of wildlife migration. Connect with him @GregNickersonWY, on Facebook and at www.gregorynickerson.com.

The #MySciComm series features a host of SciComm professionals. We’re looking for more contributors, so please get in touch if you’d like to write a post!

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Okay, Greg…

1) How did you get into the kind of SciComm that you do?

I think of myself first as a scholar and educator, and all of my science communication flows from that. 

#MySciComm: Katie Burke on forging a path from science to science journalism

This week, Katie L. Burke responds to the #MySciComm questions!

Photo courtesy of Katie L. Burke

Katie is the Digital Features Editor at American Scientist magazine. She holds a PhD in biology (ecology and evolution) from the University of Virginia, where she studied conservation biology in eastern deciduous forests of North America. As a journalist and editor with American Scientist, she helps scientists tell their stories, share the wonder of science, and discuss barriers to learning and doing better science. Connect with her @_klburke and the-understory.com.

The #MySciComm series features a host of SciComm professionals. We’re looking for more contributors, so please get in touch if you’d like to write a post!

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Okay, Katie…

1) How did you get into the kind of SciComm that you do?

I considered going into science writing multiple times—even before I went to graduate school.

#MySciComm: Annaliese Hettinger on loss, childhood, and finding meaning in scicomm

This week, ESA SciComm Section Secretary, Annaliese Hettinger, responds to the #MySciComm questions!

Photo courtesy of Annaliese Hettinger

Annaliese Hettinger is a marine ecologist and science communicator based at Oregon State University. She holds a PhD in Ecology from the University of California, Davis. Annaliese serves as a Science Communication Fellow at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. She is also the Communications Officer for Oregon State University Women in Science and the Secretary for the Ecological Society of America’s Science Communication Section. Annaliese believes that science belongs to everyone, and uses storytelling to connect audiences with the pursuit of science. Connect with her online @A_Hettinger and here.

The #MySciComm series features a host of SciComm professionals. We’re looking for more contributors, so please get in touch if you’d like to write a post!

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Okay, Annaliese…

1) How did you get into the kind of SciComm that you do?

My grandfather provided a place for me to engage deeply with nature as a child.

#MySciComm: Diogo Verissimo on the importance of hope in scicomm

Today, our contributor, Diogo Verissimo, launched a major #sciomm project. Keep reading for details, as Diogo explains the Lost & Found project in his responses to the #MySciComm questions!

Photo courtesy of Diogo Verissimo

Diogo is an educator turned scientist turned marketer! He is currently a David H. Smith Conservation Fellow, based in the Washington, D.C., area. He works primarily on the design and evaluation of conservation marketing interventions around issues such as coastal fisheries, wildlife trade or human-wildlife coexistence. Connect with him at @verissimodiogo and www.diogoverissimo.com.

The #MySciComm series features a host of SciComm professionals. We’re looking for more contributors, so please get in touch if you’d like to write a post!

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Okay, Diogo…

1) How did you get into the kind of SciComm that you do?

My very first conservation job was as an environmental educator at the Lisbon Zoo, in my native Portugal. 

#MySciComm: Megan Litwhiler on museums as a stepping stone to scicomm

This week, Megan Litwhiler responds to the #MySciComm questions!

Megan birding at Reserva Ecologica (Buenos Aries); image courtesy of Megan Litwhiler

Megan is a scientist turned science communicator. After finishing her PhD in bird ecology, and a brief stint at Harvard’s Arnold Arboretum, Megan moved on to her current role as a Research Communications Associate at the Museum of Science in Boston. When she’s not science communicating, she’s hanging with her daughter or birding – preferably both at the same time. Connect with her online @MegClock and the SciFund Challenge’s EcoTome blog.

The #MySciComm series features a host of SciComm professionals. We’re looking for more contributors, so please get in touch if you’d like to write a post!

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Okay, Megan…

1) How did you get into the kind of SciComm that you do?

I’m an ecologist by training, but I’ll talk your ear off about any kind of science

#MySciComm: Bethann Garramon Merkle on merging art and science to enhance scicomm

This week, Bethann Garramon Merkle responds to the #MySciComm questions!

Sketching hares at University of Arizona Vertebrate Museum; image courtesy of Bethann Garramon Merkle

Bethann is an artist, writer, instructor, editor, and consultant who blends visual storytelling and science communication. She’s also a SciComm Section co-founder, the section chair-elect, and our webmaster. She is passionate about a) integrating drawing into education, research, and communication efforts, and b) the role stories play in shaping public perspectives of science and ecology topics. Connect with her @CommNatural and www.ecologicallytruestory.org.

The #MySciComm series features a host of SciComm professionals. We’re looking for more contributors, so please get in touch if you’d like to write a post!

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Okay, Bethann…

1) How did you get into the kind of SciComm that you do?

I have my high school biology and art teachers to thank.

#MySciComm: Shane Hanlon on doing policy, outreach, scicomm, and science

This week, Shane Hanlon responds to the #MySciComm questions!

Image courtesy of Shane Hanlon

Shane is a science communicator, recovering ecologist, science-policy advocate, educator, and storyteller. He’s teaches scicomm for Sharing Science, tells stories with The Story Collider, and still ecologizes each summer for the Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology. Connect with him @EcologyOfShane and shanemhanlon.com.

The #MySciComm series features a host of SciComm professionals. We’re looking for more contributors, so please get in touch if you’d like to write a post!

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Okay, Shane…

1) How did you get into the kind of SciComm that you do?

I took the path of most resistance.