Fluffy frameworks
I gave a brief presentation at the 2010 Science Communication conference yesterday, talking about the work that I did with the Sanger Institute on professional development in science communication. You can download the report here. The very concept of a framework was quite worrying to some people, for all sorts of reasons. In bureaucratic-leaning organisations, things on paper can often take on a life of their own. Personally I like frameworks because they help organise my thinking, but they shouldn’t stand alone. They are not the Thing Itself, they are support for the Thing....
Read MoreSome thoughts on learning new science
I’m now half-way through my Higher Certificate in Genetics. The course is run by the redoubtable Institute of Continuing Education at Cambridge, and every Tuesday evening for the last two terms, I’ve been knuckling down with about 15 other mature students to learn about DNA and modern evidence for evolution. It’s been interesting. I was a straight-arts student at school, fairly steeped in language, literature and history, who went on to do experimental psychology at university. To my friends in Art History or German, I was Nearly A Scientist (Although Weird). ...
Read MoreAre you ready to deal with enragement as well as engagement?
A quick follow-on from Friday’s post on climate science and the need to engage the public. Science’s vision of ‘the public’ is typically a bunch of respectful yet unfortunately undereducated folk. In reality, there are many publics, including the respectful and the occasionally hostile. Yesterday’s Sunday Times carried an interview with Professor Phil Jones, the head of UEA’s climate science unit, and as such at the centre of the furore over leaked emails from the unit that appear to suggest scientists suppressing Freedom of Information...
Read MoreClimate science and the need for engagement
(I don’t talk much here about my science communication research, but here are some personal observations on climate change reporting. I worked for an organisation involved in crop science back in the late 90s, so I saw that particular debate from very close up.) Climate science reporting is increasingly beginning to resemble the debates on MMR vaccine and genetically modified crops – in other words, any rational discussion of the underlying science becomes totally sunk beneath polarised media coverage and divergent political standpoints. The furore over leaked emails from the...
Read MoreEvidence and belief
This morning, news came in from the inquest into the death of a 14-year old girl, Natalie Morton, who died shortly after receiving a vaccination against HPV (human papilloma virus). In short: the poor girl had a malignant tumour in her chest which was undoubtedly the cause of death. This hasn’t stopped the anti-vaccination squads from speculating about the safety of the vaccine. The Daily Mail, long-time opponent of most childhood vaccinations (except the ones against really horribly scary illnesses) has already been running a story depicting HPV vaccination as ‘a mass...
Read MoreManifesto
Some of us find it quite simple to put our real organisations and authentic selves online.
Others - well, let's just say that some of us can't bear to look at our own websites.
My mission is to help you transform your online presence so that other people understand and appreciate what you really have to offer. So that you can achieve what you want - whether that's better engagement, more readers, or more sales.