SEMINAR: Save the Date: COMPASS/SEEDS Communications Workshop at RSMAS Friday 8th April

["Andrew Baker" <abaker@rsmas.miami.edu>]

PLEASE SAVE THE DATE

The Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, through a grant from the University of Miami’s SEEDS program (Scientists and Engineers Expanding Diversity and Success), will hold a one-day workshop on "Communicating Science to Non-Scientists" from 9am to 5pm on Friday 8^th April 2011 in the Rosenstiel School’s Auditorium. The workshop invites leading journalists to address such questions as: Why should scientists communicate to non-scientists? How can you deliver a clear and compelling message? How can you ace an interview with a journalist? Why do the cultures of science and journalists sometimes clash, and what are the “do's and don'ts” of dealing with the media?

The workshop is free and open to all. Further details on how to register for a place will be released later this week.

Workshop purpose:

Scientists must go beyond publishing in peer-reviewed journals if they want their research to inform decisions about our future. Unfortunately, academic training seldom covers how to effectively communicate beyond your circle of specialist colleagues. COMPASS (the Communications Partnership for Science and the Sea) training workshops are designed to help researchers shake bad habits so they can talk with journalists, the public, and policymakers what they do - and it why matters - in clear, lively terms. The workshop is based on the prestigious Aldo Leopold Leadership program at Stanford University: http://leopoldleadership.stanford.edu

Participants are asked to pre-register for the workshop (max auditorium capacity: 250) and the afternoon hands-on practices and exercises (20 participants, including mixture of faculty, scientists, postdocs and students)

Workshop activities: The workshop is designed to enhance communication skills, demystify media interactions, and increase willingness to engage in communications with journalists. A team of four professional journalists and science communicators will facilitate both sessions, and will provide participants first hand experience interacting with the media through a range of realistic scenarios.

 

The workshop structure is as follows:

 

Morning:

·         Expectations discussion

·         Video: “True Confessions – Coming out of the Ivory Tower”

·         “Welcome to my World” – Journalists tell their “day in the life” story

·         Lecture: “Bridging the Worlds of Science and Journalism”

·         Discussion: “Thinking Story like a Journalist”

·         Discussion: “Show Don’t Tell” – journalists briefly share an example of their work.

 

Afternoon:

·         Message Box: review and discussion

·         Mock Interviews (up to 20 individuals from among the participants can pre-register for a variety of mock interview scenarios with a journalist)

·         Lecture: How to Ace Your Interview

 

___________________

Andrew C. Baker, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, University of Miami

Pew Fellow in Marine Conservation

 

On leave in the United Kingdom until Fall 2011

 

Visit the lab on Facebook by clicking here

 

Division of Marine Biology and Fisheries

Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science

University of Miami

4600 Rickenbacker Cswy.

Miami, FL 33149, USA

Office: +1 (305) 421-4642

Lab: +1 (305) 421-4226

Fax: +1 (305) 421-4600

Email: abaker@rsmas.miami.edu

 

Associate Conservation Scientist

Wildlife Conservation Society

www.wcs.org/marine