Science Communication Workshop

Public Lecture by Ari Daniel

Science Communication Workshop for Students and Postdocs

Panelist Biographies

Ari Daniel is a science and environment reporter whose stories have been featured on PRI's The World, Radiolab, NPR's Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Weekend Edition, and a variety of other museum, non-profit, academic, and public media outlets.  He's covered everything from canine personalities to the music of Bach on Mars to a group that sends used lab equipment to developing countries.

Ryder Diaz is a Health Producer for The California Report, based in San Francisco. Ryder began interviewing people as a kid. He often carried around a hefty, black, cassette recorder, which had a retractable handle, one built-in speaker, and buttons the size of dominoes. Today, Ryder continues to ask people questions-- now about health and science. Surprisingly, his equipment hasn’t gotten any lighter. Ryder is a former AAAS Mass Media Science and Technology Fellow and a previous Kaiser Family Foundation Intern in Health Reporting. His journalism career began in the basement of Freeborn Hall with KDVS. Since then, he has worked at Aspen Public Radio, The (Salinas) Californian, The San Jose Mercury News, Inside Science News Service, and KQED Public Radio. Ryder has a BA in both Metropolitan Studies and Gender and Sexuality Studies from New York University. And he has a MS in Population Biology from UC Davis.

Andy Fell is a senior public information representative with UC Davis Strategic Communications (News & Media Relations). His beat covers mathematical and physical sciences, engineering, and biological sciences, among other things. He is responsible for communicating UC Davis research to the public, fielding inquiries from media and helping professors to work with reporters (and vice versa). Andy also runs the Egghead research blog. He has been at UC Davis since 2000. Prior to that, he worked in medical communications for the pharmaceutical industry, and before that, he was a postdoctoral researcher at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Brisbane. He has a BS and a PhD from the University of Edinburgh.

Becky Oskin is a staff writer for LiveScience.com, the largest online science news sites in the world. She has freelanced for New Scientist and the American Institute of Physics and worked in media relations for Duke Medical Center and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Ms. Oskin earned a master's degree in geology from Caltech, a bachelor's degree from Washington State University and a graduate certificate in science writing from the UC Santa Cruz. She started her journalism career at the Pasadena Star-News.

Justin Pressfield is the Chief of Communications for USGS WEstern States. His office handles media and Congressional affairs for all USGS work west of the Rockies (including MT and WY) from AK through CA and out to HI. He has been in this position since April of 2011. Prior to joining USGS, Justin was a Senior Advisor in the Office of the Secretary of State. While there he served as a leader on foreign assistance issues including appropriations, budget and policy working with Congress and the news media. Before working at the State Department, he worked for the US Agency for International Development doing public affairs and Congressional affairs work in Washington D.C., Iraq, Sri Lanka among other places.

Ben Young Landis (moderator) is the co-founder of the Capital Science Communicators (CapSciComm) network. He got his academic start at UC Davis, majoring in Evolution and Ecology and minoring in Education, and then working several years with the John Muir Institute of the Environment. He had completed a Master of Environmental Management degree at Duke University when he stumbled upon the world of science communication via the AAAS Mass Media Fellowship. He has written for the Orange County Register, North Carolina Sea Grant, the U.S. Geological Survey, Buzz Hoot Roar, and his personal project, Better Know a Fish.  www.younglandis.com

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On-campus Resources

› EDU 298: Translating Research beyond Academia: Education Outreach (please refer to the course code and check the course catalog for its current offerings)

› Grad Pathways

› iAMSTEM Hub

› ICIS: Innovating Communication in Scholarship

› Science Writing Courses with the University Writing Program 

› Strategic Communications: Media Training

› University Writing Program

Books and Resources for Effective Science Communication (each book is a link)

› A Scientist's Guide to Talking with the Media

› Journalists Comment on Science Press Releases

› PLoS Biology: An Introduction to Social Media for Scientists

› National Academies of Sciences: The Science of Science Communication

› National Academies of Sciences: Communication Awards

› Web and Emerging Technology Resources for Scientists and Partners -- from Oregon State University's Research Translation Core

Contains several links to many many more resources including project examples, analytical tools, training opportunities, digital storytelling and more.

› Writing on Science: Experts Speak (iTunes)