AAAS Trains Student Scientists in the Art of Science Communication

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Rahman A. Culver, project director, American Association for the Advancement of Science

From grant writing to interaction with their community, today’s young scientists must also be able science communicators. The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Mass Media Science & Engineering Fellowship seeks to increase communication skills in student scientists. The lessons they learn through the fellowship experience will benefit their career path and help them increase public understanding of science and technology. “As a writer, I came to appreciate the human side of science. I discovered that the people and personal histories that drive science are also an important part of the story. People and local interest help provide the context for readers to interpret a science news event,” said 2011 Fellow Helen Shen, who completed her fellowship at The Philadelphia Inquirer.

For more than 30 years the fellowship has trained student scientists who have gone on to contribute to the larger scientific discussion including, Eric Lander, founding director of The Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT; Edward J. Weiler, former associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate, NASA; and Kenneth Chang and Erica Goode of the New York Times.

The fellowship places senior undergraduate and graduate science, engineering and mathematics students at media sites nationwide to work as science reporters for 10 weeks. By exposing reporters and editors to the expertise of student scientists, while also training those same students in the nuances of journalism, the program can improve the quality of information that is disseminated. As 2010 Fellow Benjamin Pittman-Poletta noted, “My time at The Oregonian gave me a well-rounded introduction to science journalism, with a focus on feature stories with strong local angles and connections to larger issues. I learned how important it is to state a clear point of view when writing about complicated topics, and how gratifying it is when the points you make hit home for your readers.”

AAAS selects 10-15 Fellows each summer. There is a $4,500 stipend plus travel expenses. Applicants must be enrolled as college or university students (at least in their senior year of undergraduate study) — or have completed a degree — in the natural, physical, health, engineering, computer, or social sciences or mathematics in order to apply. Graduate and doctoral students are welcome to apply, but must be currently enrolled or apply for the summer fellowship within one year after graduation or defense of their thesis. Students enrolled in English, journalism, science journalism, or other non-technical fields are not eligible for this fellowship. The deadline to apply for the 2012 program is January 15, 2012. Learn more and download an application at: http://www.aaas.org/programs/education/MassMedia/.

Rahman A. Culver, a project director at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, serves as the manager for the Mass Media Science and Engineering Fellowship Program. He earned his master’s degree in public administration from George Mason University. He can be reached at raculver@aaas.org.

e-Advocacy: Getting Your 15 MB of Fame

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By Seth Ginsberg, co-founder and President of the Global Healthy Living Foundation

Advocacy used to be serious. Now it is social.

Advocacy used to be Jerry Lewis asking us to open our wallets every Labor Day weekend or he was going to cry, and we did and he did.

Today it is us and our friends asking each other to click a box saying “Like” or fire off 140 characters to our followers, or to pledge online with a credit card so somebody can ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles, or to watch a video with millions of other like-minded people who need help.

But, at the same time we are reaching people in ways they have never experienced, we are rekindling senses that include responsibility, action, and compassion.

It has been the combination of responsibility, action and compassion that has enabled the Global Healthy Living Foundation to evolve, from a 1990’s “dot-com” dorm room start-up patient organization called CreakyJoints.org, to the host organization of last month’s e-Advocacy Summit in Washington, D.C., which convened more than 200 other organizations to learn about ways to use social media for advocacy.

Helping organizations understand the power of the Internet and the accompanying impact that is created by social media was the primary reason for partnering with Eli Lilly & Company to produce the first of what will be many e-Advocacy Summits. The mission of the e-Advocacy Summit, and its ongoing educational programs (advocacy texting, webinars, regional events, conference calls), is to evolve, engage and empower. The complete agenda for the inaugural summit, including topics, learning materials and videos are available at http://www.eAdvocacy.org.

Whether your organization is new to social media or you have already integrated it into your advocacy strategy, the digital landscape holds great promise. The keynote speakers, panelists and attendees at the e-Advocacy Summit shared enthusiasm for the future of advocacy. Everyone agrees that it’s changing. Understanding that change, and using it to improve health outcomes – and the collective mission of the attending organizations – is the goal of e-Advocacy.

Not since Jimmy Stewart received bags of letters in “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington”, or Kris Kringle got the same as he stood before a judge in “Miracle on 34th Street”, has advocacy been so obviously powerful. But, it’s important to know that only the tactics have changed, not the strategy. Kids still got the message to Santa in that 1947 movie, just as they did in real life when they addressed letters to the North Pole.

Today, however, we don’t have to wait until Christmas to advocate. We are invited into a world of free and instant speech, courtesy of some of the biggest geeks on earth, where we have the ability to shout out loud, and depending on our creativity, it might be to an empty room or to a packed house 10 million times the size of Madison Square Garden.

Andy Warhol famously said that everybody wants 15 minutes of fame. GHLF executive director Lou Tharp less famously, but more appropriately, has now refined that: everybody wants 15 megabytes of fame. And it’s not getting it, it’s recognizing its fragility.

Seth Ginsberg is the co-founder and President of the Global Healthy Living Foundation (http://www.GHLF.org), non-profit patient advocacy organization dedicated to improving patient outcomes through education and improved access-to-care.