Opening Remarks by Joe Palca from NPR
Joe Palca is a science correspondent for NPR. Since joining NPR in 1992, he has covered a range of science topics — everything from biomedical research to astronomy. He is currently focused on the eponymous series, “Joe’s Big Idea.” Stories in the series explore the minds and motivations of scientists and inventors. As part of Joe’s Big Idea, Palca created “Friends of Joe’s Big Idea.” FOJBIs (pronounced foe-JOE-bees) are scientists interested in improving their communications skills.
Dianna Cowern
Dianna Cowern is the creator of Physics Girl. Driving tractors on a farm in Hawaii where she grew up somehow led to science and engineering pursuits. Nicknamed “happy pants” in college, Dianna researched dark matter with Prof. Jocelyn Monroe as an undergraduate at MIT, and low-metallicity stars with Prof. Anna Frebel as a post-baccalaureate research fellow at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, before bringing her happy intern pants to GE where she worked as a software engineer designing mobile apps. Eventually, she started exercising the nerdy side of her brain on YouTube as Physics Girl before (and while) heading over to UCSD as a science outreach coordinator. She loves to surf, SCUBA dive and play the ukulele.
Maryam Zaringhalam
Maryam Zaringhalam is a molecular biologist who traded in her pipettes for the world of science policy and advocacy after receiving her PhD from The Rockefeller University. She is currently based in Washington, DC where she is an AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow, producer for The Story Collider, and a leadership member of 500 Women Scientists. Her words have appeared in Slate, Scientific American, and Quartz. Her cat is named Tesla, after Nikola and not Elon Musk’s car. For insights like this and more, follow her on Twitter @webmz_
- “Creating Community through Social Media” (Susanna Harris)
- “Communication and Community: Entry Points to STEM” (Francesca Bernardi and Katrina Morgan)
- “Using Storytelling to Change the Narratives of Diversity in Science” (Monica Feliu-Mojer)
- “Breaking the Mold: Communication in Medicine” (Rebekah Fenton)
- “Science & Us: The Next Generation of Communicators” (Katherine Huang and Parin Shaik)
- “Popular Science Books!” (Joanne Manaster)
- “Digging Deep in Rocky Soil: Controversial Science” (Katherine Carter)
- “Space in Your Face! A Space-Themed Variety Show” (Julia DeMarines)
- “An Orchestrated Experience for Data Literacy” (Armando Manalo)
- and you?
