CALLING ALL SCIENCE COMMUNICATORS: sign our open letter.
ASC & The Story Collider are personally asking you, our community of professional science communicators & storytellers, to take two-minutes to review and digitally sign the open letter below in imploring science degree granting institutions to step up and integrate science communication training into their scientific degree programs.
Read our open letter below:
Want More Information?
The conversations around this topic to date have been scattered and lacking the drive to truly address the imperative need for formal science communication training as part of a well-rounded science education. While some institutions do include SciComm training in their curriculums, or even offer standalone SciComm training certificates & degrees, overall there is simply not enough emphasis on the basic skills & theoretical knowledge to address the growing need for effective communication outside of academia.
We acknowledge that there are many paths into science communication careers. That institutional science degree programs are positioned to teach more people science communication skills & theoretical foundations does not negate the value of science communicators from non-science nor non-academic backgrounds.
Rather, we think that these institutions will enable the profession to grow & flourish as more individuals are able to effectively weave the webs of communication connecting society with science.
We hope that this letter pushes more people inside the academic towers to push for greater educational emphasis on science communication. Can you imagine what will be achieved when science & society are really communicating their wants & needs? How will more better science communication impact the future of science AND society?
What Else?
Are you interested in having conversations about this issue with the Association of Science Communicators and The Story Collider? Is your institution developing or already integrating a science communication curriculum for its students? We invite you to bring commentary to our blog, or to attend a future roundtable discussion.
Let’s work together on filling the science & society communication gap with actionable solutions.