Let's Talk SciComm

In this episode we’re delighted to speak with Dr Graham Phillips, a very familiar – and much loved – Australian science communicator and journalist.

Graham was the host of ABC TV’s science program Catalyst for many years, and also a producer-reporter on that program. He began his career as a scientist (PhD in astrophysics) before quitting to become science journalist/broadcaster/communicator. He’s been a regular science commentator on all the free-to-air TV commercial networks, written about science for almost every major newspaper in Australia and had regular science columns in a number of them. He’s contributed to many, many hours of science on radio as both an interviewee and interviewer, and has had four popular science books published.

He's recently written and produced a series on extra-terrestrial life for Amazon’s podcast arm Audible - Astronomical: looking for life beyond Earth - and teaches science communication at the University of Melbourne.

You can follow Graham and find out more about his work here:

Transcript: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/xy8e

All scientists need to give talks but being able to give a brilliant talk takes skill. Are you wondering how to best keep your audience’s attention? How to design slides that enhance, rather than distract from what you’re saying? And how to tackle your inevitable nerves?

This week Jen and Michael chat about how to give a better science talk. Listen for our thoughts and advice on how to plan, design and deliver a fantastic talk plus tips from two of our UniMelb SciComm students, Randy Mann and Stephanie Wong.

Here are a few good reads to help next time you’re preparing a talk:

Reframing stress - stage fright can be your friend. Very nervous about speaking in public? You're not alone, and there are ways to harness that fear to your advantage.

Get Excited: Reappraising Pre-Performance Anxiety as Excitement. This paper talks more about reframing anxiety by taking stress and turning it into excitement. We actually use the tip "say I am excited out loud" all the time and it works!

Use PowerPoint as a Tool, don’t be a Tool for PowerPoint. PowerPoint is full of pitfalls. How many slides are too many? What should your slides have on them? How do you use the slides in your talk? This article answers all that and more.

How to avoid death By PowerPoint | David JP Phillips | TEDxStockholmSalon. A TED talk that’s worth your time – it includes plenty of excellent advice on how to use slides more effectively.

How to be an Excellent Communicator — You Only Need 3 Axioms. Three pillars that make for good communication, no matter the medium. This is a longer read, but jam-packed with great information.

Making a short presentation based on your research: 11 tips. Tips on how to make 15 minutes count when talking about your research.

We also mentioned canva.com and piktochart.com which are both really useful tools for improving your talk visuals.

Transcript: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/6y8e

In this episode we’re thrilled to chat with Dr Linden Ashcroft, a lecturer in climate science and science communication at The University of Melbourne, and a proud member of the UniMelbSciComm teaching team. She is also a historical climatologist, and uses pre-1900 documents and weather observations to explore the climate of Australia’s past so we can better prepare for the future.

Her career has spanned the academic, non-for-profit and government sectors, including a stint at the Bureau of Meteorology, and managing a national citizen science project.

Linden is a regular on community radio, gives frequent public talks, has contributed to over 40 media articles since 2018, and was featured in the 2019 Best Australian Science Writing Anthology.

She was a 2019–2020 Science and Technology Australia Superstar of STEM, received the 2020 Australian and Meteorological Society Science Outreach award, and was selected as a Victorian Tall Poppy by the Australian Institute of Policy and Science in 2021 for her excellence in scientific research and outreach.

You can follow Linden and find out more about her work here:

https://lindenashcroft.com/

Transcript: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/ay8e

This week Jen and Michael chat about the important topic of ‘How to NOT be boring’ when communicating about science.

We’re sure you can all remember sitting through an incredibly boring science talk or struggling to read a boring piece of science writing. If you want to get your message across, it’s essential you capture your audience’s attention and convince them what you’re writing or speaking about is of relevance to them.

Listen for our thoughts and advice on how to be more engaging when communicating about science plus tips from two of our UniMelb SciComm students, Randy Mann and George Mechaalani.

Finally, here’s a good read on why we need to make science writing less boring and HOW we can do that: ‘Bored reading science? Let’s change how scientists write.’

Transcript: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/ny8e

In this episode, we’re delighted to chat with Euan Ritchie, Professor in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation in Deakin University’s Centre for Integrative Ecology and the School of Life and Environmental Sciences in Melbourne, Australia.

Euan has published over 150 scientific articles related with biodiversity conservation, wildlife ecology and management, ecosystem management, and environmental policy. His work has a strong focus on predators and their ecological roles, invasive species, fire ecology, and the ecology, conservation and management of Australian mammals. He was part of a research team whose work on the dingo won the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage Eureka Prize for Environmental Research in 2013, in 2017 he was named as one of the Australian Chief Scientist’s ‘Science Superheroes’, and in 2021 he was awarded the Australian Ecology Research Award by the Ecological Society of Australia. He is the Chair of the Ecology Society of Australia's Media Working Group and Deputy Convenor of Deakin University's Science and Society Network. Euan’s work has taken him to remote rainforests in Papua New Guinea, ponds in North America, Romania’s bear-filled forests, and savannas, woodlands, forests and deserts across Australia, among many other wonderful environments.

An incredibly prolific researcher, Euan is also a passionate and extremely active science communicator, frequently interviewed on radio and having written over 60 articles for The Conversation, read more than 1.3 million times.

You can follow Euan and find out more about his work here:

https://twitter.com/EuanRitchie1

Transcript: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/zo8e

Welcome to Let's Talk SciComm! In this trailer episode, hosts Dr Jen Martin and Dr Michael Wheeler introduce themselves and season one of the podcast.
For updates, be sure to follow us @LetsTalkSciComm on Instagram and Twitter, and Let's Talk SciComm Podcast on Facebook.

Transcript: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/3b62