Science is a powerful tool for understanding our world and predicting our future. Research into the mechanics of geohazards is invaluable in hazard assessments and disaster risk reduction. But that science doesn't help society until it's translated into effective disaster communication. How we talk about the science of disasters is essential to saving lives.

Mika McKinnon is a landslide researcher and science communicator. Her experiences are on all sides of disaster communication: the interviewed expert source scrambling to find the right words, the nosey journalist on under the relentless time-crunch of online news, and the curious public trying to understand local disasters. These are her lessons learned for best practices (and mishaps to avoid!) in disaster communication.