Developing Science Communication Skills in Early Career Scientists

早期职业科学家(定义为本科生、研究生和研究生学位项目毕业几年内的科学家)需要有效的科学交流技能，才能在科学职业生涯中取得巨大成功。该奖项用于资助在2021年6月湖沼学家和海洋学科学协会(ASLO)会议之前举办的研讨会，该研讨会将为早期职业科学家提供语言和视觉交流方面的培训。为期一天的研讨会将帮助大约50名早期职业科学家培养沟通技能，并将提供与任何受众有效沟通的基础知识。研讨会将包括两个口头科学交流会议，旨在帮助研究人员开发关于他们工作的清晰和引人入胜的故事。参与者将有反复的机会向现场观众练习简短的研究推介，并收到互动反馈。研讨会期间将举行两次视觉交流会议，重点是1)创建和发表科学演讲，2)用图形制作引人入胜的海报。早期职业科学家特别需要有效的科学交流技能，因为他们要么在本科生水平开始科学生涯，要么在研究生水平发展他们的科学专业。根据之前两次试点讲习班的反馈，组织者预计参与者对有效科学交流必要性的认识以及对语言和视觉交流技能的掌握将有显著改善。研讨会将被广泛宣传，并向ASLO会议的与会者免费提供。之前的研讨会参与者是一个多元化的群体，本科生、研究生和博士后学者占与会者的一半以上，教职员工和行业研究人员也参加了研讨会。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Early career scientists (defined as undergraduate students, graduate students and those within a few years of graduation from a graduate degree program) need effective science communication skills to be highly successful in a science career. This award provides funding to support a workshop prior to the June 2021 conference of the Association for the Sciences of Limnologist and Oceanography (ASLO) that will provide training in verbal and visual communication to early career scientists. The one-day workshop will help about fifty early career scientists develop communication skills and will provide foundational knowledge for communicating effectively to any audience. The workshop will include two verbal science communication sessions designed to help researchers develop clear and engaging stories about their work. Participants will have repeated opportunities to practice short research pitches to a live audience and receive interactive feedback. Two visual communication sessions will be delivered during the workshop and will focus on 1) creating and delivering a scientific talk and 2) creating an engaging poster with graphics.Early career scientists are particularly in need of effective science communication skills as they are either beginning their science career at the undergraduate level or developing their scientific specialty at the graduate level. Based on feedback from two prior pilot workshops, the organizers expect a significant improvement in the participants' appreciation of the need for effective science communication and in their mastery of verbal and visual communication skills. The workshop will be widely advertised and free to attendees of the ASLO conference. Prior workshop attendees have been a diverse group, with undergraduates, graduate students and postdoctoral scholars comprising more half of the attendees, and faculty members and industry researchers attending as well.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.