I’ve been teaching science communication for many years. There’s a rich array of information advising how we conduct contemporary science communication. As a science communicator it’s my job to combine traditional storytelling tools, such as writing and illustration, and current research practices to create engagement campaigns that facilitate the cultural integration of science.

I wrote a few articles for Nature about it a few years ago. The first is a part of an ongoing conversation in the science communication community about what content should look like. The second is a short history of science communication and bibliography for the folks who are new to the field. I’ve taught this so many times to newcomers that I thought it’s be handy to share online. The above illustration is by my colleague, Maki Naro, as a contribution to that discussion, where we were co-presenters at the STEM to STEAM: Putting the Arts in STEM Education session at the 2013 Science Online meeting.

I had the privilege of giving a talk about Using Imagery in Science Communication for the Landsat Team, Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA. As the punch-line for the talk, about creating culturally integrated art using their research, I made a dress out of their data. (See Sadie model it on the left.) It’s a repeat of the an aerial image of Washington, DC.
This blog was the topic of my talk Using Imagery To Tell Environmental Stories for the  Society of Environmental Journalists, in 2012 Lubbock Texas.At the time, I was using Posterous to upload live discussions of ongoing research from various labs and field stations. I loved how it facilitated direct real-time conversation between readers and scientists.
I also taught New Media Publishing for science communication to groups like Guild of Natural Science Illustrators. These talks are a part of the ongoing dialog within the science communication community about how to best address public engagement in a rapidly changing media diversified world.