NEWS

You probably have an “elevator pitch” to describe your research when you get the inevitable question, “So, what do you do?” That’s great when a non-scientist asks about your research in a casual conversation at a party. But, how prepared are you when you’re asked to do a presentation at a STEM conference for middle school girls, or when you need to design an outreach or broader impacts component for a grant proposal?

Methods and strategies for communicating with your research colleagues—publications with complicated figures or highly technical PowerPoint presentations—aren’t well-suited for communicating with the non-scientific public of any age in any venue. But don’t despair—we’ve got you covered! The NM SMART Grid Center is partnering with Explora on the Science Communication Fellowship for faculty, graduate students, post-docs, and industry researchers.

What’s in it for you? 

Participating Fellows will gain competencies in several areas, including:

• How to frame your research in ways that are both understandable and compelling to the general public.
• Skills for effective engagement at outreach events like science cafes, classroom visits and the NM Science Fiesta.
• Developing hands-on outreach activities directly related to your research.
• Contributing to NM SMART Grid Center outreach toolkits that will be distributed to science museums across the state, and to the NM SMART Grid exhibition at Explora.

Fellows will participate in four 3-hour sessions with refreshments (September 27 and 28; October 4 and 5) and then meet with Explora staff to develop and build hands-on outreach demonstrations.

     Fellowship Schedule:

         September 27, 3 – 6 pm

         September 28, 9 am – noon

         October 4, 3 – 6 pm

         October 5, 9 am – noon

The Fellowship training program is FREE and open to researchers in any discipline from any New Mexico institution, with preference given to NM SMART Grid Center team members. Register at http://bit.ly/scifellows.
If you have any questions about this program, contact Antony Salvagno, asalvagno@explora.us

Registration deadline is September 20!

For those of you in the southern half of the state, Explora will be convening a cohort of Science Communication Fellows in Las Cruces in Fall 2020.