A Virtual Workshop for Science Communication Skills in Early Career Scientists

Abstract

To provide early career scientists with professional development related to science communication, we developed a full day workshop funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) entitled Developing the Science of Science Communication. This workshop has been funded since 2019 by NSF and presented in both virtual and in‐person formats. Because of the success of the virtual 2021 workshop and building upon foundations from prior years (in‐person in February 2019 and February 2020), a second virtual workshop was held in conjunction with the Ocean Sciences Meeting in January 2022. 2022 workshop attendees voluntarily participated in a full day virtual workshop comprised of verbal and visual communication skill sessions. In previous years, attendance was capped at 50 participants. In 2022, only 17 participants completed the pre‐workshop survey. The all‐day workshop included two presentation skills‐focused sessions and two poster design sessions. Participants overwhelmingly agreed that they (a) would recommend the workshop to others and (b) found the workshop content would be useful in their careers. The low attendance in 2022 is believed to be due to the virtual format combined with the timing of the workshop. In years prior, the workshop was held the day before the conference. This year, we attempted to hold the workshop 1 month prior to the conference to help students prepare in advance—we think most students simply had not prepared their presentations this far in advance. NSF has already funded an exciting future workshop structure for 2023. The workshop will be held across 2 days with a virtual “pre‐workshop” day for those who are ready and would like extra time and materials along with a second, in‐person workshop the day prior to the conference in Palma de Mallorca, Spain in conjunction with the June 2023 Aquatic Sciences Meeting.