Abstract
Following a year of public engagement activities associated with the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, Alison Woollard explains why scientists need to communicate with the public.
Highlights
I have climbed an extremely steep learning curve in public engagement, which has taken me from the Green Man Festival in the mountains of Wales to the Mediacorp TV studios in Singapore
There was the 10 year old who wanted to know whether the chicken or egg came first and wasn't completely satisfied with my explanation, the 87 year old who wrote to ask me how cells know where they are ‘within the amorphous blob that everything starts from’, and the 20-something festivalgoer who stopped me after a talk and wanted to know what regulates transcription factors
If the thrill of developing someone's sense of wonder about the world hasn't convinced you that public engagement is worth the effort, think about the ‘controversy’ surrounding climate change
Summary
I've been involved in many types of public engagement: from the razzmatazz of the Lectures themselves with all the surrounding media coverage, through to experimenting with various forms of social media and online activities— and more. Perhaps it's time to reflect on the general areas of science communication and public engagement: firstly, was it worth it? If the thrill of developing someone's sense of wonder about the world hasn't convinced you that public engagement is worth the effort, think about the ‘controversy’ surrounding climate change.
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