Expert Science Communication - My Experience at Two Public Science Events

Publicly sharing science is an essential part of science communication. This past month, I attended public science events on two dramatically different topics: calculus and marine disease outbreaks. Dr. Steven Strogatz spoke on his book Infinite Powers: The Story of Calculus and examined the origins of this dreaded branch of mathematics. Dr. Drew Harvell spoke on her book Ocean Outbreak: Confronting the Rising Tide of Marine Disease and advocated for better environmental stewardship and awareness. Both talks were exceptional and captivating, and each provide excellent examples of science communication in practice.

The introduction of a talk can captivate the audience and motivate their attention for the duration of the presentation. When communicating science, the introduction serves to foster an interest in an otherwise technical topic. Dr. Strogatz introduced his talk effectively, weaving confidence and professionalism with light-hearted jabs at the often negative perception of calculus by his audience. Additionally, he listed everyday activities made possible by the study of calculus, accentuating modern society’s dependence on the subject. Dr. Harvell appealed to the curiosity of her audience, opening with the question, “Disease outbreaks are mysteries and sentinels of change. How do those processes occur in the ocean?” She capitalized heavily on this overarching question, which guided the rest of her talk.

Communicating technical material requires the presenting expert to be confident, clear, and simple in delivery. Both Dr. Strogatz and Dr. Harvell did this well. In particular, Dr. Strogatz never once presented a complicated mathematical equation. Each of his explanations was rooted in layperson terms and able to be understood without any prior knowledge of calculus. Additionally, Dr. Strogatz used his presentation as a visual aid, which was especially useful in explaining the fundamental process of calculus: splitting objects into infinitely smaller pieces. Dr. Harvell took a more structural approach to her talk, beginning by explaining the broadest topic, how diseases in the ocean are studied, and later emphasizing the four subtopics central to her book. She moved quickly through each subtopic, even though one had already been omitted from her presentation for time beforehand, detracting slightly from the audience’s ability to clearly understand certain details of her presentation. Despite this, I and my fellow audience members completely understood the major takeaways from Dr. Harvell’s talk. Furthermore, Dr. Harvell made climate change, a topic that many are familiar with, a significant part of her talk. This added relevance to her research about ocean diseases, as Dr. Harvell claims that the impacts of climate change support the activity of the pathogens she discussed.

The closing is a presenter’s last chance to impact the audience, and both Dr. Strogatz and Dr. Harvell closed on an inspirational tone. Dr. Strogatz closed with a memorable quote from Picasso, “Art is a lie that makes us realize truth.” Ending on a philosophical note such as this spurs further thought from the audience, myself included. Dr. Harvell finished by saying, “There’s enormous biodiversity in the ocean. There are beautiful things. It should give us encouragement to realize how resilient these organisms are, but they still need our help.” This message of hope resonated strongly with myself and other members of the audience, and fosters a sense of appreciation of the natural environment. During the audience Q&A session, both Dr. Strogatz and Dr. Harvell answered questions amicably and completely.

Dr. Strogatz and Dr. Harvell are seasoned science communicators, and they afford students like myself a chance to learn how best to communicate our science. I highly recommend reading their new books and following their future work.