Internship Spotlight: Nina

Nina - Laurentian University

For my internship I got to work in the Communications Department for my alma mater Laurentian University. It was almost surreal to have my office - yes, my very own office! - in the very place I had spent the past five years studying.

My work involved interviewing researchers at Laurentian University and writing articles about them. I learned the differences between writing copy intended for print material (such as magazines) and for web content. I was ever-so thankful for the lessons in interview skills that we got from Ruth and Dave in mass media class - they certainly came in handy from day one.

I also got to do research on the history of research at Laurentian to write a retrospective piece - this involved delving into archives and articles and learning so much about Laurentian's past.

The most interesting aspect of my internship was having the time to sit down with researchers from various fields including genetics, sports psychology, engineering, social work, and northern and rural health, and learning about the research that they have been conducting here in Sudbury at Laurentian. I even got to interview some of my past professors and see a whole new side to them that I had not taken the time to notice when I was sitting through lectures and cramming for exams.

I feel that it is very important for universities to communicate their current research endeavours to the public - not only for recruiting new students, but to inform and interest the people who might not realize that Laurentian is on its way to becoming a research university. I am glad to have been a part of this communication effort, and I look forward to seeing my work incorporated into the new Laurentian website!

Internship Spotlight: Sarah

Sarah - Canadian Ecology Centre

Discovering new things about yourself, creating lasting friendships, following your dreams, and challenging others to be their best are all honourable pursuits. What’s even better is getting to do all of these during an internship for Science Communication.

At the Canadian Ecology Centre in Mattawa, I discovered that outdoor education is a passion of mine- I just never had the opportunity to pursue it until now. I had the amazing experience of being able to lead groups of children who have never been in a forest, or a lake, or a river, or a pond before; never experienced the insight of learning about new species of trees, wildflowers, and animals; never experienced the sounds, touch, smells, and sights of the wilderness; never experienced what it feels like to be encouraged to try something new… and I have never experienced the power of nature as I did working with these children.

What made my experience even more memorable were the people that I worked with. Passionate educators, scientists, and enthusiasts who are incredible at what they do. Role models, colleagues, and friends who get up everyday and look forward to the many challenges and rewards that they receive from pursuing their passions. What I wasn’t expecting was how humble, friendly, welcoming, and warm everyone was. These people are there because they love what they do and I soon discovered how contagious that feeling was.

I followed my dreams by choosing a growing organization with quality educational programming that focused on the natural sciences. I wanted to both learn from watching others and receive feedback when I delivered programming. I also wanted to find an organization that was open to new ideas. I helped create a plan to promote their national Green Check GPS Certification Program; created an exhibit guide so they can apply for funding to build some fun and interactive exhibits; and became an outdoor educator, something that I have always wanted to do.

As for challenging others to be their best, I learned how children learn in an outdoor setting. I learned how they see the world, how they see each other, and how they make decisions… and this was only in the first hour we spent with them. You very quickly form a bond with the group you are working with and notice the subtle yet obvious moments that create those sparks of interest that can lead to lifelong passions. These are children who live in an urban environment and who have never stepped foot off pavement except in a city park. There are teens who come with a tough exterior and leave emotional because of the confidence and self-esteem they gained.

This internship was not just a Science Communication internship. This was an experience in learning about myself and learning about others. I developed new passions alongside the children who were developing passions for the first time. I created friendships alongside the children who had never opened up to another person before. I followed my dreams alongside those who were just starting to create them. Best of all, I challenged others to be their best while they challenged me to become my best.

Internship Spotlight: Brittney

Brittney – Toronto & Region Conservation Authority

Write a communications plan? Yes, I can do that. Deliver a school program to kids? Yes, I can do that. Wait a minute... Dave and Chantal said this would happen. So far in my internship I have been able to say “yes, I can do that” to every task I’ve been given. Here in Toronto at the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) I have been putting everything I learned this year to good use.

At TRCA we’re all about the water; keepin’ it clean, lettin’ it flow, and puttin’ some elbow grease into the places where water goes. Basically what all that complicated, business jargon means is that TRCA is actively working towards keeping rivers and shorelines healthy, making sure the city has greenspace and biodiversity, and building more sustainable communities. At the heart of all this hard work lies ME – a lowly intern trying to make it in the harsh Authority world! I’ve had the opportunity to get involved with a number of different projects and in doing so learned so much. I have helped in the planning of TRCA’s speaker series “Lake Ontario Evenings” which is a fun night of food, drinks, and guest speakers who know a great deal about Toronto’s water. I have also prepared a communications plan for two projects that the TRCA and partners (such as Environment Canada, DFO, and MNR, to name a few) currently have underway.

The best experience of my internship to date has definitely been the work I did at the Peel Children’s Water Festival. I was teaching children about pollination, pollution and storm drains, and most importantly, teaching them how to plant different plants along the shoreline. I must say, I loved wearing rubber boots to work every day, getting them even dirtier every day, and getting hopped up on allergy medication every day in order to be one with nature! Sounds glamorous, I know, but it truly was a great experience. I put everything that I learned in Live Programming and Presentations to good use.

It always feels good to make connections between the things I learned in school and the things I encounter each day on the job. After surviving the first six weeks of my internship I know that my year in Science Communication was of incalculable value. My placement has allowed for practice of my skills in the real world, continued growth, and proved that the $16.97 that I spent on my rubber boots was totally worth it!

Nearing the end of my time in the Science Communication program I’m feeling like it went by so fast. I enjoyed my classes, my classmates, and my professors. We’re a cozy little family and part of me is sad that we’re all moving on in our lives. Last year at this time I was terrified to head out into the working world, but after a year of Science Communication, I’m happy to say “yes, I can do that.”

Internship Spotlight: Lorraine

Lorraine: Science Media Centre of Canada

Behind the scenes of science journalism

I have been spending my internship in Ottawa at the Science Media Centre of Canada (SMCC). It's a non-profit organization, launched in September 2010. Its goal is to raise the level of public discourse on science by helping journalists access science experts and evidence-based research to be able to cover science in the news. Can you tell I have been asked that many times in past few weeks?

And what does the SMCC do to achieve these grand statements?

Well for starters, one of my favorite tasks is preparing the weekly Heads Up newsletter. This means going through the embargoed news releases on EurekAlert and a few other journals such as Nature looking for interesting, relevant, Canadian and international studies. Yes it is true, the journalists get a head start for their articles! The embargo gives them precious time to do a bit of research to prepare their story for their media outlet. We try to find research from a mix of the various sciences (from astronomy and physics to biology and health). Once all the SMCC members decide on the 10-15 most important news stories of the week, it's time to write their summary. The key is finding a catchy title and then summarizing the paper in 2 to 3 sentences. These summaries are suppose to incite journalists to write about this important research.

The rest of the time, we keep busy answering calls from journalists looking for help to find an experts (on lobster packing plant effluents for example) and sometimes with a very short deadline. The SMCC is always looking for new experts and journalists to add to their database; journalists need to know the SMCC exists and the SMCC needs to have a list of experts ready to answer their requests. The SMCC also hosts regular webinars for journalists with a panel of 2-3 experts. Before the SMCC hosts these webinars, the topic needs to be well researched, so the SMCC knows what questions and angle to take in during the webinar. The experts are also carefully chosen, they must be good “talkers” who can explain sometimes complicated science in simple terms. The mix of these various tasks and many others makes for an always busy little office!

I got to take part in Radio-Canada's Sudbury morning show Matin du Nord this Tuesday June 7^th at 6:50am; host Yves Dubuc tested my interviewee skills as he questioned me about my experiences as a Scommie and my internship.

Internship Spotlight: Linda

Linda - CERN

I am doing my internship at CERN, all the way in Geneva, Switzerland. This is pretty much a dream come true, as I have always loved particle physics, and now I get to be right in the center of it. After a 13 hour flight out of San Francisco, I finally arrived in Geneva. It was a little scary at first, because I didn’t know anyone and I don’t speak any French. But now, one month in, I’ve mostly gotten used to it.

My job here is to work on materials for CERN’s Universe of Particles exhibition. This is a free exhibition explaining all about particle physics, technology used by CERN, and the benefits of basic research. I am making a “treasure hunt” to better engage teenagers in the exhibition. Along with this treasure hunt, I will make a guide for teachers, and some web content for students and teachers coming here on school trips. It’s been fun so far, though trying to test my questions when half the visitors don’t speak English has been a bit of an experience.

Being at CERN is a little intimidating. Almost everyone here has a Ph.D. in physics, or is currently working on one. Almost everyone here speaks at least two languages. I can walk down the hall and hear conversations in languages from all over the world (ok, mostly English and French). There’s a lattice of creepy maintenance tunnels underneath the whole site (some people I know are filming a zombie movie in the tunnels), old abandoned buildings and staircases, and random machinery lying in weird places.

Geneva is an amazing city. It’s got millennium-old buildings sitting on cobbled streets, and statues and fountains everywhere. There are beautiful gardens by the shore of Lake Geneva, and it’s the home of Red Cross and the European headquarters of the United Nations. Geneva is also right next to the border with France, and CERN actually sits right on top of the border, so I can literally walk into France. The border isn’t marked very well, so sometimes I don’t even notice that I have entered another country. And of course, everywhere you look is the Alps. I can look out my window on a clear day and see Mont Blanc, the highest peak in the Alps.

This is a great internship, and an exciting time to be at CERN, as I’m sure the discovery of the Higgs is just around the corner.

Scenic Geneva, Switzerland

Internship Spotlight: Steph

Steph - World Wildlife Fund

Yes, that is really Steph in the panda suit!

One of the most important parts of effective communication is engagement.  And what better way to engage your audience than to put on a giant panda suit and over-exaggerate every motion?!

Don't worry, that was just one time.... I really do work... really!  I'm completing my internship at World Wildlife Fund in Toronto.  Every day I'm surrounded by some of the most inspiring people I've ever met.  They all share my values of conservation, environmentalism, and of course, communicating science to the general public.  

I have been learning the communications ropes, with the help of lovely and enthusiastic coworkers.  Learning what goes on behind the scenes at an organization that I've been interested in my whole life, is very exciting.  There are so many aspects that I never really thought about: strategic partnerships, major donor relations, event planning, working with other NGOs, collaborating with the many WWF offices around the world, and so on.  They are all very obviously important, but new to me.  Seeing everyone working together internally in Toronto and across the country (and world) is wonderful.  I even feel that I am getting business experience as well as communications experience, just by talking to various people in different departments around the office.

My favorite part of this internship, however, has been meeting with people that have been at the company for a number of years, working in conservation, arctic, freshwater, and climate change programs, etc.  They have given me some great advice, and contacts I may be able to use to further my career - it's who you know, right?

All in all, I am enjoying my internship greatly. I am inspired, encouraged, and excited for what the future holds - all thanks to the Science Communication program!

Internship Spotlight: Josh

Josh - Sudbury & District Health Unit

For their internships many of my classmates went across the province to different cities or across the border to work in Chicago, or even across the ocean to Switzerland. I went across the street. I am completing my internship at the Sudbury & District Health Unit, located just up the road from Science North, as a member of the school health promotion team. It may not be a far off or exotic place, but it has provided me with some amazing opportunities so far and I am very happy with my choice.

I joined the team as they were in the midst of finalizing plans for the Ontario Healthy Schools Coalition 10^th Annual Forum. Delegates came from across the province to attend, and there was a great line-up of speakers planned. Everyone had a job to do, and mine was to blog the conference. This was a first for the SDHU and for the OHSC, none of the previous conferences had been blogged about at all. The chance to pioneer the blog for this event meant that all coalition members, even the ones unable to travel to Sudbury for the event, could still benefit from the information presented there. It also meant that I got to meet and spend time with the amazing speakers coming to the conference. The highlight was spending time with Joseph Boyden, the Giller Prize winning author of Three Day Road and Through Black Spruce, and going with him to a local high school where he gave a talk. But to read more about my time at the conference just visit my blog. I spent a good chunk of my first few weeks here proposing it, getting it up and running, and writing those posts. Since the end of the conference I have continued to work on the blog. I have also helped to compile the results of surveys completed by conference attendees. Right now I am working on putting together a proposal for further use of social media in the organization; and specifically for it to be used in youth health promotion.

The school health team also runs an after school program in some local elementary schools called “Can You Feel It?” It involves groups of students from grades 4 to 8 getting together and learning about stress management, as well as other life skills. I had the opportunity to go to a school one day and participate. One of the activities they were doing when I was there was putting together a meal; that means I got to eat! And these kids are really good cooks!

I may not have traveled very far for my internship, but I am having a great time. I feel like I am contributing to the work that the team here is doing, as well as to my community. I hope everyone else is having as much fun, and getting as involved in their organizations, as I am!

Internship Spotlight: Susie

Susie: EcoSpark

For my internship I moved out of Sudbury (it was sad to leave, but made less sad by the fact that I left on a cold day!) and down to Toronto. My internship was at a non-profit organization called EcoSpark (www.ecospark.ca).

Now these guys do some amazing work! Ecospark runs a variety of programs in Toronto and surrounding area on environmental science. They reach out to elementary schools, high schools, and communities. I was given the opportunity to work on a variety of projects with the education team.

My very first day on the job was at a teacher workshop run by EcoSpark. The workshop was for teachers to learn about the Changing Currents program. Changing Currents is a program where teachers and an EcoSpark facilitator take their class to a nearby creek to look at benthic macroinvertebrates  and learn about healthy waterways. Even though it was a rainy rainy Saturday the teachers still enjoyed ‘getting their feet wet’ by trying out the oversized hip-waiters, jumping into the creek and examining bugs! It was a great day and start to my internship - I had never been to a teacher workshop, so it was interesting to see how they are run.

Later into my internship, I helped with a day of Changing Currents with grade 9 and 10 science students. I got to jump right in, co-leading the highschool students in their benthic macroinvertebrates analysis. As I watched the rain clouds (and everyone’s stylish rain boots) I enjoyed seeing the students really getting into the activity, trying to catch and identify bugs. From this experience I saw the work and planning that goes into an afternoon outing with students. I also learned a bit about how students view the outdoors and what they understand about the effect of their community on the water.

Another program I was involved with was the Wattwize program - teaching students about lowering electrical energy in their schools. I was able to visit a couple of the schools to see what they were doing and how EcoSpark helps by giving them the tools to understand sustainability. One of the elementary schools we visited are doing a great job! The students on the ecoteam helped to organize monitor-off initiatives as well as a ‘lights out hour‘ every couple of weeks. They are also encouraging the teachers to use only half the lights in the classroom when possible. And little by little the number of teachers taking part is increasing!  

The final, but largest, project I worked on was helping to create a teacher toolkit for the TDSB on solar power. When I started the internship in April, the kit was nearing it’s final stages, so there was lots to do and even more to learn! I used some of what we learned in Sci Com to edit the toolkit (remember your audience!). As well, I created some worksheets for a few of the activities. The amount of work that goes into creating a learning guide for teachers is unbelievable! And I was only there for the final stages of the project! I was very proud to be a part of that and can’t wait to see the finished product.

The journey through Sci Comm has been an amazing experience! Being ‘in the field’ has been constant reinforcement of how much we learned in the past year. I am very excited to head back to Sudbury at the end of June and hear all about everyone else’s experiences!

S’laters

Internship Spotlight: Jalyn

Jalyn: The Field Museum in Chicago

I work at the very top of the Field Museum's gargantuan building. The first two floors are dedicated to exhibits, and there are a number of subterranean floors for administrative offices and a massive collection of artifacts - which I am going to see in two weeks at a real life "Night at the Museum" event! The third floor of the museum is where the 200+ scientists have their offices and labs, and it looks just like a university history department, complete with big wooden doors on all the offices and corny photocopied Far Side comics taped to the windows. The fourth floor is tucked into the roof of the museum, and that's where exhibitions development is. Most of us work in lofts - which is awesome - because any normal floorspace is set aside for actually constructing the exhibits. So instead of windows we have skylights! We also have windows into the very top of Stanley Field Hall, which is the main hall of the museum around which the rest of the building is centred. On Fridays they invite choirs and bands to play in the hall, and this Friday I got treated to a choir and a big band for a few hours without having to leave my desk!

Right now almost everyone is working on a new permanent exhibition called Restoring Earth, which opens in November. It focuses on conservation and explains what scientists at the museum do around the world, as well as what local people are doing in the Chicagoland community. I'm mainly working on a touchscreen interactive, but since I don't have one particular supervisor I'm free to loan myself out to help on other cool projects (there's a new Egypt hall just getting started!).

I spend my days doing anything from research on a topic for a new exhibit, to testing prototypes with visitors, and everything in between. The "everything in between" parts are a lot of searching for cool stories to tell about the people, places, and things featured in exhibits, and then finding good photos and videos of them to go along with those stories. I most enjoy writing content for the exhibits, but I find getting visitors to test the prototypes is the most interesting part. Designing exhibits is like a crash course in psychology. We always have set questions to ask visitors, to see if we've designed the exhibit well, but it's more often observing the visitor interaction with the exhibit that reveals the most interesting results. I love getting feedback from visitors, and heading back to the drawing board to make the exhibit even better!

Internship Spotlight: Leigha

As part of the science communication program, our students get to complete an eight-week internship. This year, our class has spread out all over the globe, garnering experiences here locally in Sudbury, or in as far-flung places as Geneva, Switzerland.  Stay tuned over the next few weeks for news on our internships and how we are putting our science communication skills to practice!

Leigha: City of Greater Sudbury

I am working with the City of Greater Sudbury's Environmental Planning and Initiatives Department. Currently they are looking to revamp the biodiversity section of the City's website. They want to make it more interactive for visitors, and are looking to include information about the importance of the biodiversity of Greater Sudbury. I have developed a communication strategy to improve the website, and have gone through the current writing and offered suggestions to make it more attractive for the audience. I have been researching and will soon start to compose fact sheets that will be linked to the website about local animals.

This week, I was asked to complete three short articles for the insert mini-magazine that is in the Northern Life Newspaper biannually. It is produced by Earth Care Sudbury and has information for homeowners on different matters relating to the environment. These articles will be in the paper sometime in June.

Internships

We (Merissa and Sarah) both completed our 8-week internships at Science North. Now that we are finished our internships, we decided to interview each other about the experiences we had!


What did you do during your internship?

Merissa: I worked on the new travelling exhibit, Wildlife Rescue. I was assigned the area of "Emergency Response," where I had to research the way wild animals are treated in emergencies. I interpreted research about wild animal rescue and I wrote content documents for the exhibit. The content documents will be used to write the content on the graphic panels in the exhibit. I also contributed ideas for interactive exhibits in the area.

Sarah: During my internship, I helped re-vamp teacher workshops, which are books of activities that are presented to teachers across Ontario to help them with interactive activities in the classroom. I also developed pre- and post- activities for school programs, developed new content for camp-ins, and even got to deliver a few overnight camp-ins.

What was one of your most positive experiences?

Merissa: My most positive experience was during the second design team meeting. I felt really passionate about one of the interactive exhibits, so I fought to keep the exhibit. I thought it was really important to have something for younger kids.

Sarah: I really enjoyed doing the overnight camp-ins. I got to observe one and deliver two of them. I thought it would be hard to stay up from 7 pm to 7 am, but it was lots of fun and you really realize how much kids enjoy Science North.

What did you learn from your internship?

Merissa: I learned essential skills like team work, creative thinking and flexibility. The content was always changing and I had to learn how to cooperate and come to consensus with other people about ideas.

Sarah: I really learned the importance of getting people’s opinions on things; it’s helpful to get other people’s input to make a good idea even better. Doing jobs like this also happen in a fast-paced and changing environment, so you need to learn how to be flexible.

How was your internship related to Science Communication?

Merissa: I was doing work on an exhibit for a science centre. I was learning how to communicate complicated science to a grade 8 audience across North America. I was really living Science Communication.

Sarah: I was able to take science topics that can be difficult to understand and create hands-on activities that can be used in classrooms. Having a science and teaching background was helpful since I would be more likely to know if certain experiments work or not, and I would be able to expand on explanations that would be easier for teachers who are not specialists and children to understand.

 
During our internship, we were able to share an office space. This made things even more exciting for us. We were able to run ideas past each other and share interesting facts along the way. Here is a list of the top 10 things we learned while we were on our internships:

1. World Turtle Day is May 23rd. Turtles are an important part of our ecosystem and help keep our lakes clean. Did you know that road mortality is a major cause of turtle death in Ontario?
2. Using a Mac computer when you are not used to it is a hard thing.
3. Snack time is at 10:30 a.m., or when we both pull out a banana to eat it at the exact same time.4. If you want to stay awake all night for a camp-in, staying hydrated is the key! Drink lots of water (with your reusable water bottle).5. Meetings can be long, but getting free food is pretty awesome.
6. Magic mud is pretty cool. It can dance on speakers and people can run across pools filled with it. Try it at home (small-scale, of course!) by mixing some corn starch with water!
7. To keep the mood light, having a joke of the day can be helpful. For example, “Why didn’t the brain want to take a bath? Because it didn’t want to get brainwashed!”
8. Oiled birds get their heads cleaned with toothbrushes. And yes, they really use Dawn dish soap (but they have to do other steps before they do this).
9. There are beautiful sunrises over Ramsey Lake at 5 am.
10. Our internships at Science North were awesome!

- Merissa and Sarah

Science communication in a nutshell

Science communication in a nutshell. Adapted from Mulder et al. 2008.

Science communication can sometimes be a hard field to define, simply because it is a combination of many other disciplines. You need to know the science to communicate it, the context of the science and issues, how to communicate it to a variety of audiences through various media and the ability to evaluate whether it was effective. I found a diagram in Mulder et al. 2008 which I've adapted for this post. It is a great representation of what science communication is all about.

In the SciComm program, you come with a good background in science (top left circle of the diagram). You understand it and how it works and have an appreciation for it. In the program, they teach you how to do the rest.

All of our courses fit snuggly into the diagram. With Educational Studies (top right circle) we have the courses: Learning - Theories and Practice, and Research Methods in Science Communication.

In Social Studies of Science (bottom left circle), we have the course: Audiences and Issues, and a plethora of guest lectures from people in the field.

Communication Studies (bottom right circle) is covered by the courses: Theories and Principles of Science Communication, Design Theory in Science Communication, Science Communication Practice, Communicating through Exhibits, Live Programing, Mass Media and Information Technology.

Finally, our Research Project in Science Communication and our internship uses combination of everything in the diagram.

Science communication is a diverse field, but it is that breadth that allows you to work almost anywhere.

Reference
Mulder, H.A.J., Longnecker, N., and Davis, L.S. 2008. The state of science communication programs at universities around the world. Science Communication. 30:277-287.