Posts in: Reflections

By Erica Goldman Published May 5, 2014 Title: Balancing Act: Finding A Place For Policy Engagement Categories: Tags: credibility, culture, government, mentors, public, trust, Erica Goldman Academics are hearing the message loud and clear that society needs what they have to offer. In Nicholas Kristof’s recent provocative column, “Professors, We Need You!,”...

One of the things I loved most about being a PhD candidate was the ability to dig deep into the details (I could tell you more about barnacle genetics than anyone really should know). But there are times when it might be necessary to quickly get a handle on a scientific field beyond your own. You might be interested in finding new collaborators for an interdiscipli...

By Brooke Smith Published April 8, 2014 Title: ‘The Why’ Before ‘The What’ Categories: Tags: collaborating, oceans, So What?, story, Brooke Smith At COMPASS we spend a lot of our time helping scientists engage outside of their comfort zone. We know that speaking well about your work in an unfamiliar context is intimidating, and occasionally we get a simul...

By Erica Goldman Published March 11, 2014 Title: How Do We Know If Science Communication Training Is Working? Categories: Communication, About COMPASS, Science Tags: Erica Goldman, collaborating, evaluation, funding, goals, GradSciComm, graduate school, tools, presenting, training, workshops “Don’t blame the ruler.”
 Now a few weeks out from the AAAS me...

Last week, as I listened to Dr. Andy Rosenberg, from the Union of Concerned Scientists, give a seminar about the new Center for Science and Democracy, I tweeted, “What Rosenberg is saying is familiar: science doesn’t tell us what to do, it helps us understand what questions to ask.” When I hit ‘tweet’ it felt good. It felt right in my bones. And then i...

By Chad English. Published Feb. 11, 2014 Categories: Policy Tags:advocacy, congress, credibility, culture, funding, government, hearing, informing, know your audience, navigating, policy, So What? You’ve just hung up the phone after a call with a Congressional staffer. After a wide-ranging conversation and some probing questions, the staffer invited you to be a ...