Posts in: Tools & Resources

Science plays many roles in the policymaking process. Describing those roles is often harder than I expect.  While attending the North American Congress of Conservation Biology (NACCB) in July, I was introduced to a new—and helpful—description of those roles, during a talk by Stephen Posner. Stephen is a PhD candidate at the Gund Institute at the Universit...

As a graduate student in the sciences, with a strong desire to make my work relevant to society, I often asked myself  “How can I get the communications skills I need?”  Long days in the field and late nights in the lab sometimes made it hard to add communications to my list of things to do, but it was really worth it – the time I invested paid off in so ma...

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 ...

By Heather Galindo Published January 28, 2014 Title: How To Make Yourself Presentable Categories: How To, Communication Tags: Heather Galindo, conferences, culture, presenting, story Over my three years working here at COMPASS, I’ve come to witness a curious, repeated phenomenon. A significant part of my job involves engaging with scientists through trainings or...

When Brooke first invited me to participate in TREC’s Senior Leadership Program, I responded with “Maybe … but I don’t think I can’t take the time. Three weeks in Montana over nine months is a lot, especially on top of the travel I already have lined up.” Fortunately, she persisted. Now, two sessions into the program, I can’t imagine what a mistake ...

Last week, Erica shared a quotation by Stephen Schneider that lays out three simple guidelines for scientists who want to share their knowledge and perspectives with the wider world: Know thy audience. Know thyself. Know thy stuff. As Erica explained, we use this quote during our policy and communications workshops to start discussions about roles scientists can...