It may involve a range of communication styles and disciplines. This field also includes the academic study of communicating science. Students who wish to make a career in science communication can consider specializing in this subject. It also draws on various disciplines in humanities and social sciences. This may involve critiques, research, and debates on different science communication models.

The need for science communication

Science communicators specialize in explaining science to the non-scientists in ways that are easy to understand. This increases the awareness of science among the common public. As a result, they enjoy or show interest in science, engineering, and technology. The methods involved in scientific communication inform and inspire the audience.

Let’s say you have an audience of young individuals who are aspiring to be scientists. To pique their interest, you might explain how science and technology has elevated people’s lifestyles over the years. A science communicator can also make something scientific understandable to a policymaker.

The origins of science communication

Although experts consider science communication to be as old as science, this field became popular in the 1930s. Its popularity has been growing every since. It is essential that science communicators understand what science is. They must know how to comprehend its complex and vast technical information.

The Science and Technology Studies contain most of the works associated with this field. All of them are in the form of academic literature. While introducing school students to science, the textbook definition of the scientific method might be enough.

However, the definition may seem quite broader when it comes to communicating science widely. Of course, there are some extremely useful resources like A.F. Chalmers’s book ‘What Is This Thing Called Science?’. Such books help the students to a great extent in understanding the scientific method.

The need for training or specialist knowledge in science communication

The individuals interested in pursuing science communication often begin with a question. It’s whether they really need specialist knowledge or training in order to learn this discipline. The shortest and the most simple answer to this question would be ‘No’.

It depends on the ability of the science communicator to explain science in a simple and effective manner. Training or education definitely helps to some extent, but it’s not a requirement. Those aspiring to become science communicators do need certain prerequisites. One of them is a university degree in science communication or a scientific discipline.

It’s quite possible for anyone to communicate science effectively with practice. This is also true in case of communication in general. What’s truly required is the willingness to learn about quantitative or technical subjects. Excellent skills in storytelling or mass communication are, of course, extremely useful for a science communicator.

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Today, there are many science communicators across the world. However, their level of scientific knowledge and expertise in science communication varies to a considerable extent. In the process of communication, they usually use a lot of humor, metaphors, persuasion techniques, and storytelling. Scientists can also undergo training for improving their communication with the application of some of the techniques.

In recent times, there’s a lot of potential in science communication to generate support for scientific education and research. Here, we’ll try to understand the utilization of contemporary media for science communication.

Print, radio, and television

Communicating science to larger audiences is easier with the help of newspapers, magazines, radio, and television. People came to know about science in the past with the help of newspapers and magazines. These forms of traditional media were more reliable in producing high-quality information.

The people behind their production were professional journalists. As a result, everything had a significant degree of perfection in writing and presentation. The traditional form of journalism was quite effective in setting agendas and impacting the government policies. It was a one-way communication, where no dialogue with the audience would take place.

Even with the advent of radio and television, there was no participation from the public. Once a story appears in the mainstream media, the scientists have no control over how the communication takes place. So, there are high chances of misinformation and misunderstanding among the audience.

Online media

Online interactions are possible through websites, blogs, social media platforms, and podcasts. They can be cost-effective means for science communication. With the recent technological advancements, there have been significant improvements in handheld devices and internet speeds. This has increased the potential of online media to reach a wide audience.

Dialogue between the scientists or science communicators and the public is also possible with online interactions. The content is always accessible and the scientist can control it to a great extent. It facilitates one-way as well as two-way communication. How the audience picks up the content is always difficult to control in this case.

Live events

Public lectures, speeches, and other face-to-face events give science communicators the opportunity to interact with their audience. Research shows that these live events also encourage active participation of citizens. They can also be a lot more entertaining, depending on the amount of skills that the communicator has in this field.

Non-professional or untrained speakers won’t be as effective as the professional or trained speakers. The biggest advantage of live events is that they allow a two-way dialogue. The scientists or science communicators can interact personally with the audience and clear their doubts.

They also have full control over the content of their speech. Of course, there are certain disadvantages of live events. They’ll not have much reach unless they’re live on television or on social media. Setting them up also involves significant costs.

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