Joshua Munro

Communication is highly important in helping people understand each other and the world around us. It’s through communicating what we discover that others can learn about it and even explore those discoveries further. Therefore, in a field of discoveries, it’s vital that scientists learn to communicate science well.

I was excited to begin my Master of Science (BioSciences) at The University of Melbourne because it was my first major endeavour into scientific research, specifically the world of colourful butterflies. While completing my degree, an endeavour into Dr. Jenny Martin’s two post-graduate subjects sparked another brand new and exciting career path for me – science communication. When I began learning about how to better communicate science it significantly broadened my awareness of the importance of engaging and effective communication. It’s largely because of the incredible work that Dr. Jenny consistently puts into teaching her two science communication subjects that I have strongly developed this passion.

During my time studying with Dr. Jenny, I’ve learned that communication is a vital component of science because communicating what I learn makes it much more accessible to everyone. Jenny has crafted two fantastic subjects that each target a different spectrum of people – communicating to other scientists, and communicating to non-professional scientists. Therefore, I’ve learned that it is highly important to also understand our audiences in order to appropriately tailor the way we communicate our knowledge to people of different ages and professions. In doing so, I can help effectively engage more people in exciting and interesting ways that encourage them to explore science, understand it and challenge it by asking questions that may one day become the basis of important scientific research. Learning to communicate science effectively has also significantly improved my skills as a professional scientist because I’ve learned to better understand my own research by having been challenged to communicate it to different audiences in different verbal and written forms.

Communicating science is a craft that I’ve only just begun learning, but it’s a craft that’s incredibly valuable and exciting. Since completing my Master of Science in January 2018, I am actively exploring volunteer and employment opportunities in this field so I can help engage people in the exploration of the known and unknown to improve both our lives and the environment. And who knows, hopefully I also inspire someone to pursue a career in science.

LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuamunro/

Twitter profile: https://twitter.com/ZoologyForFun