Trailer

Jen (00:00:00)
Hello, I’m Dr Jen Martin, and I’m here to welcome you to our new podcast called Let’s Talk SciComm.
So I started my career as an ecologist. I really wanted to understand what animals do and why they do it, with the whole aim of conserving them, that’s what I’m all about.
But during my PHD, I started to realise that I couldn’t see how I was actually going to make any difference in the world.
Because the people who had the power to make decisions, to care and to conserve wildlife, they weren’t the ones who are going to be reading any papers that I wrote or reading my PHD thesis.
And that’s when I started to realise just how important science communication is.

So about a decade ago, I made the decision that the most useful thing I could do on this planet, rather than doing my own research, would to be teach other scientists how to be fantastic communicators.
And that’s when I founded Unimelb SciCommm, the science communication teaching program at the University of Melbourne here in Australia.
And at around the same time I discovered this fantastic quote from Sir Mark Walport, who used to be the chief science advisor to the UK government.
And what he said was, “Science isn’t finished until it’s communicated”.
And I just couldn’t agree with him more.

And so now I feel so lucky that my job is helping other scientists to be fantastic communicators so that they can make a difference in the world, so can they can explain what they are doing and what it means to people, even if those people have never studied science.
And so that’s what this podcast is going to be all about, helping you as a scientist or science student to explain your work to other people.
And I’m really excited that I’m joined by my friend and colleague, Dr Michael Wheeler, as cohost on our new podcast.
Gooday, Michael!

Michael (00:01:37)
Hey Jen, I’m very excited to be hosting this podcast with you.
And what a great quote that is, “Science isn’t finished until it’s communicated”, and I really see that everyday in my job as a researcher.
And from the time I joined your teaching team back in 2019, I’ve really learned a lot.
And one of the main things is that I don’t think you actually have to be a Brian Cox or Katie Mack to be considered a science communicator.
It’s really that every scientist is a science communicator.
It’s such a fundamental part of the job, from writing grant applications to doing radio interviews about our latest work, science communication really is everywhere once you start to look.

Jen (00:02:18)
Sure is, Michael, and I’m really looking forward to the episodes that we have planned.
So whether you’re studying science, whether you’re working as a scientist, whether you just think it’s really fascinating how science gets treated in the media and how we hear about science, this is a podcast that’s going to be really useful for you.
Because we’re gonna bring in lots of people who’ve got fantastic ideas to share with you.
And of course, we’ve got topics that we can’t wait to talk about, like how you actually capture your audience’s attention, and what can we do when science communication doesn’t really work out.

Michael (00:02:49)
That’s right, and I’m very excited that we’ll be able to introduce you to some wonderful science communicators along the way.
And we’ll be discussing topics like communicating climate change, and how science journalism really works.

Jen (00:03:01)
And one of the things that I’m most excited about is that we work with incredible students and we’re going to invite them to join us as well and share some of the top tips that they’re learning as they become better science communicators.
So we will love you to join us for Let’s Talk SciComm; we’re going to have a heap of fun; Michael and I love chatting with one another; we’re going to bring in lots of our friends and students, and we promise that you’re going to learn a lot along the way about how to be a better science communicator.

Michael (00:03:25)
That’s right, so make sure you follow us on our socials to find out when the first episode is going to be dropping.
We’re at @LetsTalkSciComm on Insta and Twitter, and Let’s Talk SciComm Podcast on Facebook, and we would love to hear from you.