Category Archive: Science communication

How to run an online academic book club

Back in August, the first copies of Mark Vellend’s book The Theory of Ecological Communities were released. I got one of them and found out from the publisher and from the Twitter-sphere that the books were in high demand. A couple people on Twitter suggested forming a book club, and being a compulsive organizer, I …

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Permanent link to this article: http://ecologybits.com/index.php/2016/11/30/how-to-run-an-online-academic-book-club/

Demands for 48-hour proof turnarounds are unacceptable

Perhaps this sounds familiar… You wrote a manuscript and it got sent out for review. It got generally good reviews, and so you revised the manuscript once or twice. Then it was accepted. Hurrah! Break out the milkshakes. [1] or other beverage of choice Then … crickets … nothing. After a few months, you email …

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Permanent link to this article: http://ecologybits.com/index.php/2016/10/12/demands-for-48-hour-proof-turnarounds-are-unacceptable/

Seasons of the Scientific Conference

Maybe one or more of these sound familiar? Newbie. You’re an undergrad or a brand new grad student or something in between. There’s a big regional or national conference nearby and it costs relatively little for you to go. So you go! You spend hours poring over the program, looking for the talks that seem awesome. …

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Permanent link to this article: http://ecologybits.com/index.php/2016/08/02/seasons-of-the-scientific-conference/

Pie charts: seldom or never?

So, the other day, I was casually browsing Twitter when I saw that Meg Duffy had posted some preliminary results from her latest survey on authorship over at Dynamic Ecology. “Oooh, pretty graph,” I tweeted of her pie chart. To which, I received this reply: @margaretkosmala really? It’s terrible. Pie charts should just die @duffy_ma …

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Permanent link to this article: http://ecologybits.com/index.php/2016/05/04/pie-charts-seldom-or-never/

Reddit science AMAs for ecologists

Last week, I ran a Reddit Science AMA with collaborators Koen Hufkens and Josh Gray on climate change, phenology, and citizen science. In the morning, a general post went up describing our research. By the time we started replying to questions at 1 pm, there were more than 100 questions waiting for us! I skimmed …

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Permanent link to this article: http://ecologybits.com/index.php/2016/04/04/reddit-science-amas-for-ecologists/

Reddit for science communication (UPDATE: now with a link!)

If you’ve dabbled in science communication you’ve likely come across the difference between communicating AT people and communicating WITH people. Or maybe you haven’t. After all, science has historically largely subscribed to the deficit model of teaching: the “general public” is a bunch of people who are empty vessels into which we should pour in …

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Permanent link to this article: http://ecologybits.com/index.php/2016/03/30/reddit-for-science-communication/

Grad students: Want to learn to be awesome at science communication? Attend ComSciCon

Hey you guys! Applications are now open for ComSciCon, which is a science communication workshop for graduate students. In particular, applications are open for the national workshop, which is an awesome experience. ComSciCon is three intense days (all expenses paid!) of learning how to better communicate science – whether that’s written, spoken, or multimedia. I …

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Permanent link to this article: http://ecologybits.com/index.php/2016/02/01/grad-students-want-to-learn-to-be-awesome-at-science-communication-attend-comscicon/