Outreach Tools

“If presentations are not of the highest caliber in both content and delivery, communication is flawed and science is neither properly served nor facilitated.”

-- Scientifically Speaking: Tips for Preparing and Delivering Scientific Talks Using Visual Aids

Scientifically Speaking is published by The Oceanography Society and provides advice and observations on preparing and delivering a scientific talk. The booklet is available as a series of web pages, a PDF file (2.7MB), or by request from the Oceanography Society.

Also published by The Oceanography Society, the Education and Public Outreach Guide provides basic information for engaging in such activities. Topics include tips for preparing education and outreach proposals, seeking out partnerships with educators and others, getting feedback, and frequently asked questions.

How to Present to Classrooms

As more attention focuses on K-12 STEM education, there is a desire to connect the research community with K-12 educators. President Obama recently announced Educate to Innovate, which seeks to connect classrooms with STEM professionals with events like National Lab Day.

Not all researchers feel comfortable visiting K-12 classrooms. It can be daunting to figure out what level to teach and what content is relevant, not to mention how to keep a room of 10 year olds in order. Even researchers who have been to classrooms could benefit from a few basic tips. This presentation (slidecast with audio) provides a guide to bringing your research into a K-12 classroom. E-mail for more information

An Outreach Sampler from NPRB Investigators

Here are examples of high-quality outreach, where scientists have taken their research to a public audience in a variety of ways.

Click column headings to sort.

Number	Outreach Type	Theme	Project TItle	Outreach Summary and Date
814	Popular Presentation	Fish + Invertebrates	Recruitment mechanisms for Tanner crabs in the eastern Bering Sea	PI attended Young Fishermen's Summit for panel discussion, "What will our fisheries and oceans look like in 20 years?" (January 2010)
908	Popular Article	Fish + Invertebrates	Fine scale population genetic structure of northeastern GOA Pacific ocean perch	PI writing series of chapters on genetics for Alaska Sea Grant publication. (January 2010)
921	Workshop	Other Prominent Issues	Storm surge, ocean wave, and weather remodeling of coastal sandy beaches in the eastern Bering Sea	Five-day workshop in Hooper Bay included youth and neighboring village residents. Participants learned how to operate and record data for beach profiling. (January 2010)
923	Popular Presentation	Ecosystem studies	Impacts of Kasatochi Volcano eruption on terrestrial and marine ecosystems	Presentation on the eruption and preliminary results as part of USGS Public Science Seminar Series. (January 2010)
923	Fact Sheet	Ecosystem studies	Impacts of Kasatochi Volcano eruption on terrestrial and marine ecosystems	Measuring the ecological response to the catastrophic eruption of 8/7/08. (January 2010)
923	Website	Ecosystem studies	Impacts of Kasatochi Volcano eruption on terrestrial and marine ecosystems	Impacts of the 2008 Kasatochi Volcano eruption
923	Radio	Ecosystem studies	Impacts of Kasatochi Volcano eruption on terrestrial and marine ecosystems	Public Radio International GeoQuiz (part of the daily radio show The World from the BBC)
923	Radio	Ecosystem studies	Impacts of Kasatochi Volcano eruption on terrestrial and marine ecosystems	APRN interview with PI Sikes, 8/25/09
923	Press	Ecosystem studies	Impacts of Kasatochi Volcano eruption on terrestrial and marine ecosystems	Fairbanks Daily News-Miner articles by science writer Ned Rozell (8/16/09 and 8/23/09)
924	Exhibition	Fish + Invertebrates	Developing rapid, accurate, DNA-based identification of larvae and dietary components of commercially important species	PI working with Pacific Science Center in Seattle to develop a permanent portable exhibit to highlight the DNA-based approach to species ID. (January 2010)
605	Coursework	Fish + Invertebrates	Modeling growth and survival of early life-stages of Pacific cod in response to climate-related changes in sea ice conditions in the Bering Sea	Egg/larval specimens used and presented in biological oceanography course is taught by PI. Offers hands-on opportunity for undergrads to see and experience research occurring on the HMSC campus. (July 2009)
619	Popular Presentation	Fish + Invertebrates	Connectivity between Greenland halibut spawning and nursery areas in the eastern Bering Sea	PIs shared knowledge about the flatfish life cycle and research results with children and adults at SeaFest 2009. (July 2009)
709	Exhibition	Fish + Invertebrates	Species-habitat associations in three flatfish species of the eastern Bering Sea as mediated by demographic, human and cross-scale environmental forcing	At SeaFest 2009, had a booth on early life cycle of flatfish with life cycle and ecology poster, flatfish larval samples to be seen under a dissecting scope, video observations of newly settled flatfish. Many people had questions about flatfish ecology, and kids were especially interested in the larval samples. (July 2009)
710	Exhibition	Fish Habitat	Sediment Quality Triad Assessment in Kachemak Bay	Portable exhibit will illustrate purpose and benefits of study and how it complements other research and assessment activities. A brief narrative, graphical summary of results, and interpretation of the significance of the data (including resource management implications) will be included. Display will be made available to regional organizations, local schools and villages, etc. (July 2009)
816	Popular Presentation	Fish + Invertebrates	Estimating source contribution and dispersal patterns of Pacific cod recruits using otolith elemental composition	Explained application of otolith elemental analysis to questions of fish migration and dispersal at SeaFest 2009. (July 2009)
714	Student Mentoring	Fish + Invertebrates	Reproductive potential of Bristol Bay red king crab and eastern Bering Sea snow crab	PI mentored a high school student who produced a project for a science fair. Her project was directly related to our NPRB-funded research, and was a finalist in the Southeast Alaska Regional Science Fair. (July 2009)
723	Radio/TV/Film	Seabirds	Increasing short-tailed albatross population growth and stability through translocation of post-guard chicks	Japanese media produced video of the courtship display of two pre-breeding STAL that visited Mukojima (Japanese-language site). Project was also highlighted on Alaska Public Radio Network’s Alaska News program, “Albatross Species Making Comeback.”(July 2009)
731	Community Meeting	Fish + Invertebrates	Temperature/depth data collections on Bering Sea groundfish vessels	PIs held a workshop attended by fishermen, scientists, and public. Lively discussion resulted in a work product that could utilize industry’s interest in collecting temperature data to reduce bycatch and learn more about the Bering Sea ecosystem. (July 2009)
821	Popular Article	Other Prominent Issues	Using blue mussels as an indicator species for testing domoic acid toxicity in subsistence bivalve harvest	An article was written in the summer newsletter of the Alaska Shellfish Growers Association. (July 2009)
823	Workshops and Meetings	Humans	Cultural models of Copper River salmon biology	Presentations to Ahtna Tene Nene’ Customary and Traditional Committee, Cordova Fishermen United, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, and at a Copper River Watershed meeting in the Native village of Gakona. (July 2009)