I am so on board with this, it’s been my mantra for some time now to publish for the public rather than for the academy . I am ‘retired’ now so I don’t have publish or perish pressure on me, but given where we are this saying has a whole other level of meaning now! My experience is there are many curious and committed people who are looking for reliable and useful information accessibly published. If we want our work to contribute we have to put it out where many can find and read it.
Well said, Sally! I agree regarding the need to putting stuff where it can be found (and in a digestible form). As someone still active in academia, I'll continue to publish in peer-reviewed journals of course (peer review, although broken at the moment, is fundamental to science), but as mentioned, am keen to put more out there in forms available for non-scientists.
I wasn't in academia but was still expected to publish in my work as a physicist. I think there's also a problem with the public not wanting to engage with science in media because they've been taught to think 'they won't get it,' and 'they're just stupid.' That's the other side of the problem, and it's a bit of a 'bringing a horse to water, etc' problem.
But, having said that, I did a communication course during my training and it was really helpful.
Thanks for your thoughts. I agree there's a bit of a stigma around science being communicated poorly. It has a long history of being separated from society. That's definitely changing -- and that's what I'm here for. :)
In the eco-world there are many people interested in the small water cycle/precipitation recycling and how forests can help increase the rain. A lot of them think that scientists dont know about this. But there are over hundred scientists that publish on this topic, with insights that would really help the eco-world. It would be great if these two demographics connect.
This is an essay I wrote on my Substack, about coming from the eco-world, and my surprise at finding all these scientists working on the topic, including Syukuro Manabe, who won the Nobel prize for his work on the carbon greenhouse. He had also worked on the small water cycle and how soil impacted it. https://climatewaterproject.substack.com/p/the-quest-to-figure-out-the-origin
Another great piece! I’m not an academic, but I’m married to a former academic. He has taught me so much about how to approach things that I read or hear about with a critical eye, which has helped me understand things and enjoy learning even more than I already did (which was already a lot 😂).
I think that the more accessible science is made and then the more normalized sharing scientific research outside of academia becomes, society at large will see huge benefits! So please, everyone make your amazing research available to us non-academic folks to consume in an accessible way! We want to learn the cool things that we don’t yet know and have new ways to dive deeper into things we are curious about!
Jono Finally!!! great to have you joining the citric and conscience scientists. I'm looking forward to the day when something comes out from someone at UC about the freshwater disaster in Canterbury. If it happens it will be a breath of fresh air.
I am so on board with this, it’s been my mantra for some time now to publish for the public rather than for the academy . I am ‘retired’ now so I don’t have publish or perish pressure on me, but given where we are this saying has a whole other level of meaning now! My experience is there are many curious and committed people who are looking for reliable and useful information accessibly published. If we want our work to contribute we have to put it out where many can find and read it.
Well said, Sally! I agree regarding the need to putting stuff where it can be found (and in a digestible form). As someone still active in academia, I'll continue to publish in peer-reviewed journals of course (peer review, although broken at the moment, is fundamental to science), but as mentioned, am keen to put more out there in forms available for non-scientists.
Love that you are doing this and encouraging others to get onboard.
Thanks Sally! :)
I wasn't in academia but was still expected to publish in my work as a physicist. I think there's also a problem with the public not wanting to engage with science in media because they've been taught to think 'they won't get it,' and 'they're just stupid.' That's the other side of the problem, and it's a bit of a 'bringing a horse to water, etc' problem.
But, having said that, I did a communication course during my training and it was really helpful.
Thanks for your thoughts. I agree there's a bit of a stigma around science being communicated poorly. It has a long history of being separated from society. That's definitely changing -- and that's what I'm here for. :)
In the eco-world there are many people interested in the small water cycle/precipitation recycling and how forests can help increase the rain. A lot of them think that scientists dont know about this. But there are over hundred scientists that publish on this topic, with insights that would really help the eco-world. It would be great if these two demographics connect.
Thanks Alpha. There's certainly no shortage of science out there. It's about getting it in front of the right people.
This is an essay I wrote on my Substack, about coming from the eco-world, and my surprise at finding all these scientists working on the topic, including Syukuro Manabe, who won the Nobel prize for his work on the carbon greenhouse. He had also worked on the small water cycle and how soil impacted it. https://climatewaterproject.substack.com/p/the-quest-to-figure-out-the-origin
Thanks for sharing. Will have a read. Cheers
Another great piece! I’m not an academic, but I’m married to a former academic. He has taught me so much about how to approach things that I read or hear about with a critical eye, which has helped me understand things and enjoy learning even more than I already did (which was already a lot 😂).
I think that the more accessible science is made and then the more normalized sharing scientific research outside of academia becomes, society at large will see huge benefits! So please, everyone make your amazing research available to us non-academic folks to consume in an accessible way! We want to learn the cool things that we don’t yet know and have new ways to dive deeper into things we are curious about!
Thanks again, Carrie! I'm loving your comments. :)
That's great to hear. I'll certainly keep going and I hope others will too. Just gotta figure out how to get the message shared more widely.
Jono Finally!!! great to have you joining the citric and conscience scientists. I'm looking forward to the day when something comes out from someone at UC about the freshwater disaster in Canterbury. If it happens it will be a breath of fresh air.
Thanks Mike -- finally! No shortage of freshwater disasters unfortunately.
the one on your back step would be a good start, UC has been MIA :-)