Public Engagement

Dr Iona Beange

Dr Iona Beange

• ICONZ Communications Officer• Science Communicator

• PhD Neuroscience• Bsc Hons in Biomedical Science

Welcome To ILW

• Monday – Intro & sign-up for sessions

• Tuesday – Performance Skills

• Wednesday – Science Journalism

• Thursday- Preparing a story for Film or TV

• Showcase – Thursday Afternoon

Plan for Today

• What is Public Engagement?

• Jargon – technical words

• Structure – building a narrative

• Evaluation

• Sign Up for the rest of the week

What is Public Engagement?

Buzz: Discuss with person next to you

What is Public Engagement?

“Public engagement describes the many ways in which higher education institutions and their staff and students can connect and share their work with the public.”

Beltane Beacon for Public Engagement

The imparting or exchange of information or ideas in:

•any format (writing, speaking, drama, art)

•any medium (book, TV, radio, schools)

•to any level of audience

What is Public Engagement?

.... at the heart of it, public engagement is a good conversation…

Honourable

Economic Societal

Selfish

Reasons to communicate science

Honourable reasons

• Research money = taxes

• Funders say you should

• Role model to young people

• Challenge attitudes & stereotypes

• ‘Science is to be shared’

• Science Workforce.

• Next Generation

• Science is relevant to everyday life

Economic reasons

• Confident consumers

• Engage voters

• Encourage public acceptance of emerging science & creation of informed opinions

Societal reasons

• Skills for CV

• Promote Biology

It’s fun!

Selfish reasons

Who will I speak to?

Aim of Public Engagement

Jargon

Jargon

• Words that people won’t know

i.e. scientific terms like Zoonoses

• Abbreviations / acronyms are STMA

So ten minutes ago

Jargon

• Words that have a different meaning in common use e.g. Gas:

a) a state of matter

b) fuel for car

c) flatulence (fart)

Jargon

• Phrases that may not cross cultures “raining cats and dogs”

Find the Jargon

The re-writing of the vocabulary of intemporal Irish heritage is a possible vector for submissions on the condition that this transposition is resolutely anchored in the 21st century through a contemporary lens that absolutely avoids drifting into the vernacular.‘

Crafts Council of Ireland circular letter

From Plain English Campaign Website

Find the Jargon

The re-writing of the vocabulary of intemporal Irish heritage is a possible vector for submissions on the condition that this transposition is resolutely anchored in the 21st century through a contemporary lens that absolutely avoids drifting into the vernacular.

Crafts Council of Ireland circular letter

From Plain English Campaign Website

Brown Group http://brown.bio.ed.ac.uk/

Work in the group centres on two themes: the ecological/evolutionary dynamics of sociality and of virulence.

These two themes combine strongly when applied to microbial pathogens, as microbes must often cooperate, communicate and coordinate in order to successfully exploit their hosts.

The major challenges in our current research focus on understanding the complex multi-agent dynamics that shape microbial social interactions. Our recent research has revealed the vital role that mobile genetic elements (molecular parasites of bacteria, such as plasmids and temperate phages) play in driving the evolution of microbial cooperative behaviours and consequent virulence. ..........

...........We address these challenges using a mix of analytical modeling, simulations, genomics and experimental evolution.

Brown Group http://brown.bio.ed.ac.uk/

Work in the group centres on two themes: the ecological/evolutionary dynamics of sociality and of virulence.

These two themes combine strongly when applied to microbial pathogens, as microbes must often cooperate, communicate and coordinate in order to successfully exploit their hosts.

The major challenges in our current research focus on understanding the complex multi-agent dynamics that shape microbial social interactions. Our recent research has revealed the vital role that mobile genetic elements (molecular parasites of bacteria, such as plasmids and temperate phages) play in driving the evolution of microbial cooperative behaviours and consequent virulence. ..........

...........We address these challenges using a mix of analytical modeling, simulations, genomics and experimental evolution.

Sam Brown

Avoid Jargon……

OR……

Explain Jargon

• Use simple definitionsZoonotic disease - Any disease spreads between animals and people.

• Use analogiesA cell is like a factory – it has different areas where small parts of the finished item is built.

Write a new intro paragraph

Work in the group centres on two themes: the ecological/evolutionary dynamics of sociality and of virulence.

These two themes combine strongly when applied to microbial pathogens, as microbes must often cooperate, communicate and coordinate in order to successfully exploit their hosts.

My Try!!

The people in this group are interested in microbes (small living creatures like bacteria).

They investigate how they live and how they breed.

Some microbes are cheats; they use more than their fair share of food and space, and produce very little. Others are co-operative and continually communicate and coordinate their actions with those of their neighbours. But which group is the most successful and why? This is what the researchers want to find out.

StructureBuilding a story

Building a narrative

Tell them 3 times!!!

• Tell them what you are going to tell them

• Tell them

• Remind them what you told them

Example

Wedge

• Start with the big picture

• Narrow it down

• Get specific

Example - Work

Your Turn

Use the 2 techniques to tell the person next to you about your degree course.

•You will have:– 2 mins to plan– 2 mins for Person 1 to speak– 2 mins for Person 2 to speak

Provoke, Relate, Reveal

• Provoke – something to catch the imagination, exciting, controversial

• Relate – make it relevant, familiar, something to care about (the story)

• Reveal – explain the secret, show that they can understand this too (what is new or different)

Or do it in a different order!

UNICEFCommunity Led Total Sanitation (CLTS)

Provoke

Philip contaminates water with shit before offering it to community members to drink.(Tanzania)Photo: Samuel Musyoki, Plan Kenya.

Relate

With the people from UNICEF, the people draw a map of their village and put yellow powder to show where they last defecated.

The UNICEF staff then pretend to be people and animals, spreading the yellow powder with their feet and showing how the pooh gets into the water.

Reveal

UNICEF then educate the people on how illness and infection spread.

At the end of the session the people take a vote on building toilets (latrines)

The people then build these themselves with local materials and some equipment borrowed from UNICEF

Reporting on CLTS

Provoking Headline – Shit matters

Relate - 2.5 million people worldwide do not have access to sanitation. Despite growing attention and efforts, many top-down approaches to sanitation have failed.

Reveal – CLTS focuses on facilitating a profound change in people’s behaviour through participatory techniques. The approach has proven immensely successful and is being implemented in at least 40 countries,

• Sam Brown’s Research

Within-Host Competition Drives Selection for the Capsule Virulence Determinant of Streptococcus pneumoniae

Curr Biol. 2010 July 13; 20(13): 1222–1226.

Provoke, Relate, Reveal

Sam Brown

Construct a Provoke, Relate, Reveal

for Sam Brown’s Research (1-2 sentences for each section)

• Provoke – something to catch the imagination, exciting, controversial (like a headline).

• Relate – make it relevant, familiar, something to care about (the story)

• Reveal – explain the secret, show that they can understand this too (what is new or different)

Or do it in a different order!

Examples of Public Engagement Activities

Super bugs

Superbugs

• Schools outreach (mainly 12-15 year olds)

• Science Festivals

• Teacher Packs / Teacher Training

• Edinburgh Fringe Festival (outside a theatre)

Design your own bacterium

Paper and pen

Step 1 – Pick a shapeBacteria have three basic shapes

  Rod 

Bacillus

The large surface area is good for taking up lots of nutrients from

the environment.

  

Round 

Coccus

The small surface area makes them very

resistant to dehydration.

Spiral  

SpirillumThese cells can move in a corkscrew motion.

Congratulations

Your cell membrane will

hold all the insides in

and keep what’s outside out!

Step 2 – Cell Wall

The cell wall helps the bacterium:

•keep its shape

•defend itself

•stops it drying out

Step 2 – Cell Wall

One or Two layered wall? You decide!

Gap

One layer of cell wall

Gap

Layer 1

Gap

Layer 2

or

Medicine

• Some medicines only kill bacteria that have one cell wall.

• Other medicines only work against bacteria that have two cell walls.

Step 3 – Cell contents

a) DNA

• Instruction manual for building the bacterium.

• Draw between 1 and 3 coils in your bacteria.

Step 3 – Cell Contents

b) Ribosomes

• Tiny factories

• Draw a few ribosomes inside your bacterium (little circles)

Step 3 – Cell Contents

c) Other Stuff inside the cell

• Proteins – little ‘workers’ in the cell

• Storage Granules – Bacteria are greedy. They store up extra food whenever they get the chance.

• Draw some dots inside your bacterium

Optional Extra - Plasmid

• Plasmids = EXTRA GENES for special situations (superpowers!).

• The cell can gain or lose them without dying.

• There can be none, one or even a hundred different plasmids with a bacterium.

• Will yours have any plasmids?

Optional Extras – Outside

• Flagella – long ‘tails’ that spin like propellers

• Pilli - short hooks to cling to surfaces like teeth, intestines, and rocks

• Which bits do you think are essential ( ie the bacteria must have these to live?)

• Which bits would it not really matter if you removed?

Look at your bacterium

Antibiotics (medicines)

Antibiotics either kill the cell or stop it making copies of itself (replicating)

Which bits of the bacteria should they

target / attach to / destroy?

Rest of superbugs task and photos of kids ones

• Stitch a superbug images

• Playdough version - fringe

Craft Bits

Playdough

Knit a Superbug

Costumes

Life through a lenshttp://www.biology.ed.ac.uk/research/groups/outreach/wcb/Home.html

Gene Jury

Engage

Explore

Discuss

Think

Vote!

Reflect

GM’ll Fix It?

What does GM stand for in science?

2

31 2

3 4

Giant millipede

Gliding molecules

Ghastly monkey

Genetic modification

CELLSThe building blocks of all living things

Living things

Brain cell

Muscle cells

Blood cell

Heart cells

RecipeRecipeinstructionsinstructions

CellsCells

Living thing

Genes

Thread the gene instructions onto the correct string for each character in your box.

1. Move one instruction to change one of your characters?

Sign up to other sessions

• Monday – Intro & sign-up for sessions

• Tuesday – Performance Skills

• Wednesday – Science Journalism

• Thursday- Preparing a story for Film or TV

• Showcase – Thursday Afternoon

Professionalism Please

• Session will run on time

• If unable to attend please email Iona iona.beange@ed.ac.uk or BTO office

(other people would like to attend)

• Preparation will ensure you get the most benefit from the sessions.

Performance Session(Tuesday)

• Please prepare an informal 2 minute talk on any subject ( a science one would be good, but it can be anything)

• Come to the session ready to present this talk to a small group (4-5 other people)

• We will work on and improve these talks during the session.

Evaluation

Evaluation

• Were my / my funders objectives met?

• Has anything changed as result of this?

• Could it have been better?

• Were there any unintended outcomes?

• Make the project better next time.

Evaluation

1)

3) •What feedback would you like to give to the university regarding innovative learning week? •Have you encountered any problems or difficulties with innovative learning week?

2)