This year was the second year I attended the annual meeting of the Association of Science Communicators (ASC). Held in Portland, Oregon, Science Talk ’24 was a virtual and in-person event that brought together several hundred scientists, book authors, public information officers, students, and more. Each of us came with our own background and experiences to share through oral presentations, posters, workshops, and casual conversations. We also each took something valuable away from the meeting.

I attended the in-person sessions on April 11 and 12. I won’t list all of the keynotes and talks I attended. Instead, I’ll provide some highlights that I took note of that I hope are useful for others that are looking to expand their science communication opportunities and toolkit.

The opening remarks were from the President and CEO of the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI), Erin Graham. In addition to hearing about the fascinating programming at the museum and how they are doing outreach to communities in the eastern part of the state, Erin kept repeating this question throughout her presentation – what is the lesson? She provided us excellent advice and tips for our scicomm: communicate belonging; be willing to change and be changed; deeper listening, deeper learning. But she always came back to the question, what is the lesson? It’s a question that frames a critical place to start with any scicomm project or event.

Dr. Carin Bondar was the morning keynote, and she shared additional points of wisdom:

• be flexible (think of ways to incorporate scicomm into your role)
• be brave
• work with your skillset and your passion
• stay true to your values
• create a body of work that you are proud to own
• and for educators, teach students reflective listening

I appreciated the exercises during the storytelling workshop led by Erica Berry (author of Wolfish: Wolf, Self, and the Stories We Tell About Fear) and Liz Weinberg (author of Unsettling: Surviving Extinction Together). The activities had us really focus on delivering information versus creating a connection with our audience. One section of the workshop explored using metaphor to bridge connections – but you need to be mindful that not everyone will know the basis for the metaphor! For example, using the Lord of the Rings as a setting when not everyone has read the book or seen the movie…

Other fun sessions included:

• Learning about the sonification of COVID proteins (take a listen!), thanks to the work of Dr. Debra Good and her colleagues at Virginia Tech.
• Having impactful science communication through empathy rather than education, keeping in mind that we can have impact through the “comfort” of our agreements, and that fear can block us from being understood (find the fear, hear the reasons, ask to learn)
• Mentoring – and that when it comes to mentoring, the best thing we should all do better is listen (thanks, Marley Parker!).

Last year, the conference had a panel of NASA employees that were in charge of the communications around the James Webb Space Telescope. It was fascinating to hear how to manage the media around a program with so many delays – and then immediate, spectacular results. This year’s conference included a panel from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and what they went through managing a global announcement (with only one week’s notice) about fusion ignition. They recommended viewing the 60 Minutes piece, which they felt did a great job covering this historic scientific event.

And what did I share? What else – my quilts! I brought one quilt last year to the conference, one of my data visualizations from my time on JOIDES Resolution (the quilt Blue Skies and Cloud Cover). This time, I asked the conference organizers if I could bring several of my JR quilts, the ones that I have termed my “gamified” quilts. Each one has some sort of activity or puzzle to solve. It was so much fun to share these with the audience! It was worth traveling with the extra piece of luggage to transport the quilt stands and the quilts themselves (and the nerves as to where my checked baggage was at all times – eek! I don’t know if/when I’ll ever feel comfortable being separated from my quilts while traveling).

I became aware of ASC just a few years ago, and it is one of the conferences I really look forward to, as I’m exposed to so many fresh ideas and approaches beyond what I hear at geoscience conferences. I look forward to next year’s event, which for the first time will be held on the East coast in North Carolina (I will miss Portland – but I look forward to returning to the city of roses in the future!). In the meantime, I will continue to reflect upon what I’ve learned, and how I can bring these highlights to my students and the audiences I speak to, such as better listening, making better connections, and strengthening my mentoring practices.