Simplify Your Science Language

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Simplify Your Science Language

• Grab Their Attention and Get Your Research
  Noticed

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Scientists and the Media

• Many dont have time for interviews
• Concerned about misquotes, misrepresentation of
  facts
• Complex issues require complex answers
• Dumbing down research decreases credibility

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Media and the Scientists

• Translator for the public
• Medium is dynamic
• Simplifying research will reach more people
• Science knowledge for average reader not high
  school, but 5-6th grade levels

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Does it matter? Absolutely

• More people exposed than via scientific journal
  or course taught
• If data can influence policy, this is vehicle to
  get into decisionmakers hands
• People embrace science

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Simplify Your Research

• Remember your audience
• Discuss research as if talking to far removed
  family member extremely interested student
• Avoid scientific jargon, acronyms, abbreviations
• Define terminology if used
• Relate to day-to-day life of the average person

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Simplify Your Research

• Graphics, photos, analogies to illustrate points
• People are visualuse them to explain concepts

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Create Focused Messages/Sound Bites

• Headline or take home message (research
  discovery)
• What was the problem or issue that the research
  solved/investigated?
• What is the impact of discovery and why is
  important?

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Headline

• Scientist develops technology to remove 95 of
  harmful algal toxins from Lake Erie drinking
  water.

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Problem or Issue

• Many water treatment facilities dont treat for
  microcystins and conventional removal processes
  are ineffective to remove them.
• More than 13 million people rely on Lake Erie
  for their drinking water.

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Discovery

• Coupling wood-based activated carbon with
  ultrafiltration, removed 95 of microcystins.

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Impact

• This technology is relatively easy to
  incorporate into water treatment facilities, yet
  removes nearly all of the toxin.

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Headline

• Fish otolith is a historical map of fish
  migration.

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Discovery

• Matching up an otoliths chemical make-up with a
  specific area of Lake Erie, will let us track
  where the fish travels throughout its life time.

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Impact

• If we know that area of Lake Erie is
  contaminated and is a key spawning area, our hope
  is fishery managers and elected officials will
  use this data to prioritize conservation and
  clean-up efforts.

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• Headline Cleaner, Clearer Water Increases Lake
  Erie Waterfront Property Values
• Impact Study shows policymakers theres a direct
  dollar benefit to improving water quality.

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Instead of Methodology

• Housing pricei p1(Sizei) p2(School
  qualityi)
• p3(Access to worki) p4(Access to
  lakei)
• p5(Water qualityi)
• Interpretation of pi implicit price of X the
  change in housing price given a marginal change
  in X
• For example, p5 the change in housing price
  given a an increase in water quality

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Relate it to the Everyday Person
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How-to Graphics to Illustrate a Concept

• How-to graphics used as supplement to article
• Graphic should stand alone
• All acronyms and terms spelled out
• Descriptive cutline up to 3 sentences

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Graphics to Illustrate Magnitude
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Graphics to Illustrate Magnitude
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Graphics to Illustrate Magnitude
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Numbers to Show Magnitude

• Round gobies affected smallmouth bass growth by
  50 within the smallmouths first year.
• Round gobies now consist of more than 90 of the
  Lake Erie water snakes diet. This is one of the
  very few cases where a harmful, devastating
  invasive has a positive effect on a threatened,
  native species.

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Numbers to Show Magnitude

• Each Lake Erie beach potentially loses over
  300,000 in visitor spending every year, thanks
  to beach advisories.

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Explaining thru Analogies

• Bacteria are the little worker bees in Lake Erie.
  If those good little guys werent there doing
  their job, youd notice.
• - Dr. Bob Heath on benthic community impacts
• Like tree rings, otoliths can tell researchers
  the chemical make-up of fish environments at
  specific moments in time.
• - Dr. John Farver on importance of otoliths as
  natural tags

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Wit Can Work

• Clichés are acceptable
• Think of clever one-liners that can be remembered
  and get your research noticed.
• Be careful not to overdo it.

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Strong Visuals Strong Stories

• Visuals and cutlines are read first
• Take pix as your research progresses

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Working with Media

• Prepare your 4 focused messages/points
• Offer any visuals you may have
• Ask when their deadline is to help with
  availability offer any other contacts to help
  solidify story
• Offer to review any copy
• Keep in mind that your story may be only covered
  in 1.5 minutes on TV a quote or two for a
  newspaper

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