Communicating Science in Public - Megan Shields Formato

Amid intersecting climate and health crises as well as rapid developments in artificial intelligence and new media forms, the need for communicating science with nuance and care has never been greater. Communicating Science in Public supports science communicators who seek to engage in compelling ways with audiences with varied levels of scientific expertise. The volume provides not a rule book, nor a set of templates and formulas, but rather a portable set of rhetorical strategies for working across science communication genres with the expectation that these genres will continue to change and new ones will emerge.

Introductory chapters provide a foundation for communicating science in public across genres. The genre-specific chapters – including chapters on personal essays, op-eds, science exhibits, and podcasts – then offer histories of how a given genre evolved as well as where it fits into broader media ecologies. These chapters provide examples of the genre, key considerations for navigating its affordances and constraints, and a process for brainstorming, composing, revision, and reflection.

By taking a genre-based approach, this book asks its readers to reimagine science communication as more than an act of translating complex ideas into simpler terms. Instead, readers learn to reflect on the opportunities and limitations of different forms of communication and how to engage diverse publics in inclusive, accessible ways, developing transferable, transformative rhetorical knowledge.

This book will help readers navigate a complex communication landscape and think about rhetorical opportunities broadly. It can be used as a science communication textbook geared toward advanced undergraduate students and graduate students with a foundation in the sciences who are learning how to communicate scientific ideas to non-specialist audiences.

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