Here’s another oldie-but-goodie pulled from pages as IFAS migrates blogs. These are some of the public engagement with science (aka science outreach or informal science education or science communication) resources I have found in my day. Public engagement, as defined by the AAAS, involves learning by all participants in an activity, including those traditionally positioned as science experts.

I welcome suggestions to add to this list!

1. My University of Florida documents on improving data visualization, getting started in public engagement, and other topics.
2. Other documents from UF collaborators
   • Social media series
   • Science content communication
   • Transparent Communication in Ag and Natural Resources
   • Environmental Interpretation: How to Communicate Persuasively
   • Some Challenges Behind Communicating about Climate Change
   • Strategies for Communicating Climate Change to Extension Audiences
   • Developing Sign Displays for Conveying Information ** note – think beyond conveying information if your goals are true science engagement
3. Organizations supporting public engagement with science
   • American Association for the Advancement of Science and their online communities (requires free account registration) – look for the groups on science communication and public engagement
   • Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science
   • Advancing Research Impact in Society (formerly National Alliance for Broader Impacts) – working to “to create a community of practice that fosters the development of sustainable and scalable institutional capacity and engagement in broader impacts activity”
   • Engagement Scholarship Consortium – researchers studying engagement throughout the world, especially working alongside practitioners and audiences to carry out participatory research
   • American Association for the Advancement of Science has a number of resources:
   • Center for Public Engagement with Science & Technology
   • American Institute of Biological Sciences’ Communications Boot Camp (on site in Washington, DC) – some policy emphasis
   • Extension Foundation’s (formerly eXtension.org) Mapping your Way to Better Engagement – learning to tell better stories with maps and map-based data
   • Frameworks Institute – lots of research on messaging and finding strategies that work for different audiences, building on shared values, on specific topics. Check out particularly Science translation and Environment sections.
   • For the March for Science, they suggest “Follow @FrameWorksInst, @ScienceMarchDC, and #ScienceMarch on Twitter for alerts when new communications resources become available, like downloadable signs and open-source graphics that frame the case in a powerful, yet nonpartisan, way.”
   • Google spreadsheet of science and outreach organizations worldwide by @iamscicomm and contributors
   • Friends of Joe’s (NPR’s Joe Palca) Big Idea Map – map of organizations and events featured on this NPR series
   • COMPASS, Co-founded by former NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco
   • Workshop on public engagement online recording (about 1 hour 45 min) from University of West England – Bristol
4. Activities/Programs for engagement
   • A beginning scientist’s list of organizations/programs one can get involved with
   • SkypeAScientist – join a classroom remotely and get to know students while sharing your experiences
   • NerdNite
   • Science Cafe / Cafe Scientifique – two different links for similar programs inviting speakers into public spaces for short presentations and discussion
   • 4-H
   • Letters to a Pre-scientist penpal program.
   • Girl and Boy Scouts
   • YMCA
   • Boys & Girls Clubs
   • Agricultural Literacy Day – read to a classroom about agriculture!
   • (again): Friends of Joe’s (NPR’s Joe Palca) Big Idea Map – map of organizations and events featured on this NPR series
   • Farmer Field Day Guide and Toolkit from Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education foundation (SARE)
   • Science Festivals
   • Society for Science & the Public Advocate program – help students underrepresented in STEM complete independent research and submit it to competitions.
   • Science Storytellers – kids interview scientists
   • talk science with me – my Alachua County program featuring casual conversations in public venues
   • Taste of Science
   • A partially-overlapping list from @JoshKing.
   • Stargazing nights
5. Fellowship programs
   • WGBH (Boston) Rita Allen Fellowship for Science Communication (for communication or science research professionals)
   • AAAS Leshner Leadership program for Public Engagement
   • NOAA Knauss Science Policy Fellowships (For current graduate students)
   • AAAS Science/Technology Policy Fellowships
6. Books/Guides
   • Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as if your life depended on it by Chris Voss (recommended by Kevin Folta)
   • Effective Science Communication: A Practical Guide to Surviving as a Scientist by Sam Illingworth
   • Don’t Be Such a Scientist by Randy Olson
   • Escape from the Ivory Tower by Nancy Baron
   • North American Association of Environmental Educators’ Guide for Excellence in Community Engagement (slightly different focus than pure public engagement, but I believe they are related)
   • The Chicago Guide to Fact-Checking, with a blog post describing its relevance to science engagement – basically, it gives insight into how the media works.
7. Popular/practitioner press articles

• Explaining Science Won’t Fix Information Illiteracy
• Stop Raising Awareness Already
• To Win Against False Information, We Must Play Offense

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