| Summary: | The Sitka Sound Science Center's (SSSC) Alaska Science Communication (ASC) project training prepared scientists to better convey their research to rural and Alaska Native audiences. This workshop also presented integrated tools for helping scientists, funded by the NSF and working in the Arctic, better connect with rural communities. There is clearly a need to provide training as demonstrated by the 43 applications received for 8 spots. The workshop was led by a high-profile panel that included: Lisa Busch (Executive Director of the SSSC); Elizabeth Arnold, (a science communication expert, University of Alaska journalism professor and former National Public Radio Senior correspondent); Angela Gonzalez (from the Rural Alaska Community Action Program, Inc., an Alaska Native with expertise in rural living); Richard Nelson (a cultural anthropologist and radio producer); Jackie Grebmeier and Lee Cooper, (University of Maryland research scientists with 40 years of experience working in the Arctic). The workshop was held in the Fall of 2016 at the SSSC which has a legacy of scientific training in Alaska and professional, nationally-recognized expertise in science communication. The Sitka workshop setting benefitted from the proximity of Mt. Edgecumbe High School, a state-operated boarding school, which has historically provided secondary education to students from over 90 Alaska Native villages across Alaska. The workshop prepared scientists to use rural community resources to hire a local resident to work on their scientific project. Over the course of three days, scientists received lectures and hands on practice activities and visited a variety of community locations typical of rural Alaska, including the tribal government offices, the public radio station, and a community center where they dined with local residents and talked about their research in a casual setting. Participants also learned some best practices for visiting school classrooms and they observed a Scientists in the Schools lesson within the Sitka Native Education Program. Workshop participants prepared a five-minute talk, without a PowerPoint, and presented it to Mt. Edgecumbe High School students who had pre-lessons in science communication in advance of the workshop. Students then evaluated the participants by filling out feedback forms that tested what the students had learned from the talks. Scientists learned about understanding their audience, replacing technical language with common words, and storytelling. They received training in working with the media, and learned the importance and relevance of tribal governance to scientific work. In person feedback was given at the end of the workshop and then participants filled out an in-depth, online survey. Overall the feedback was extremely positive.
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