FEATURES

+SharingWays to Communicate Science

to bring news about advances in science, technology and health from around the world to 1 place on the Web, so that jour- nalists can do their jobs even more efficient- ly and accurately, and the public can further satisfy its appetite for science news. Remembering the importance of the general public reminds us that science AAAS: Keeping the Public in Mind doesn't occur in a vacuum-it requires the energy and ideas of young thinkers. Encour- aging young people into careers in science is Floyd E Bloom America out from the long shadow of its perhaps not a primary purpose of Science, Editor-in-Chief European forebears. And so it has. but it is an important corollary to our publi- Science Today, public funding of science cation strategy. One way we have Washington, DC accounts for a significant portion of the approached this is through certain features enterprise. It therefore behooves us as jour- added to our newly launched online version Cynthia Lollar nal editors to keep the public not only of the journal: Sciences Next Wave, a kind of AAAS News & Information informed but intrigued with how science virtual water cooler where young scientists Washington, DC affects their everyday lives and the future of can gather and exchange information with human society. As the primary conduit more established scientists on how to build At Science, it has always been the editor's through which information about science their careers, and the Science Professional purpose to improve the public's understand- reaches the general public, science journalists Network, which provides information about ing of science. The magazine was launched remain our strongest ally. Rather than sim- jobs, careers, and scientific meetings. Anoth- in 1880 by a science journalist, John ply carping about those who do the job er feature, ScienceNow, offers brief, readable Michels, and the American inventor, poorly we should be actively encouraging summaries of the day's most significant sci- Thomas A Edison-2 men who not only excellence in the field. More than 700 ence news. Moving Science online was itself loved science for its own sake, but who reporters from around the world receive indicative of our interest in reaching a wider understood that their personal livelihoods weekly summaries of upcoming research in audience. The Internet has proven to be one depended on the public's enthusiasm for Science, complete with access to advance of the most democratic mediums yet devised what they did. In fact, in the early years of copies of the manuscripts and other forms of by science. It only makes sense to pull up a the journal, American science was practiced help. The American Association for the chair at this increasingly bountiful-and as much by regular citizens as by profes- Advancement of Science (AAAS), which accessible-table. sionals. These educated amateurs collected publishes Science, administers an annual sci- In the end, though, perhaps journal edi- rocks, watched the stars, and contributed to ence journalism award for broadcast and tors need only 1 reason for making an extra findings presented at local scientific soci- print media that is considered by many sci- effort to communicate science to the public. eties. The professionals themselves were ence journalists to be the pinnacle of their We love science, with all its mysteries, pit- strongly motivated by a sense of public profession. AAAS has also launched a new falls, and promises. And like any passion, it service-science was going to help bring Website called EurekAlert! that is designed demands to be shared. 0

CDC: Getting the Word Out About Health

Vicki S Freimuth hundreds of thousands of people each year, the public. Associate Director for Communication despite existing information on ways to pre- Scientific information may reach the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention vent and detect these diseases. Effective com- public indirectly in a number of ways. The Atlanta, Georgia munication about health requires a transla- first is through gatekeepers who control tion of complex and technical science into access to mass-media channels, often science Chronic and infectious diseases kill or affect content that can be used and understood by reporters and their editors at major broad-

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cast and print organizations. Typically, a sci- of their advertisers, making them vulnerable time. Some examples are HIV and cancer- entific organization has an office that trans- to that influence. Many researchers claim, for prevention campaigns; high blood pressure lates research findings into a form appropri- example, that mass media's coverage of the and cholesterol detection and control pro- ate for these gatekeepers and the public they dangers of smoking has been limited because grams; and anti-smoking, anti-violence, and ultimately serve. At the Centers for Disease of the fear of alienating large cigarette adver- anti-substance-abuse campaigns. These Control and Prevention (CDC), for example, tisers. approaches afford more control over the con- the Office of Communication serves this Despite these tensions, new scientific tent of the messages, but they still rely on role. The Office translates for a general audi- findings do get considerable, but sometimes gatekeepers to air or print the messages. Usu- ence each article published in the Morbidity ineffective, coverage in the news media. ally these communication programs also and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) into a Because air time and print space are at a pre- depend on community involvement. single paragraph that highlights the major mium, information must be tightly pack- Fortunately, a discipline called health messages. These summaries, along with aged, which can result in oversimplification communication has developed around the names of scientists who may be interviewed, of health messages. Coverage is rarely sus- challenges of communicating complex tech- are delivered to the major media outlets tained for more than a few days, and it sel- nical and scientific information to the public. before the MMWR is released. The gatekeep- dom focuses on what individuals should do Health communication draws from a num- ers decide whether these articles receive any to improve their health. ber of principles in the fields of mass com- coverage and what the slant will be. Another route to informing the public munication, health education and promo- Tensions often exist among scientists, sci- and influencing individual and community tion, social psychology and other social ence reporters, and editors as to what health decisions that enhance health is through care- sciences, and marketing. By combining the information is appropriate to cover. Scien- fully planned communication programs. successful strategies of a variety of disciplines, tific research is a slow process in which Strategies include targeting messages to spe- it plays a critical role in reaching the public knowledge is built incrementally, and yet cific segments of the public, using multiple and improving health status. * media like to cover sensational, fast-breaking channels to reach these audiences, and sus- events. Mass media depend upon the revenue taining these efforts over a long period of

NASA: Reaching for the Stars

Rosalind A Grymes educators and is unusual, receives remark- matches precisely the needs of K-12 teach- Manager able enthusiasm among both teacher and ers, particularly those serving remote rural Space Life Sciences Outreach Program mentor participants. STELLAR also engages communities. To help underserved commu- Life Sciences Division the teachers in creating, evaluating, and nities, this project highlights partnerships NASA Ames Research Center refining classroom activities based on their with schools serving Native American stu- Moffett Field, California NASA experiences, which are disseminated dents. (hardcopy and electronically) nationwide, Other projects bring NASA to the pub- The NASA Life Sciences Division Outreach increasing the number of teachers who lic. The Scott Carpenter Research Station is Program has innovated a diverse and com- receive the STELLAR experience. a space/ocean analog demonstration habitat prehensive suite of projects designed to com- The teachers' workshop in the Johnson being constructed at Kennedy Space Center. municate science to its shareholders, the Space Center's Life Sciences Electronic It will bring live research to public and class- American public. Several ongoing projects Classroom combines space life-sciences room audiences. Completely contained and provide training to teachers (grades K-12 information and activities for the classroom transportable, the Habitat will be installed at plus community colleges) and demonstrate with training and support in the current Florida's Sea World; the aquanaut inhabitant singular approaches we hope others will ways to share information. NASA works at will simultaneously be in communication adopt. Our STELLAR workshop brings the information-systems frontier; daily we with classroom participants (and to astro- teachers into laboratories at Ames Research use personal computers, distributed systems, nauts aboard the Shuttle, as downlink time Center as colleagues of life-science remotely acquired data, and video and tele- allows). These real-time exchanges can foster researchers and engineers. This experience, conferencing. Our familiarity with these comparisons between the undersea Habitat which enhances the capabilities of classroom technologies and communications skills and the Space Transportation System that

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remind students of the challenges that beck- we are concentrating on matching Space Life interactive projects for space-flight missions on us onboard Spaceship Earth and beyond. Science interests in remote learning and (check out http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/smore). Telecommunications are the key to a pro- telemedicine with the needs and capabilities Our Website is continuously under improve- ject bringing NASA's Life Sciences expertise of the community college. ment; watch this site, and pardon our (inter- to the Navajo Reservation. Navajo Commu- Our major effort to distribute the results stellar) dust. nity College, a tribally controlled communi- of the Space Life Sciences enterprise to our In these projects, and more, partnership is ty college, serves a 26 000 square-mile area shareholders uses the Internet. In designing the key to success. Partners leverage with campuses and ancillary sites, and is a and populating our Website (http://weboflife resources, invigorate ideas, broaden support, resource central to the Navajo people. After .arc.nasa.gov), we tried to illustrate human and reach complementary audiences. We implementing effective Internet and intranet exploration themes and provide 1) relevant welcome new partners; contact the author via hardware connections, we are now in the 2nd materials to educators, 2) interesting, timely, [email protected] or call 415-604- phase of the project funded by the Air Force and informative articles, 3) selective links, 4) 3239. Office of Scientific Research. In this phase, a scientific and technical newsroom, and 5)

Howard Hughes Medical Institute: A Successful Series on Science

Robert A Potter finance our research or other activities. It structures of important biological mole- Director of Communications was this problem that brought my visitor cules, including one that won a Nobel prize. Howard Hughes Medical Institute from Germany to the United States to find Subsequent reports have been on genetics, Chevy Chase, Maryland out how organizations here are so successful early childhood development, blood, the in creating support for funding; in Ger- senses, and infectious diseases. The public understanding of science is a many, her agency is supported by several of The Institute was fortunate to persuade phrase that has been around for so long that the individual German states, as well as by Maya Pines to join the staff as a senior sci- most of us tired of it long ago. Like the the federal government. ence editor who conceptualizes, plans, and weather, it's talked about a lot, but nobody Ten years ago, I joined the staff of the brings these reports to fruition. She is one of ever does anything about it. To top it off, as Howard Hughes Medical Institute, whose the most outstanding science writers in the Dan Greenberg, the enfant terrible of sci- headquarters is just outside Washington, United States, and if you think that is ence journalism in Washington, DC, said to DC, in Chevy Chase, Maryland. As their hyperbole, just take a look at these mar- me many years ago, "The reason people Ist director of communications, I have been velous reports. Through this series, Pines don't understand science is that they have able to build rather than inherit a program. demonstrates what can be done when a cre- better things to do." Fortunately, the president of the Institute, ative writer and editor is given the freedom Public understanding is a constant topic Purnell W Choppin, has been supportive of and the resources needed to attack the pub- of conversation in science organizations and a public-education function for the office of lic understanding of science in a serious at gatherings of scientists in this country communications. As a result, we have been way. and, increasingly, around the world. I had a able to create a series of publications that is We set out to produce reports that visit during the past summer from the com- a model for any organization interested in a would make the scientific work of the Insti- munications director of a large government serious effort in public understanding, no tute accessible to a wide audience. The Insti- funding agency for science in Germany; the matter the particular field of science. tute is the largest philanthropic organization subject was the public understanding of sci- The series comprises, to date, 6 reports in the United States, with an endowment ence. "for a general audience" on various aspects that is approaching $10 billion. It is not a It is no secret that scientists and science of molecular biology; all of the reports are 4- foundation, but a medical-research organi- administrators begin thinking seriously color, beautifully designed, and filled with zation that hires scientists at universities, about the public understanding of science exciting illustrations and photographs. The academic medical centers, and other when funds start dwindling. It is a natural first, titled Finding the Critical Shapes, was research organizations throughout the Unit- connection: If "the people" understood us about structural biology and included a ed States. These scientists, who must have a and what we are doing, then we would cer- bound-in stereopticon that could be used to faculty appointment, are employees of the tainly have no trouble finding money to see a series of computer-simulations of the Institute working in Institute laboratories

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with an Institute budget that supports their was republished by the National Institute for subsequent modules that center on the Insti- research, equipment, and so forth. There are Genomic Research. We ended up binding in tute reports. currently 280 Hughes investigators, all of a card that enabled teachers to request up to It is not just teachers who use the publi- whom work in genetics, cell biology, neuro- 3 more copies by mailing it in, together with cations, however. We receive (and honor science, structural biology, or immunology. instructions on how to obtain a classroom insofar as possible) hundreds of requests The publications, however, are not limited set of 30 copies. The latest report, The Race from universities, medical schools, biotech to reporting the work of Institute investiga- Against Lethal Microbes, had a print run of companies, and similar organizations that tors. 150 000 copies. hold open houses and offer educational The level of writing that we aimed at was More than 5000 class sets of the individ- experiences for the general public. We have that of the New York Times' Tuesday science ual publications have been distributed, pri- sent thousands of the publications to science section, which means that something-but marily in the United States, but also to museums, such as The Exploratorium in San not too much-is required of the reader. teachers in many countries around the Francisco, for use in special events. The vocabulary can be difficult, but it is world. The public schools in Scotland The reason the teachers are so enthusias- spoon-fed to the reader, and most people can requested a classroom set for every biology tic about these reports is that they are lively, get through the articles readily, if they stick teacher in the country, a request that we well-written, up-to-date, and sometimes with it. politely declined. We did, however, agree to even exciting. The fact that they are free is We printed 30000 copies of the Ist treat Scottish teachers the same way we treat important, but it does not explain the report, the one on structural biology, and American teachers: We sent all of them 1 incredible demand we are experiencing for distributed it to a general mailing list includ- copy, and if they were interested they could the reports-in fact, many teachers offer to ing senators, members of Congress, medical- request a classroom set. pay for them out of their own pockets. school deans, corporate research directors, We have done 3 surveys of the teachers We would be happy to send copies to among others-and high-school teachers of who requested class sets to find out how they anyone who is interested. We are more than biology. The response from the teachers was were used. The results were gratifying. The willing to talk with anyone about our expe- amazing, and within weeks we had reprinted teachers, by and large, keep careful track of riences in producing and distributing this an additional 15 000 copies. the publications and use them year after wonderful series of publications of which we When we published the 2nd report, year. Indeed, many teachers have requested are inordinately proud. Please contact titled Blazing a Genetic Trail, we started out replacement sets because the original copies Robert A Potter, Director of Communica- at 45000 copies and ended up publishing a had become too scraggly. It is clear that the tions, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, total of 90 000; in addition, it was translated publications are used in a serious way in the 4000 Jones Bridge Road, Chevy Chase MD into French and, much later, a portion of it classrooms and that many teachers design 20815-6789 (Tel: 301-215-8856).

NAS: An Experiment inCommunicating About Basic Research

Donna M Gerardi processes and its tentativeness, especially at important that people have an appreciation Director its frontiers. of the ways that science and technology Office on Public Understanding of Science A greater challenge is to provide interest- influence their lives. Whatever the reason(s) National Academy of Sciences ing and accessible information about sci- might be, the question eventually becomes, Washington, DC ence to the nonscientifically trained lay how do we do this? public, with the goal of helping them Since the middle of 1996, the National As professional editors, you are committed understand what science is. I believe that Academy of Sciences (NAS) has been pro- and challenged to bringing accurate, timely, there is an appetite for this information, ducing brief case studies about basic and high-quality scientific information to since by many measures, although the pub- research through a project called "Beyond your readers, most of whom are not only lic is quite interested in science, it does not Discovery: The Path From Research to interested in but are well-informed about understand science very well. There are Human Benefit". This project emerged out science. They know some of science's facts many reasons for wanting to provide high- of a concern by senior scientists that many (we can never know them all!), but more quality and accessible information: it is sectors of the general public did not really important, they know its nature and interesting, intellectually challenging, and understand the value of basic research.

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"Beyond Discovery" is intended to identify for helping the public, as well as policymak- was distributed broadly to cancer-research and trace the origins of important recent tech- ers, science educators, and scientists reading centers and disease-related advocacy groups. nologic and medical advances and to reveal out of their fields, is now being tested. All topics are accessible in both HTML the crucial role played by basic research, the The main audiences are policymakers (to and PDF formats through our Website applications of which could not have been inform them about the contributions of (http://www2.nas.edu/bsi), where we are in anticipated at the time the original research basic research to current technologies and the process of making links to other related was conducted. An advisory committee of human benefits); science educators (to sup- Websites. We also invite feedback directly to Academy members selects topics that, collec- ply information and models for communi- an e-mail address, a strategy that has pro- tively, cover the breadth of science. The first 4 cating or teaching about basic research); sci- duced scores of useful comments. topics describe the basic research that led to entists (to increase interest in and models for As this project continues, I, as project human-gene testing, discovery of the ozone- communicating about research to the pub- director, would be most interested in hearing depletion phenomenon, the global-position- lic); and the college-educated, nonscientifi- your feedback about the utility of this kind ing system, and modern communication: the cally trained lay public (to build awareness of of information. You can 1) access the Web laser and fiber-optic revolution. the value of basic research). We now print versions of each topic by going to the Web- Developing each topic is an iterative 10 000 copies of each topic, which are dis- site noted above, and 2) request hard copies process that includes senior scientists who tributed to policymakers, science and tech- of the topics produced to date by sending an were involved in the discoveries being nology centers and museums, science educa- e-mail to [email protected]. After you have had a described working with professional science tors, and a growing list of scientists. Our chance to review the topics, you are invited writers who aim to write compelling articles distribution strategy continues to evolve, to send your comments directly to me by e- for a nonexpert audience. Those manuscripts and we have plans to target audiences that mail ([email protected]). are then subject to extensive reviews by many have a particular interest in a given area. For other scientists. Their usefulness as a vehicle example, the human-gene testing document

+Resources on Popular Science Communication

Barbara Gastel Guidance News & numbers: a guide to reporting statis- Associate Professor Medical journalism: the writer's guide to tical claims and controversies in health and Texas A&M University getting published. T Albert. New York: other fields. V Cohn. Revised ed. Ames (IA): College Station,Texas Radcliffe Medical Pr; 1995. 127 p. Ameri- Iowa State Univ Pr; 1994. 190 p. By a long- can adaptation of British primer on popular prominent science reporter; especially strong Jason E Moore medical writing; intended primarily for on topics such as evaluating study design. Graduate Student physicians but also suited for other readers. Texas A&M University Writing science & medical nonfiction: it's eas- College Station,Texas Science writing today and tomorrow. P ier than you think. MS Dahir. Writer's Digest Barnes-Svarney. The Writer 1994 1995 Nov;75(11):29-31. Basic guidance for Many books and articles offer practical guid- Nov;107(11):15-7. Basic guidance from a those new to popular science writing. ance in presenting science to the public. scientist turned science writer. Likewise, a considerable body of scholarly Presenting science to the public. B Gastel. research exists on popular science communi- Late night thoughts about science writing. A Philadelphia: ISI Pr; 1983. 146 p. Intended cation. Listed below are written materials Blakeslee. Quill 1994 Nov/Dec;82(9):35-8. mainly for scientists; includes guidance on that offer guidance and research as well as Pointers from a longtime science journalist. working with reporters and on communi- anthologies, newsletters, and electronic cating science to the public directly. resources in the field. Although not exhaus- A field guide for science writers. D Blum and tive, the annotated list includes many of the M Knudson, editors. New York: Oxford Health writer's handbook. B Gastel. Ames main US resources on popular science com- Univ Pr; 1997. Science-writing handbook (IA): Iowa State University Press; in press. munication and some British writings. We intended largely for students and young Guidance on popular medical writing; areas welcome suggestions of major resources to reporters; includes guidance on writing for addressed include information gathering, include in possible future versions of this list. various media and covers various fields. writing style, ethical issues, and careers.

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