Science communication: How to use social media for connecting with colleagues and the press

• 2016 MRS Spring Meeting and Exhibit

• March 28-April 1, 2016
• Phoenix, Arizona
• Meeting Chairs: Christopher A. Bower, Andrew M. Minor, Roger Narayan, Izabela Szlufarska, Osamu Ueda

Monday March 28, 2016 9am-4:30pm

Phoenix Convention Center, North, 100 Level,  Room 129A

Morning workshop on Social Media for Science Communication will be facilitated by Christopher Bettinger of Carnegie Mellon University.

9am: Megan Calcote on understanding the basics of social media analytics

10am: Jennifer Maclachlan on pairing personal branding and social media to advance your career in materials science

11am: Jennifer Maclachlan on advancing public understanding of science in informal environments

Afternoon panel discussion will be facilitated by Steven Spurgeon of Pacific Northwest Laboratories.

Six panelists will each present for 20 minutes on the subject of Science Communication ie) How I communicate my science followed by a group discussion.

Here's a quick snapshot of what each panelist will present:

• Jillian Buriak, University of Alberta: Science Communication perspectives as a researcher, Professor and Journal Editor
• Megan Calcote, Arizona State University: Sharing science enthusiasm through podcasts and social media 
• Judith Giordan, ecosVC: It's not bragging, it's communicating!
• Jennifer L. Maclachlan, PID Analyzers, LLC: Proficiency and professionalism: Using social media for science communication
• Judy Meiksin, Materials Research Society: Science writing: Blogging and storytelling 
• Rae Ostman, Arizona State University: Science museums: An ideal venue for informal science communication 

Instructor and Panelist Biographies

Christopher Bettinger, Carnegie Mellon University

Christopher Bettinger is an associate professor of materials science and biomedical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. He works at the interface of materials and polymer science, microfabrication, and biomaterials with the goal of developing new technologies and strategies for regenerative medicine and medical devices. He is the co-founder and CTO of the medical device company AnCure. He received his Ph.D. degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Among his awards is the TR35—Innovator Under the Age of 35 from MIT Technology Review. You can follow him @ChrisBettinger.

Jillian Buriak, University of Alberta

Jillian Buriak holds the Canada Research Chair of Nanomaterials for Energy at the University of Alberta and the National Institute for Nanotechnology. She was on the Board of Reviewing Editors (BoRE) at Science from 2003 to 2008, was an associate editor atACS Nano from 2009 to 2013, and in 2014, became the editor-in-chief of the American Chemical Society journal Chemistry of Materials. Awards include the Arthur Doolittle Award from the Polymer Materials Science and Engineering Division (PMSE) of the American Chemical Society (2016), a Killam Annual Professorship, and Fellowship in the AAAS, the Royal Society of Canada, and the Royal Society of Chemistry (UK). Her research interests range from materials for energy applications (solar, water splitting), self-assembly on technologically relevant semiconductor surfaces, and mechanistic surface chemistry and functionalization on surfaces such as silicon and other semiconductors.

Megan Calcote, Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Arizona State University

Megan Calcote is the program coordinator for Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism. She coordinates social media for the center as well as training workshops, webinars, and conferences. Prior to working at the Reynolds Center, she spent seven years in the dean’s office at the Cronkite School in administration and event planning. She also is the executive producer for the podcast “Educating Geeks,” which annually reaches 7,000 listeners.

Judith Giordan, ecosVC

Judith Giordan is managing director with ecosVC, 33 years of experience translating research to commercial opportunities. She serves as board member, co-founder, advisor, and investor in seed and early stage start-ups. Giordan is co-founder of the Chemical Angels Network, entrepreneur, and former Fortune 100 executive. Her previous executive positions include vice president and global corporate director of research and development at International Flavors and Fragrances, Inc.; vice-president worldwide research and development for the Pepsi-Cola Company, the global beverage arm of PepsiCo, Inc.; vice president research and development, Henkel Corporation, the North American operating unit of the Henkel Group; and co-founder and managing partner of 1EXECStreet, a successful San Francisco based boutique executive search firm. She has also held management and technical contributor positions at Polaroid and ALCOA and has served with the National Science Foundation as program director for the IGERT Program.

Steven Spurgeon, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Steven Spurgeon is a postdoctoral research associate at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. His research work combines nanoscale analytical electron microscopy with mesoscale characterization and theory calculations to understand structure-property relationships in functional materials. Spurgeon has been a news and feature science writer for MRS Bulletin since 2010. He is a science outreach volunteer for Mid-Columbia STEM Education Collaboratory, and has previously done science outreach for Drexel University where he received his PhD. Spurgeon has numerous technical publications, a patent for soft composites for electric motors, and—among his honors—is the MRS Gold Graduate Student Award and the Presidential Student Award from the Microscopy Society of America.

Jennifer L. Maclachlan, PID Analyzers, LLC

As a co-owner and sales manager of PID Analyzers, LLC, Jennifer L. Maclachlan is responsible for managing relationships with distributors and key clients as well as the web-based marketing, social and digital media initiatives, of which she was an early adopter. Maclachlan is the Chair of the American Chemical Society (ACS) National Committee on Public Relations and Communications (CPRC) and serves in various Public Relations Communications roles for the ACS as well as providing Public Relations training to ACS groups in-person and via webinar. She is a founder of the Cape Cod Science Café, which she started in 2011, with support from the Northeastern Section of the ACS (NESACS) and an International Year of Chemistry (IYC2011) mini-grant. This program has continued to gain popularity and the 14th Cape Cod Science Cafe will take place on April 2, 2016, within a large public outreach event, STEM Journey, of which Maclachlan is a founding member and organizer. STEM Journey is a K-12 annual outreach, day-long event with collaborative efforts from the ACS Local Section (NESACS), the Cape & Islands Boy Scouts, Cape Cod Community College, the Cape & Islands STEM Network, Massachusetts Maritime Academy and PID Analyzers, LLC.

Judy Meiksin, Materials Research Society

Judy Meiksin is news editor for the Materials Research Society, where she is responsible for generating content for news and features for the Materials360^® Newsletter and Materials360 Online,MRS Bulletin and Meeting Scene^®. She has taught writing for over 20 years, including courses at the University of Pittsburgh and the School of the Carnegie as well as invited workshops, most recently at the College of William and Mary and the Center for Study of Science, Technology & Policy (Bangalore). She has her B.A. (1983) from Carnegie Mellon University and MFA (1989) from the University of Pittsburgh, both in writing.

Rae Ostman, Arizona State University

Rae Ostman is associate research professor in the School for the Future of Innovation in Society at Arizona State University (ASU), where she oversees the informal learning program in the Center for Engagement and Training in Science and Society (CENTSS). She has broad experience planning, developing, and implementing museum exhibits, programs, media, and other learning experiences in partnership with diverse organizations. In addition to her appointment at ASU, she is director of special projects in the science learning division at the Science Museum of Minnesota. Major projects include the Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network (NISE Net), a $40M initiative funded by the National Science Foundation to create a national community of researchers and informal science educators dedicated to engaging the public in nanoscale science, engineering, and technology, and the Space and Earth Informal STEM Education project, a $14.5M initiative funded by NASA to engage multiple and diverse public audiences in authentic STEM learning about Earth and space. Ostman received a Ph.D. in anthropology from New York University.