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When you think about going to a scientific conference, you may think about sitting amongst a sea of chairs listening to talks all day. But nope, not at the American Society for Microbiology 2018 Microbe meeting. Soon after I arrived, I was looking through a paper-based, affordable, and portable microscope called the ‘foldscope’ (Dr. Prakash, Stanford University). Right there on the floor outside the lecture hall.

This guest post was contributed by Nathan Sanders of ComSciCon, the Communicating Science Conference series for graduate students.

I believe that communication is the single most important skill that scientists need to succeed in their work. While it's not always recognized and valued for its immense importance, it may well be what determines whether you get the job after your next interview or whether your receive the next grant you apply for.

After all, the only value your work will have in the world is the value that you can succeed in communicating. Even the most rigorous, insightful, and novel scientific research will be wasted if you cannot convince others that it is important and relevant to them.  

In this post of the Careers in Science Communication blog series, you’ll hear from Susan Keown, a staff writer at the non-profit Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

This post was contributed by guest blogger Jack Leeming Editor of Naturejobs, part of Nature magazine.

Humans are built to enjoy, remember, and listen to narratives — take advantage of that in your work

The part of my job I most enjoy is building and telling interesting stories — whether I’m working with a talented journalist to shine light on living as a scientist in Beijing, talking to people about taking beautiful photographs of their studies, reporting on amazing women in science, or asking someone how and why they left academia. Humans are designed to pay attention and enjoy anecdotal forms of information — identifying with a character, building emotional investment and following cause-and-effect relationships are all things almost all of us are programmed to appreciate and understand.

This post was contributed by guest blogger Stephanie Hays, a researcher at the University of California Berkeley.

It’s been half a year since the march for science on April 22, 2017. While experiments (and editors) can move slowly, news about possible broad changes to policies seems to break everyday. Many researchers and supporters of science marched to advocate for scientist participation in government, evidence to inform policies, a protected place to work, funding for science, and numerous other reasons. It is important to remember that we, scientists and non-scientists alike, need to stay active and involved if we wish to make positive change. Below I present perspectives on the March for Science from researchers all over North America. I hope that these perspectives, the optimism they encapsulate, and the solutions they promote help motivate you to spend a little time advocating for science and getting yourself out there for the next six months and beyond.

Disclaimer: The views represented below are those of the writers and do not necessarily represent the views of Addgene.