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Getting Excited About Science
Jonathan Wood
Every nerve was jangling. It was all I could do to keep myself from shaking under the bright lights — lights so bright I couldn’t see the audience. But I knew they were there. I could feel them watching me, judging me. Beads of sweat started to run down my back.
This was the final of Famelab, a UK competition to find the next face of science, and I was on stage about to give a five-minute talk on a topic of my choosing in front of a panel of judges and a live audience.
Science Meets “American Idol”
Run by the Cheltenham Festival of Science and backed by the UK National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA), Famelab is billed as the science equivalent of “American Idol.” It was set up in 2005 to find presenters who can inspire and excite, and also challenge the general perception of scientists. This year, in 2006, almost 200 young researchers entered regional heats and were given just a short time to impress the judges. The best 10 entrants went on to the final at the Cheltenham festival. Although the competition wasn't televised, it was great entertainment for the audience and the winner walked away with the chance to pitch an idea to the UK TV station, Channel 4.
Having seen a flyer for the competition, I decided to enter. After all, I like giving talks, so what better way to see if I am actually any good at it? This attitude vaporized in seconds when I realized the level of competition. Instead, I have come away with a much better idea of what's needed in presenting science to a wide audience and realized why such efforts are important.
Getting the Message Across
I actually believe that the world is crying out to hear the latest on a whole range of scientific topics. These range from political issues like nuclear power and climate change, to concerns about what’s in the food we eat and the pure excitement of sending space probes to collide with comets. You can see our growing wish to get a handle on these matters in the number of front page stories that now appear on these topics. Efforts like Famelab help to fill this gap and show that it is possible to talk about research science in an engaging way for a wide audience.
So why do so few kids — at least in Europe and the States — want to take science options in school, never mind follow it as a career? And why do we keep hearing that the general public’s understanding of science is quite low?
There are a number of problems on all sides. There is the general perception of what science is — difficult, esoteric and practiced by aloof boffins with mad hair and sandals. This is compounded by the feeling that science is about learning countless facts and terms, and figuring out complex sums and problems. But scientists also contribute to the problem; they are wary of talking about their research because they don’t feel they’ve had the necessary training or might be misrepresented in the media. Finally, there is the media itself, who know they could cover science stories better but have to come up with stories that fit the news agenda. That leads to reports on controversial, speculative findings or quirky, superficial stories.
Coming Up With Solutions
Coverage of research is moving into new online forums, including many good podcasts and blogs out there. While this might hold out some hope in allowing more informed debates and enthusing a young audience, the same lessons for presenting science well also hold here. There needs to be something you want to get across that can be summed up in a sentence or two. From that, the content has to be interesting to the audience above all. Then there's getting the message across with variety, avoiding the least bit of jargon or technical language.
I still firmly believe that people want to hear the expert opinion and hold it in esteem. But scientists do need to see the danger in appearing to preach the correct analysis in incomprehensible language. Indeed, researchers need to be open and honest and listen.
And so it came to my turn in the Famelab final. As my eyes became used to the lights, I relaxed and explained why Peter Parker, the Amazing Spider-man, might have used spider silk to swing between skyscrapers. Just relieved to have gotten to the end, I was as surprised as anyone when the judges chose me as the winner. They said I had told an interesting story that communicated the latest results and illustrated how the world of research works. 
www.materialstoday.com
www.nanotoday.com
Sense About Science's new freely available brochure, “Standing Up for Science: A Guide to the Media for Early Career Scientists,” offers scientists' and journalists' top tips for communicating with the media www.senseaboutscience.org
