science communication
New research is valuable only if it is shared and communicated with others.
I work at the intersection of multiple disciplines, so I often find myself presenting engineering concepts to scientists and vice-versa. As a result, I have intentionally developed my ability to communicate with diverse audiences, from subject matter experts to non-technical groups, and I have taken multiple opportunities to share this accumulated expertise with colleagues at Stanford and beyond. The experiences listed below have complemented and contributed to my research and have helped my work reach a broader audience.
WORKSHOPS & Fellowships
RISING ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERS PROGRAM
January — June 2023
I was accepted into the 2023 cohort of the Rising Environmental Leaders Program (RELP), a program run by the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment to introduce students to the world of science policy and develop the next generation of environmental leaders. The fellowship offers multiple avenues for professional development and culminates in two experiential learning opportunities: a week-long trip to Washington DC in March, where we met with public officials, Congressional staffers, and nonprofit leaders to learn how environmental research is transformed into actionable policy, and a two-day trip to Sacramento in May to understand the policy landscape in California.
Our RELP cohort at the US Supreme Court Building (I am in the center of the back row). Image credit: Nathan Mitchell Photography
SCIENTIFIC TEACHING INSTITUTE
August 2022
I applied for and was accepted into the Stanford Scientific Teaching Summer Institute, a three-day workshop primarily aimed at postdoctoral students. We learned evidence-based teaching strategies from Professors Kimberly Tanner (SFSU) and Jeff Schinske (Foothill College) to improve the quality and efficacy of student assessments, promote active learning, and foster diversity, equity, & inclusion in a classroom setting.
STANFORD GRADUATE SUMMER INSTITUTE (SGSI)
September 2021
I participated in an SGSI course titled “Exploring Planetary Stewardship: Sustainability Solutions in a Rapidly Changing World.” This interdisciplinary course involved graduate students across all schools and departments and included sessions on topics such as nature journaling, creating engaging virtual field trips, and engineering fictional climate futures.
Our course was featured in the Stanford News article “Immersive sustainability course embodies new school principles.” The original image caption is as follows:
Twenty graduate students and postdoctoral researchers participated in a sustainability course at the O’Donohue Family Stanford Educational Farm the week of Sept. 7. The course could be a model keystone experience for students in Stanford’s new school focused on climate and sustainability. (Image credit: Andrew Brodhead)
EFFECTIVE VIRTUAL SCIENTIFIC PRESENTATION & PUBLIC SPEAKING
September — December 2020
I was one of nine students admitted to a semester-long class on “Effective Virtual Scientific Presentation and Public Speaking.” Over the course of the semester we practiced speaking in a variety of contexts, including short and long conference talks, conference posters, job interviews, fundraising pitches, and talking to the press for print, TV, and radio/podcast interviews. Each class member gave an oral presentation and received peer feedback at least once a week.
PRESENTATIONS
CLIMATE STORYLINES: USING STORYTELLING TO COMMUNICATE ALTERNATIVE FUTURES
May 2022
I gave a presentation and led an interactive exercise on storytelling for graduate student members of the Stanford Urban Resilience Initiative. I introduced common narrative themes and emotional arcs and challenged them to explain their own research to others, thinking of themselves as storytellers rather than scientists and engineers.
HOW TO GET YOUR RESEARCH OUT OF YOUR BRAIN AND (hopefully) INTO SOMEONE ELSE’S
November 2021
I presented to the Baker Research Group on the last stages of my PARRA research project. I started a discussion on the academic publishing process, inviting feedback from older group members, and offered guidance on how to create and publish reproducible code on Github.
HAND-DRAWN VISUALS IN FORMAL PRESENTATIONS
June 2021
I applied for and was accepted into the 2021 cohort of DAT/Artathon, a virtual workshop for students and early-career professionals who create data visualizations using disaster risk and resilience data. My final project was an implementation flowchart for users of the PARRA framework that outlined the input, output, and code files for each step within the overall model sequence.
I also gave a presentation to my DAT/Artathon cohort encouraging the use of hand-drawn graphics in technical presentations. I frequently present with hand-drawn graphics in my own work because they can clearly and elegantly convey abstract concepts; they are more versatile than computer-generated visuals for information that is difficult to display programmatically; they are approachable and easily understandable by non-experts; and they make presentations more memorable. I try to take the opportunity whenever I can to encourage others to use them as well. Below are two of the many hand-drawn graphics that I have used in real presentations.
This graphic was used to explain a key benefit of probabilistic simulation, which is the ability to quantify the range of outcomes that “could have occurred” from a given set of input conditions. I found that showing this pared-down visual to introduce my research conceptually before attaching axis labels and numbers significantly improved how well others were able to comprehend and engage with my results.
This graphic was used to describe a design problem that was faced by a civil engineer I interviewed in Boston. The project involved rehabilitating the safety barriers on an older concrete bridge, and because I did not have access to any design drawings, I created these three diagrams to broadly illustrate the mitigation options under consideration for the anchor bolts.
TIPS & TRICKS FOR EFFECTIVE SCIENTIFIC PRESENTATION
May 2021
I created and ran an interactive workshop for the Baker Research Group on how to communicate technical content more effectively. I designed slides, mini-activities, and breakout discussion prompts around three themes: slide content, slide graphics, and slide delivery.
