UWE Science Communication Postgraduate Papers

Stengler, Erik; Wilkinson, Clare; Weitkamp, Emma; Grand, Ann; Bultitude, Karen; Featherstone, Helen; Buckley, Bonnie; Garrett, Jennifer; Davies, Melanie; Liggins, Felicity; Ranger, Mathieu; Longdin, Robin; Seakins, Amy; Herbolzheimer, Maya; Venugopal, Sarah; Filtness, Michal Jane; Brown, Alexander

Abstract

Foreword
This second volume in the Postgraduate Papers series has been produced as part of the celebrations of ten years of Science Communication postgraduate programmes in the Faculty of Health and Applied Sciences, University of the West of England, Bristol.
Every year, some fifteen to twenty students undertake a Master’s level project as part of their MSc studies. These papers represent just a small selection of the projects carried out between 2009 and 2013 but they persuasively demonstrate the wide range of subjects tackled by our students and the innovative research they conduct.
Bonnie Buckley, Jennifer Garrett and Melanie Davies looked at aspects of science communication in science centres and museums. Bonnie examined the motivations that lead people to be volunteers in science centres; Jennifer investigated how science centres can play a role in communicating environmental sustainability and Melanie explored how science centres can use a range of activities to sustain and develop creativity.
The Internet offers new modes and new routes for dialogue and science communication. Felicity Liggins, Mathieu Ranger and Robin Longdin undertook projects in this dynamic medium. Felicity explored attitudes to blogging in the UK Met Office, while Mathieu looked at the particular challenges faced by science bloggers and Robin investigated whether online interaction with scientists could positively affect school students’ attitudes to science.
Amy Seakins, Maya Herbolzheimer and Sarah Venugopal’s projects were all based in the lively and diverse world of festivals. Spanning the worlds of traditional and online communication, Amy considered how citizen science projects could make the most effective use of the media; Maya investigated the effectiveness of a Festival of Nature in engaging a wide range of attendees with nature conservation, while Sarah examined the relationship between arts and science at a science event embedded in an arts festival.
The final two papers, by Michal Jane Filtness and Alexander Brown defy grouping but clearly illustrate the variety of audiences our students address. Michal investigated researchers’ views of the Pathways to Impact tool created by the UK Research Councils to increase the public impact of research, while Alexander evaluated the impact on school students’ attitudes to science among young people who had undertaken work experience placements at a UK research council.
We want to congratulate those graduates whose research is included in this volume and thank them for the time and care they have taken in creating their contributions. Thanks should also go to the graduates’ academic supervisors, who are the co-authors on these papers; in particular Dr Karen Bultitude and Dr Helen Featherstone, who are now based at other institutions. We would also like to thank the many organisations whose support made these projects possible.
We are honoured to share in our graduates’ success and delighted to have this opportunity to open up their work to a wider audience. We wish all our graduates every success in their careers as science communicators.

• Book Type: Authored Book
• Publication Date: Mar 27, 2014
• Deposit Date: Mar 28, 2014
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 9, 2016
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 2
• Series Title: UWE Science Communication Postgraduate Papers
• ISBN: 2041-6210
• Keywords: science communication, public engagement, postgraduate, MSc science communication
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/819974
• Publisher URL: http://www1.uwe.ac.uk/research/sciencecommunicationunit
• Contract Date: Feb 9, 2016