Research Guides: GEO 4251: Presenting Science Concepts for the General Public

Attribution

Content on this page has been adapted from Tulane University Libraries' libguide "Presenting in Science: A Guide"

Example

Slaying Zombie Theories: Clarifying Five Misperceptions About Weather Shepherd, M. (2018, March 12). Slaying Zombie Theories: Clarifying Five Misperceptions About Weather. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/marshallshepherd/2018/03/12/slaying-zombie-theories-clarifying-five-misperceptions-about-weather/
United Nations Climate Myth Busters
United Nations Climate Action Fast Facts

Meteorology Images and Videos

Resources for Communicating with Non-Scientists

Tips
Language Choices

Some advice when communicating your research:

Know your audience: Different groups of people will have a varied levels of knowledge of your topic. For this assignment you are speaking to the general public where the interest in the topic will vary greatly. Pick a target audience and write to them.
Define your goals: What do you want people to take away from your presentation/paper?
Broader impact: Start by making it clear why they should care about your research and how it can impact society, environment, public policy, health, etc. Lead and end with this information. Give your audience the "so what" of your topic.
Limit the jargon: If you use technical terms, provide a definition using simple terms and give examples to improve understanding. Additionally, be sure to spell out abbreviations.
Tell a story: People are more likely to remember you and your work if it is part of a story.
Use visuals: Charts, graphs, and images can tell the viewer a lot of information with few words. Be sure to pick visuals that fit your topic, emphasis your points, and are visually appealing.
Be enthusiastic: Don't let the audience think you are bored by your own research.
References: Support your writing with references to credible sources.

Inspired by https://libguides.tulane.edu/c.php?g=524233&p=3645477 and https://graduate.northeastern.edu/resources/tips-for-effective-science-communication/

A table from the article “Communicating the Science of Climate Change,” by Richard C. J. Somerville and Susan Joy Hassol, from the October 2011 issue of Physics Today, page 48:

National Weather Service Resources

Climate
National Weather Service Climate Information page. A map of selectable area that contains current and past climate data. This is a useful website for quickly pulling data in the forms of graphs and tables.
News
National Weather Service has a collection of current and past news stories (back to 2016) of weather and climate related stories.
Safety Tips
The National Weather Service provides a variety of information safety sheets on a variety of topics. This is a great place to get some quick background and even some graphics that help explain concepts.
Educator Resources
National Weather Service has created a page that contains links to other resources used to help explain concepts to all grade levels. A helpful resources to learn how to communicate science facts to various audiences.

Useful Weather and Climate Websites

National Center for Atmospheric Research
NCAR offers data and information services, internships and fellowships, visitor programs, facilities, and instrumentation centered on the behavior of the atmosphere and related physical, biological and social systems.
EPA Environmental Topics
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has a list of environmental topics including a lot of climate and weather related information.
U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
The U.S. Naval Research Laboratory provides the advanced scientific capabilities required to bolster our country’s position of global naval leadership.
National Ocean & Atmospheric Administration
NOAA is an agency that enriches life through science. Our reach goes from the surface of the sun to the depths of the ocean floor as we work to keep citizens informed of the changing environment around them.
Florida Climate Center
The Florida Climate Center (FCC) is part of three-tiered system that serves to provide climate data, information, and services for the United States. Affiliated with the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) in Asheville, NC and the Southeast Regional Climate Center (SERCC) in Columbia, SC, the Florida Climate Center should be the first stop for climate data and information for citizens, organizations, educational institutions and private businesses in the state of Florida.
Air Topics
Learn how air pollution can harm your health and the environment and what EPA is doing to protect the air we breathe.
Climate Reanalyzer
Climate Reanalyzer is being developed by the Climate Change Institute at the University of Maine to provide an intuitive platform for visualizing a variety of weather and climate datasets and models.