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The Science Communicator’s Story
Stefan Gillott, Sarah Mollar, Trace Dominguez & Bryce Beukers-Stewart

©glorcza / 123RF Stock Photo
  • Wednesday 8 June 2016, 7.00PM to 8:30pm
  • Free admission
    Booking required
  • Bowland Auditorium, Berrick Saul Building, University of York (map|getting to campus)
  • Wheelchair accessible

Event details

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Science communication comes in all forms - from giving advice for future policy decisions or reaching out to millions of people through social media. Come along and sit in on a panel discussion between science communicators who all connect research to different audiences.

Taking part in the discussion will be Trace Dominguez who writes, produces and hosts Discovery Channel’s social media outlet DNews, reaching out to over 1.6 million subscribers. Joining him will be Bryce Beukers-Stewart of the University of York and Sarah Moller of the National Centre for Atmospheric Science at the University of Leeds.

Each of the panel members is responsible for communicating science to a global audience through social media, directly to policy makers and to the public. Hear about their experiences and take part in the discussion.

About the speakers

Dr Bryce Beukers-Stewart is a marine ecologist and fisheries biologist whose work has ranged from temperate estuaries to tropical coral reefs and the deep-sea. The central thread in his research has been to gain an increased understanding of the factors regulating marine populations and communities so as to ensure their sustainable use, primarily by fisheries.

Bryce, a Lecturer in the University of York’s Environment Department, is passionate about communicating science and conservation issues to the widest possible audience. His work has been featured regularly in print media and on radio and TV. He writes regular popular science articles and is highly active on social media. Bryce has also presented his findings at everything from scientific conferences to advisory groups, public and business meetings and the UK and EU parliaments.

Trace Dominguez is a passionate science communicator who has experience creating Internet educational experiences for non-profit, government, and corporate clients. Currently Trace writes, hosts, and helps produce Discovery’s flagship digital project, DNews, a YouTube-preferred short-form science show with more than 1.6 million subscribers. Trace also appears across Discovery Communications' networks, hosting and writing the TestTubePlus podcast series (260k subscribers), the DNews Minute on Science Channel (75M households).

His specialities are in educational and informative programming with expertise in public speaking, writing and presentation. Through Trace's YouTube presence he dissects topics in science, world news, biology, history, technology, politics, psychology, space, and sociology in the attempt to better understand our world. Trace's delivery is often impassioned and contagious, with the humour and authenticity needed in a child of the YouTube-era. 

Dr Sarah Moller is a research scientist at the National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS) working on air pollution. NCAS, whose parent organisation is the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), is a world leader in atmospheric science and communicates its findings and knowledge for the benefit of policy-makers, other scientists and the general public. 
 
While Sarah is based in the Wolfson Atmospheric Chemistry Laboratories at the University of York much of her time is spent in London discussing air quality with policy makers at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). As a NERC Knowledge Exchange Fellow, Sarah is working to get NERC atmospheric researchers and Defra's Air Quality team together to discuss research priorities for future policy, the best ways to share nformation, and to develop sustainable relationships between the two communities. The ultimate aim is to ensure that the excellent air quality science that NERC do answers the important questions and reaches the people who can use it.  A key part of this is effective and appropriate communication. Sarah is also enthusiastic about communicating science to the public and has given public lectures, run school's workshops and exhibited at numerous science festivals.

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