SITN produces a bi-monthly e-newsletter and a popular fall seminar series that look beyond the media reports to delve more deeply into modern science, discussing issues of broad importance to our wellbeing and understanding of the world.
“The amount of information and the expertise of the people who are writing science or health pieces [in the popular press] is often taken for granted” by the reading public, says SITN Co-Director Jeff Teigler, a G3 in Virology. “But the Associated Press may have a different tagline from Reuters or the Washington Post, and the stories are presented as fact rather than theories. Studies are often inconclusive, and not all studies stand up to the same scientific rigor. We try to teach people that not all studies are created equal, and equip them with the ability to seek out both sides of the story to make educated decisions — and get them excited about looking for that.”
“We make sure we’re presenting accurate, up-to-date information, particularly if we’re dealing with a controversial topic,” says SITN Co-Director Marshall Thomas, a G3 in Biological and Biomedical Sciences. “It’s not that reporters are doing a poor job, but it’s a question of failures in communication. We try to stress that people should be prepared to be skeptical when they hear something new, and to understand that science is a process.”
SITN’s nine Longwood lectures drew an average of 150 people per event last fall, and they are also videotaped and posted online, enabling the group to reach audiences well outside the Boston area. And Thomas and Teigler are exploring other ways to bring SITN into the community. The group will hold its third “model organism zoo” at the annual Cambridge Science Festival on April 30, for instance. SITN in Schools is a program that brings graduate students into local classrooms to talk about science. And Science by the Pint, a new series, takes science outside the classroom and into pubs or cafes, letting scientists talk about their work in informal, unstructured ways. “It’s a great way for people to feel unintimidated by scientists,” says Thomas, “and that’s what we go for — when someone who is just there at the bar, who might not ordinarily go to a lecture or seminar, gets interested and joins in the conversation.”
Story credit: Jennifer Doody