The Ecological Society of America — one of the most prominent scientific societies in the country — is coming to town this August, hosting its 2014 Annual Meeting at the Sacramento Convention Center from August 10th through the 15th.
The #ESA2014 conference week will have many events that our local community can participate in — including our monthly Networking Social and the Davis Science Café. CapSciComm members have been coordinating with ESA communications officer and former Sacramento Bee science writer Liza Lester on these activities.
Keep checking back on this blogpost for updates and details about the week’s events!
Free Media Passes for Working Journalists
CONFERENCE WEEK, August 10-15
Sacramento Convention Center
The ESA is waiving conference registration fees for reporters with a recognized press card and for current members of the National Association of Science Writers (NASW), the Canadian Science Writers Association (CSWA), the International Science Writers Association, and the Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ). Other working journalists and freelancers also welcome, with proof of credentials. ESA is also waiving registration fees for institutional press officers. Please check the ESA conference press page for details.
To register as a member of the media, or for questions on qualifications, contact Liza Lester.
Capital Science Communicators Happy Hour
TUESDAY, August 12 | 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
de Vere’s Irish Pub, SACRAMENTO
We’ve scheduled our August networking social to coincide with #ESA2014 — and we welcome all attending journalists, bloggers, or any other interested attendees to meet up with our local group! Our monthly gatherings are way for professionals and students who have an interest in communicating science to meet and mingle, uniting writers, photographers, scientists, filmmakers, artists, teachers, librarians, policy advisers, entrepreneurs…the list goes on. For our out-of-town guests, if you’ve ever been to a SCONC, DCSWA, or Science Writers mixer, you’ll know what we’re about.
Open to the public. Free to attend. No-host bar/food. For questions, contact CapSciComm Admins.
Davis Science Café
WEDNESDAY, August 13 | 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
de Vere’s Irish Pub, DAVIS
The Davis Science Café for August will be jointly hosted by ESA, featuring not one but two speakers from the ESA membership! The society held a contest for ecologists to pitch their public lecture ideas, yielding two winners: Professor Madhusudan Katti of Fresno State, whose talk on urban wildlife will be “These Are Not Your Urban Lawn Flamingos!”; and doctoral candidate Simon Brandl of James Cook University, whose talk on reef ecosystems will be “Butcher, Baker, Brewer-Fish”. The #DavisSciCafe was founded by Professor Jared Shaw, and is sponsored by the the UC Davis Division of Math and Physical Sciences and the UC Davis Chemistry Department.
Open to the public. Free to attend. Appetizers/soft drinks provided. For questions, contact Jared Shaw or Liza Lester.
“Beyond the Written Word”
Workshop on Ecology Communication Through Multimedia
SUNDAY, August 10 | Noon to 5:00 p.m.
Sacramento Convention Center, Room 301
Are you a researcher who wants to dip your toe into the world of public outreach? Are you a seasoned communicator eager to share your tips and secrets with newbies? Then sign up for this #ESA2014 workshop (website | abstract). Chris Creese (freelance), Holly Menninger (North Carolina State University), Bethann G. Merkle (CommNatural), Clarisse Hart (Harvard Forest) and others will guide this interactive “tasting tour” of tools and techniques to bolster your science storytelling skills. Folks of all levels of communications experience are welcome in this afternoon of co-teaching and exploring — and participants will get to practice reporting skills throughout the conference week and publish stories to the ESA EcoTone blog.
Open to registered conference attendees and members of media only. Free to attend. For questions, contact Holly Menninger.
“Is Anybody out There Listening?”
Workshop on Measuring Success in Science Communication
THURSDAY, August 14 | 11:30 a.m. to 1:15 p.m.
Sacramento Convention Center, Room 204
Successful science communication can lead to more citations, more funding, and greater impact on policy decisions. But what empirical evidence is there to indicate the most effective methods? How do we evaluate communication success? And what does “success” mean for scientists and science communicators? This #ESA2014 workshop (abstract) will explore the question with panelists from science journalism, media studies, science communication trainer, citizen science, crowd-funded science, and environmental advocacy. Organizers and speakers include Liza Lester (ESA Communications Office), Katie Burke (American Scientist/Sigma Xi), Holly Menninger (North Carolina State Unviersity), and Virginia Gewin (freelance).
Open to registered conference attendees and members of media only. Free to attend. For questions, contact Liza Lester.
IGNITE Session on Science Communication
FRIDAY, August 15 | 8:00 a.m. to 9:30 1.m.
Sacramento Convention Center, Room 313
Connecting people with our science is both easier and more challenging to do than ever. There’s a broad range of tools and creativity to deploy, and increasingly subdivided attention spans to tap into. This #ESA2014 workshop (abstract) will explore some tools and strategies for working scientists to consider as they explore ways to connect their science with different audiences, with IGNITE-style, short presentations from a number of speakers.
Open to registered conference attendees and members of media only. Free to attend. For questions, contact Sandra Chung.
There are many more sessions and events at #ESA2014 related to science communications, science education (K-12 and higher), and science literacy. Search the conference program to explore: http://eco.confex.com/eco/2014/webprogram/meeting.html
Capital Science Communicators 