Category: Science Communication

Throughout the past two years, I’ve colored my hair several times, leaning in extra hard on my manic pixie dream girl persona – I’m just quirky like that. At the moment, my hair is green. With this new color, I thought it’d be fun to dive a little deeper into the hairy world of… well, hair.

1. Hair grows about .3 to .4 mm a day

That means that over the course of a year, your hair might grow somewhere between 10-15 cm (or 5 to 6 inches, ish). Which, if you’re trying to grow out your hair, seems slow. On the other hand, if you’re trying to maintain bangs, it’s really fast.

Fun fact: that means it took Cousin Itt about 8 years to grow their hair, assuming their hair grew at the speed average for humans – so who knows – and taking into account that the actor that plaid Cousin Itt was just under 4 ft tall.

2. You lose about 50 to 100 hairs a day

But don’t worry, at that same time about 99,900 other hairs are happily growing along. On average we have 100,000 hair follicles on our scalp, all there at birth (which is why usually children have denser hair – our scalp expands as we grow older).

Follicles don’t all grow hair at the same time: in fact, hair just grows for a few years, before the follicle decides to take a little break. That’s when the hair in the follicle falls out. Because all your follicles take turns, you typically won’t halve all 100,000 of your scalp hairs fall out at once, so you won’t notice losing hairs.

That said, some follicles stop growing hair as you grow older, which is why some people get thinner hair when they get older (or go bald).

3. Hair loss and stress are related

On that note, high stress levels may cause hair loss. There are a few conditions associated with increased hair loss, including telogen effluvium (where stress causes large number of hair follicles into resting phase, see point 2), alopecia areata (a condition in which the body’s immune system attacks hair follicles, causes may include severe stress), and trichotillomania (the urge to pull out hair, which for some people is a way to deal with negative feelings).

4. Most of your hair is dead

Hair grows from your follicle out, with new cells rapidly dividing in the root, pushing previously formed cells in the hair strand out of the follicle. The cells forming hair are the second-to-fastest dividing cells in your body (after cells in your bone marrow), which is why people undergoing chemotherapy sometimes lose their hair: chemotherapy targets rapidly dividing cells.

By the time your hair is at the skin’s surface, the cells in the hair strand aren’t alive anymore. So all the hair you see on your body is already dead! The hair shaft is made out of a protein called keratin, which is the same protein that makes up your nails, feathers, horns, claws on hooves. Well, maybe not yours.

While on the topic of death (also, it’s Halloween), it’s a common misconception that hair and fingernails continue to grow after a person dies. This is untrue, though it may seem like hair and fingernails appear longer after death: after a person dies, their skin and soft tissues dehydrate causing shrinkage.

Cells stop deviding when they die, and that counts for hair cells as well. I guess that means Vampires should be really sure about cutting their hair!

5. The record for longest hair is 5.62m (18 ft 5 in)

Scalp hair actively grows for two to six years (oh, there goes my Cousin Itt estimate), depending on the person. That’s why some people have a hard time growing their hair long, while others have a really long active phase of growth and can get those long locks.

The record for longest hair is held by Xie Qiuping, who started growing her hair in 1973 when she was 13 years old. Math tells us her hair grows a bit faster than usual (about 18 cm/year), and her active hair growth phases are just, non-existent?

In any case, over 5 meters is really impressive. It’s more than twice the height of André the Giant impressive. Or as long as a giraffe is tall impressive. And we all know that’s pretty impressive to me.

Hair on other places of your body, such as your arms, legs, brows, has a short active phase growth of one month to one month-and-a-half, before falling out. That’s why that hair is so much shorter. Though some impressively long eyebrow hairs have been known to exist.

There, we’ve learned some facts about hairs. In a convenient listicle format. Maybe someday I should make a listicle about the effectiveness of listicles?

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Did you know that in Dutch, usually “ph” spelling is an “f”? For example, the Dutch word for “alphabet” is “alfabet.”

[You can find Part 1 here]

Every October, artists all over the world take on a challenge: make a piece of art (usually within a certain theme, using a specific media, and using a prompt list) every day for one month.

While I would not call myself an artist (though, art and science do have things in common), I took up a hobby I’d started a few months back: brushlettering or handlettering. One letter a day. And of course, I picked a science theme.

So here you go, part 1 of #Alfabetober, inspired by Carla Kamphuis (I realize that there are only 26 letters, while there are 31 days, there are some rest days).

We can’t hold public gatherings anymore. So conferences and meetings are moving to virtual, which is… interesting?

Last month, I attended Science Talk 2020 (#SciTalk20), an annual conference about everything that’s science communication that’s usually held in Portland, OR. Not this year. This year is was on the internet.

I’ve never been – it’s passed on my radar the past few years, especially because Portland isn’t that far, but the combination of no longer being a student (so no student attendance fees) and the time/effort/cost of travelling (let’s face it, sometimes I’m just lazy), meant I never made the trip down.

This year however, there was no trip required, and I knew I’d probably have the time to attend (two afternoons), so why not? I love the scicomm community on Twitter and this could be a new way to connect.

You can read a blog post from one of the organizers on how the event went, but here are some of my thoughts as an attendee.

Conferencing at your own pace

I like attending conferences, but sometimes I’m just so tired at the end of the day from always being on. I enjoyed going to the #AAAS2020* meeting partially because I could just go home straight after. Sure, part of conferences – and I might argue perhaps one of the most important parts – is networking, those coffee breaks and meet-ups in bars and connecting over drinks, but attending a conference from your lazy desk chair has some perks:

• You can get up and grab a coffee or go to the bathroom whenever you want without feeling like you’re bothering the speaker by getting up.
• You can shamelessly doodle, knit, cross-stitch, … whatever type of “mindless” activity you like without feeling self-conscious. I particularly like this, because even during the most interesting of talks, I have the tendency to fall asleep, and doing something with my hands helps me stay awake.
• You don’t have to dress up. Well, attend a conference in your PJs. Super comfy. You don’t even need to pack!
• The catering is as amazing as you make it!

Running chat

One of my favorite things of the conference was the chat room, similar to the chat in a live-streamed YouTube video: constantly running in the background. It was pretty amazing to talk (mostly about the ongoing session but sure, there were also jokes) without bothering the speaker, at another conference, whispering in the back row would be frowned upon.

The chat room gave attendees the opportunity to network and provide resources directly. A lot of questions came up live, discussions got started, etc. It was like having a live tweet feed but a bit faster. In addition to the live-streamed speaker sessions, coffee breaks (with a chat open) gave people to opportunity to connect, discuss, and joke around.

So should all conferences go virtual?

Nah, of course not. There are aspects to in-person conferences that would be very difficult to implement virtually, such as networking events, (some) interactive workshops, and exhibition halls. But live-streaming can definitely make conferences more interactive, and accessible. Rethinking how conferences are organized can potentially increase their impact: can some conferences completely or partially be held online to reach more people? Do we really always have to travel halfway across the world for a meeting?

The organizers of #SciTalk20 showed that moving a meeting online in a matter of weeks is possible, with great speakers, wonderful attendees, and a disco party to end with.

* The annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. You can read some of my session reports here, here, and here.

Report on the session “Friends of the Science Pod: Broadcasting, outreach and professional networking” at the 2020 meeting of the Americal Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS2020)

There’s no way around it: podcasting is the-new-thing. And for science communicators, podcasting sounds like a perfect way to participate in science communication, with the potential to reach audiences across borders and disciplines. During the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Dr. Christopher Lynn (Department of Anthropology, University of Alabama), Dr. Sarah Myhre (Executive Director of the Rowan Institute Seattle; 500 Women Scientists), and Dr. Jo Weaver (Department of International Studies, University of Oregon) gathered together to talk about public scholarship, advancing your scientific career on the sound waves, and the ins and outs of podcasting. For science.

Public Scholarship: science is political

Dr. Sarah Myhre, cohost of “Warm Regards” – a podcast about the warming planet, started off the discussion by introducing the concept of being a public scholar. A researcher is embedded in society, and it is therefore impossible to be apolitical. Following the path paved by women of color, Sarah urged us to participate in public scholarship, rather than science communication.

While science communication is by no means unimportant – it brings science closer to communities by making researchers more personable, teaches academics to use clear language and stay clear of jargon, while conveying accurate information from a position of scientific authority – it has some limitations. For one, it lacks a thorough analysis of power. Science communication, in some forms, can be too much of a one-way street.

With public scholarship, however, being in conversation with the community is a central pillar. It takes into account that talking in public spaces makes the untrue assumption that anyone can engage, without taking into account that there is a higher barrier for people from marginalized communities. There are different ways to achieve public scholarship, such as organizing and hosting events, podcasting, writing Op-Eds, and moderating panels.

When creating media – such as a podcast or an OpEd – one should expect a deeply inequitable landscape and be actively countering the harm around you.

Sarah closed off her part of the session with an exercise for the audience: one person was to tell a story while the other actively listened but without showing any form of expression or acknowledgment. It was very uncanny not to receive any body language cues. Very useful though, for in a podcast, the audience is not there to provide direct feedback!

Why Podcast?

There are several reasons to start a podcast, even in the sea of the already so many existing ones! Dr. Christopher Lynn, who co-hosts a podcast on human biological variation in evolutionary, social, historical, and environmental context called “Sausage of Science,” started his talk by pointing out that “the world doesn’t need anything more than what it already has but they might like it anyway?”

A first valid reason to start a podcast is to propagate good science. But you might also want to promote yourself and gain recognition that can help enhance and advance your career. For grants, podcasting might count as a broader impact. Furthermore, through podcasting, you will build useful, transferable skills. Chris jokes: “Take the scientific approach: do everything once and then hire someone to do the things you don’t like.”

Dr. Jo Weaver, who hosts “Speaking of Race” – a podcast on racial science, chose the topic of her podcast after realizing that racial science was not really being taught anywhere. When they started their podcast, they brainstormed topics while asking the question: What do we think listeners want to hear? – and the rest followed. With 12 topics, the first mini-series was planned out. Because planning is crucial to maintain continuity throughout a podcast series. 

Jo went into some podcasting production details, including making the choice between doing an interview – or content-based podcast. Interviews require less preparation but are considerably harder to edit afterwards. Content-based podcasts are the opposite: there is more preparation required but once you follow a script, there is less editing work to do. And going for a hybrid basically requires a full production team. 

Advancing your career through podcasting

Jo continued by telling us her journey to getting her podcasting efforts more recognized at her institution. It is the general feeling that “If you’re on the tenure track, you need to be publishing.” From the university’s side, podcasting is not really considered a form of scholarship, so there’s no incentive to support it. It is one of those activities that institutions like to “brag” about when it’s successful, but not incentivize from the start.

However, there are several ways to get a podcast count towards an academic record. There are two main options:

1. Turning content into a more traditional format, including an editing volume, theoretical (methodology) or research articles, “popular” academic writing.
2. Convincing your institution that podcasting is a useful medium that counts as a teaching and research tool. 

Towards the second point, podcasts can be “peer-reviewed,” not only through their popularity rating but also by getting peers to review scripts or write letters of endorsement. To get your university to pay attention, it is helpful to find a supportive admin, lobby your institution as a group, and/or negotiate upfront in your contract.

The importance of having a brand

The session ended with Chris talking about networking and branding. He pointed out that he, as a tenured, white male, had an easy time doing things without fear and repercussion. Nevertheless, putting your research out in the public is a worthwhile endeavor. 

He paralleled his experience as a podcaster and a blogger. Through writing a lot (for a blog), you get a lot better at writing. Keep in mind that it is very likely that there will be more people reading your blog – or listening to your podcast – than reading your journal article! Blogs and podcasts allow you to build a platform. If you ever go to an editor to write a book, coming with a built-in audience will strengthen your case.

From a practical point of view, Chris advised us to think like a journalist: follow leads, use “strings” to create a narrative appeal, make sure you have an attention grabber (a “hook”) and know that both quality and quantity are important. High production quality, such as editing and sound for a podcast, will ensure that your audience sticks with you. And by putting out a high quantity of content, people will be more aware of you.

So – should you start a podcast?

That’s up to you! In any case, the session was informative, relaying tons of practical tips on how to be effective at podcasting – and thought-provoking – bringing up interesting discussions around public scholarship and non-traditional forms of publication. I would highly recommend to go listen to some podcasts, and see if you can find your niche!

Report on the session “Building Community for Inclusive Public Engagement with Science” at the 2020 meeting of the Americal Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS2020)

Many researchers and institutions participate in public engagement, including organizing public outreach activities and science communication events to help bridge the gap between science and the community. Unfortunately, too often parts of the community are not reached. Only people who are already interested in science come to a public talk, school outreach activities reach schools in more privileged areas, and the needs of communities are not taken into account when developing engagement projects.

During the session on “Building Community for Inclusive Public Engagement with Science,” held on Thursday, February 13, 2020, during the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s (AAAS) annual meeting, this exact topic was addressed. The session was moderated by Sunshine Menezes (Metcalf Institute for Marine and Environmental Reporting, Kingston, RI), who introduced the speakers and outlined the scope of the panel: how we can be more intentional, reciprocal and reflexive in working towards more inclusive science communication. Those three words summarize the key traits of science communication:

1. Intentionality: Are we actively thinking about who the target audience is and whether their identities and histories are being represented?
2. Reciprocity: Are we learning from each other? Are the conversations based on what people bring rather than what they lack?
3. Reflexivity: Are we evaluating our science communication strategies?

All three points came back in some form in three talks during the session.

Supporting Culture and Identity – Carrie Tzou

The first speaker, Carrie Tzou (University of Washington, Bothell, WA) spoke about supporting culture and identity in science education with equity-focused engagement. What educators should remember is that “when people enter into the practices of science and engineering, they do not leave their cultural worldviews at the door. Instruction that fails to recognize this reality can adversely affect engagement in science” [NRC, 2012, p. 284].

Learning is essentially cultural: what a person learns and how they learn depends on the community they are from. As a Western society, we often forget that for people of different cultures to learn our science, they also have to learn our culture!

Carrie Tzou outlined some strategies for learning that can be implemented to ensure that culture and identity are supported during learning. These include self-documentation, partnerships, and self-assessment. As an example of self-documentation, she told us about a project where students were given prompts, such as “how does your family use water?” to go take pictures in their daily life. This approach connects family and community to learning while broadening the definition of “what counts as science.”

By expanding what constitutes “science” – who does science, what counts as science, and in what contexts – personal identities and culture are supported in learning. Everyone can identify as a scientist and achieve scientific discoveries. As a final point, seeing science as part of justice movements offers new possibilities to understand the relationship between science, equity, and justice.

Seeing Yourself in the Data – Monica Ramirez

Monica Ramirez (University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ) showed us some participatory research projects she had worked on: co-created environmental health citizen science. She worked with “promatoras” – professionals with a similar cultural background as the person you’re trying to reach, helping to bridge the gap between “ivory tower researchers” and the community. In order to develop a successful citizen science project, she had the following tips:

1. People want to participate if there is a community need, not just for the “advancement of knowledge.” Let the research question stem from the community, as solving a community-identified problem will contribute highly to the motivation of participants.
2. Build meaningful relationships, by implementing personal support structures and peer education models (cfr. promatoras).
3. Consider that participants might have limited time and/or access to technology, and incorporate this in the study design.

Equity Oriented Practice in Pre- and Early Career SciComm Professionals – Rabiah Mayas

Finally, Rabiah Mayas from the Museum of Science and Industry (MSI, Chicago, IL) gave a museum-perspective to creating inclusive scicomm. At the MSI, there is a training program for STEM graduate students who want to get into science communication. 

The program structure is inspired by traditional teaching education: initial academic preparation, supported practical experience in the classroom, and finally a lead educator position. In the scicomm space, this looks like training in best practices and K-12 teaching, as well as improvisation exercises. Participants are then allowed to try out their newly learned skills in the museum, allowing space to fail – because you only get good by failing! 

Conclusions:

While the world of STEM and scicomm is looking more and more diverse, we still have a long way to go. By building comfort around the language of inclusivity, creating spaces where it’s safe to have these “uncomfortable” discussions, stay aware of our personal identity while pursuing science, we can move towards more inclusivity and diversity. The three speakers of the session have definitely shown it can be done. 

Recommended reading:

Informal Science’s toolkit for science engagement professionals: https://www.informalscience.org/broadening-perspectives

Perspective article on a critical approach to science communication: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2020.00002/full

Engaging diverse citizen scientists: https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2018AGUFMNH43B1036B/abstract