Broadening Your Impact

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Broadening Your Impact

• Diandra L. Leslie-Pelecky
• Department of Physics Astronomy
• University of Nebraska Lincoln

Supported by the National Science Foundation
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Acknowledgements

• Jack Hehn (American Institute of Physics)
• Pat Dixon (National High Field Magnet Lab)
• The Broader Impacts Workshop Participants (See
  http//physics.unl.edu/diandra/DLP_Group_Website/
  BIT/BIT.php)
• Art Ellis (NSF Chemistry)
• Tom Rieker, Lance Haworth (NSF DMR)
• Henry Blount (NSF MPS)

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Outline

• Introduction
• How Can Broader Impacts Make My Job Easier?
• Case Studies and Examples
• Conclusions

Disclaimer I do not speak for the NSF or the
University of Nebraska. Only I can be blamed for
this presentation. Especially the bad jokes
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My Background

• Associate Professor of Physics, University of
  Nebraska Lincoln
• Research Areas
• Fundamental Magnetism
• Nanomedicine
• Synergistic Activities
• PI, Project Fulcrum (GK-12)
• RET mentor
• REU Program Director

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So What am I Doing Here?

• Started out as a Radio/TV/Film Major
• Fifteen years working with K-12 teachers and
  their students on science education, and on
  outreach to the general public
• AFI/AFOSR Catalyst workshops (2004, 2005)
• UNL MRSEC Science Journalism program
• UNL MRSEC Science Communications Conference
• Major popular science book author/television/
  curriculum development effort underway

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is a fan base for physics.
What we need

• Overheard at an American Physical Society meeting
• March 2006

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STEMmies and Communication
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Working with Researchers
With the two people nearest you, on a piece of
paper you will hand in

• List your biggest challenges working with
  STEMmies (at your institution or elsewhere)

Please dont use real names. I may know them.
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Researchers Concerns

1. They are going to get it wrong anyway
2. It will be a waste of time
3. Scientists shouldnt seek publicity
4. They wont be able to understand me
5. They are going to get it wrong anyway
6. They are going to make me look stupid
7. I will lose the respect of my colleagues
8. The public doesnt care about science and nothing
   I can say will change that
9. They are going to get it wrong anyway
10. Its not my job

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The Broader Impacts Criterion
What are the broader impacts of the proposed
activity?

• How well does the activity advance discovery and
  understanding while promoting teaching, training,
  and learning?
• How well does the proposed activity broaden the
  participation of underrepresented groups (e.g.,
  gender, ethnicity, disability, geographic, etc.)?
  
• To what extent will it enhance the infrastructure
  for research and education, such as facilities,
  instrumentation, networks, and partnerships?
• Will the results be disseminated broadly to
  enhance scientific and technological
  understanding? What may be the benefits of the
  proposed activity to society?

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The Broader Impacts Criterion
Will the results be disseminated broadly to
enhance scientific and technological
understanding?
http//www.nsf.gov/pubs/gpg/broaderimpacts.pdf
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The Broader Impacts Criterion
What may be the benefits of the proposed activity
to society?
http//www.nsf.gov/pubs/gpg/broaderimpacts.pdf
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Broader Impacts Toolbox Workshop

• May 2005
• Pan Disciplinary
• Scientists, Education/Outreach Professionals,
  Professional Society Representatives
• Goals
• What resources exist to help scientists fulfill
  their BI responsibilities?
• What resources need to be created to help
  scientists fulfill their BI responsibilities?
• How do you make scientists and those working
  primarily in BI activities aware of these
  resources?

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BI Toolbox Workshop Conclusions

• A significant amount of researcher
  dissatisfaction arises from a widely held belief
  that the BI criterion is arbitrary, unclear and
  inconsistently applied.
• Few STEM researchers receive preparation for
  fulfilling the broader-impacts criterion.
  resources they could use to satisfy BI.
• Researchers dont know where to look to learn
  more about BI-related topics

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The Big Message
You can increase researcher cooperation if they
understand that you can help them meet their
Broader Impacts requirements
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Some Broader Impacts Case Studies
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Case Study Informal Science

• Centers are in a unique position to leverage
  their educational/outreach programs

• Liberty Science Ctr (LSC) Princeton Ctr for
  Complex Materials (PCCM)
• 12 weekends of programming in conjunction with
  the opening of Strange Matter
• LSC staff developed a script
• Frame discussions between speakers (Princeton
  faculty and graduate students) and audience
  members
• Promote audience participation
• Speakers could use script, alter script, or
  develop presentations on other subjects
• PCCM Education Director worked with presenters at
  Princeton prior to their appearances

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Case Study Informal Science
Believe it or not, many of our scientists were
nervous at first because this was a new audience
for them, and we took away their traditional
tools of communication, such as calculus, Power
Point presentations and equations Every
scientist from PCCM who presented at Liberty
Science Center came back very pleased with his or
her experience.
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Case Study Informal Science
Our guests were thrilled to speak with real
scientistsThis kind of experience allows people
to see scientists as people, not as the
caricatures which tend to dominate their images
in popular culture.
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Find the BIs

• ABSTRACT
• Prof. Franz Geiger of Northwestern University
  will seek molecular level information on chromium
  species interacting with surface groups, with
  adsorbed and interfacial organic molecules, and
  water. Such knowledge is essential to achieve an
  understanding of the interactions of chromium
  with soil and model relevant aqueous/solid
  interfaces. This information is of great
  importance in dealing with a major environmental
  problem, namely the presence of toxic metals in
  soils and water.

With your group What might be interesting to
the public? How might Prof. Geiger communicate
with audiences besides other scientists?
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Case Study Individual PI

• Effect of abandoned uranium mines on water
• Web-page dissemination of results
• Involves undergrads in research testing
  commercial water filters
• Provided a free pitcher filter for use by
  reservation residents and marketed program

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Case Study Individual PI

• Freshman chem students come from all over the
  U.S.
• One group of students has their parents send soil
  samples from home.
• A second group collects soil samples locally
• Samples analyzed for Fe, Cr and Pb using ICP-mass
  spectrometry.
• Web dissemination of results
• Shows societal applications of chemistry
• Relates coursework to real life

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Find the Broader Impacts
experimental and computational research in
nonlinear chemical dynamics, focusing on creating
and understanding a variety of new phenomena
involving pattern formation in
reaction-diffusion systems. Four areas will be
explored. First, the behavior of oscillating
chemical reactions in water-oil-surfactant
microemulsions will be examined Next, external
light source perturbation will be used to probe
Turing patterns, standing waves, and cluster
patterns in the chlorine dioxide-iodine-malonic
acid reaction, to seek new forms of resonant
behavior and to study the facts of growth on
pattern formation. efforts will be undertaken
to develop a systematic understanding of
"chemical optics," the behavior of various types
of chemical waves involving reflection,
refraction, diffraction, and interference.
Finally, new systems for pattern formation
studies will be developed.
Research outcomes will have potential
applications to biology, catalysis, and
information processing. As well, these phenomena
are aesthetically appealing, and demonstrations
and presentations can interest a wide range of
scientific and lay audiences.
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Case Study Individual PI
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Some Interesting Projects
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University of Wisconsin

• Materials Research Science and Engineering Center
  w/School of Journalism and Mass Communication
• Two-day workshop funded 12 state and national
  journalists
• Overview of nano-vocabulary
• Current state-of-the-art research
• Hands-on experience with nanotechnology equipment
• Discussion of public policy implications
• Future workshops will focus on
• Policy makers
• Business community

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University of Wisconsin
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UNL - Science Journalism Project

• Started summer 2005
• Faculty supervisor Carolyn Johnsen (College of
  Journalism)

Scientists
Writers

• Goals
• Share MRSEC news with the public
• Prepare writers to accurately report science
• Provide a resource for scientists to publicize
  their own research
• Two students Fall 2005
• Wrote eight stories about
• MRSEC faculty collaborations with industry
• Nanomaterials in cancer research (at Lincoln
  Journal Star)
• High-school teachers in the RET
• Working on writing nuggets

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UNL- Science Journalism Project
Scientists
Writers
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The Material World Modern Alchemy

• CalTech Materials Research Science and
  Engineering Center/WETA
• Topics

• Digging deep tunnels (especially through
  earthquake-prone regions)
• Fuel Cell Cars
• Ancient Paints (w/Getty Museum)
• Rubber (Goodyear Tires)
• Jelly Belly Flavors (the chemistry of food
  science)
• Nitrocellulose
• Nylon

• Polymers
• Quartz
• San Andreas Fault Observatory
• Soldier Suit
• Synthetic Fibers
• Teflon

www.csem.caltech.edu/material_world/index.html
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When Things Get Small
http//www.ucsd.tv/getsmall/

• Thirty-minute film (physicist Ivan Schuller of
  UCSD and producer Rich Wargo) supported by NSF
  and others (400,000)
• Won four awards at the West Coast Emmys last week

• Zany graphics and low-tech special effects are
  used to illustrate the finer points of nanotech,
  like the quantum tunneling of electrons through
  thin surfaces of matter
• "Most people think science is boring," Schuller
  says. "Why should we pretend that we're like
  everyone else?"

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When Things Get Small
http//www.ucsd.tv/getsmall/
A corny romp through Schuller's research into
building the world's smallest magnet
An irreverent, madcap, comically corny romp into
all things nano
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Most Studies Show

• Scientists want to communicate with the public
  effectively
• We recognize its important and a part of our
  jobs
• We dont know where to go or what to do to learn
  how to do it
• We dont feel we can invest a lot of time
  communicating/learning how to communicate

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The U.S. is Behind

• Europe especially the UK has many more
  opportunities for scientists to learn about
  communicating outside their own communities
• Publications
• Short courses
• Foundations specifically for promoting science
  communication
• Media fellowships
• Conferences

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Resources
See the resources section of the
website http//physics.unl.edu/diandra/commSciCo
nf/ for more
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Communicating Science to Broader Audiences

• April 12/13th, Lincoln NE
• http//physics.unl.edu/diandra/commSciConf/

• Travel Grants for
• Junior faculty, postdocs and senior graduate
  students
• Faculty, postdocs and graduate students from MSIs
• Confirmed speakers include
• Jennifer Ouellette (Black Bodies and Quantum
  Cats The Physics of the Buffy-verse)
• Sidney Perkowitz (Empire of Light Universal
  Foam) will give a talk for the general public on
  science in the movies
• Curt Suplee (Director of the Office of
  Legislative and Public Affairs, NSF and former
  Washington Post science writer)
• W. Wayt Gibbs, Science Writer (Scientific
  American, many others)

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Communicating Science to Broader Audiences
Program

• Panel Discussions
• Using film, television and theatre to communicate
  science
• Communicating research to the public
• Communicating with policymakers
• Using popular culture (sports, television, etc.)
  to communicate science
• How science communications can be incorporated
  into science and journalism education
• Public talk on Science and Film

http//physics.unl.edu/diandra/commSciConf
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Communicating Science to Broader Audiences Goals

• Raise awareness of the importance of STEM
  researchers communicating science to broader
  audiences in the context of the NSF Broader
  Impacts criterion, and the general health of the
  scientific enterprise
• Help scientists
• more effectively communicate research or general
  science directly to audiences outside their
  immediate community and
• improve their ability to work with writers by
  helping researchers understand the constraints
  writers face and how those constraints affect the
  information and manner in which they communicate
  science
• Help writers understand researchers concerns
  about how and what science reaches the public

http//physics.unl.edu/diandra/commSciConf
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Communicating Science to Broader Audiences Goals

• Develop a web-based resource that captures the
  essential conclusions and debates of the
  conference, and localizes resources that STEM
  researchers and journalists can use to improve
  science communication in multiple media
• Initiate a discussion between researchers and
  writers about
• the challenges involved in communicating science
  and scientific research to broader audiences and
  
• how these challenges might be addressed within
  the undergraduate and graduate education of
  scientists and journalists

http//physics.unl.edu/diandra/commSciConf
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Helping Researchers Communicate

• Involve me in the stuff you really need me for
  let me know when you need me and for how long.
• Tell me what to expect give me a practice run
  if necessary
• Tell me if there is anything I absolutely should
  NOT say
• Even though the guides I mentioned are great
  resources
• I probably wont find time to read them.
• The information I need is buried. Give me
  something with bullet points and only the
  essentials.
• Give me some feedback if I did good, let me
  know if not, tell me what I could do differently
  next time

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Example Resource
American Geophysical Union You and the Media
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Please
Dont just communicate science to the public

• Tell other communicators how you did it

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Conclusions

• Help researchers fulfill Broader Impacts by
  communicating with audiences outside the
  scientific community
• Most researchers want to be good communicators
  with the public help them do so

http//physics.unl.edu/diandra/commSciConf