Case Studies: Science Communication Strategy
Technical Science Writing for Diverse Audiences
PROBLEM
The National Air Resource Management Program needed internal communication tools aggregating decades of research linking past and current actions with agency goals. Subject matter ranged from climate change impacts and resilience, future-ready mitigation strategies, smoke management, monitoring practices, regulatory and planning, and community outreach.
ACTION
I strategically designed and produced multiple communication channels such as digital/print resources, publications, toolkits, and strategy guides for internal use with team and partners. These items highlighted Air Staff work across the nation and within specific regions.
IMPACT
These outputs showcased Air Staff accomplishments over time and made their research and data relevant, accessible, and organized. My custom-designed frameworks supported ongoing efforts to capture and share information.
CREATIVE OUTPUTS
The images above and below are snapshots of a few of the designed and produced items. Some items are unable to be shared given their internal use designation.
USFS Air Resource Management
Lichens as Tools for Science Access
Vice President | Outreach Director
SAN FRANCISCO, CA
PROBLEM
The California Lichen Society was looking for new ways to grow membership and reach new audiences.
ACTION
I created a digital and programmatic strategy to connect and network expert and non-expert audiences interested in lichens. I designed an online community where participants engaged in sharing lichen pictures and ecological data on an open access community science platform. There were also monthly group meet-ups where technical questions could be discussed with experts.
IMPACT
These transactional dialogues directly aligned with the organizational mission to promote, educate, and conserve lichens while also making critical links to scientific and environmental topics. It also grew membership and increased programmatic offerings for the organization. This program also fed into other social media community discussions to build a larger audience and support lichenological efforts on a global scale.
CREATIVE OUTPUTS
These images show the bulletin publication revisions and community outreach events that engaged and grew the audience.
California Lichen Society
Ask a Lichenologist
Museums as Climate Policy
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND, UK
PROBLEM
The Museums for Climate Action put out a call for projects that might help reimagine the role museums play in climate change. Museums have long served as gatekeepers to collective knowledge, with a tension between institutional narratives and limited visitor participation in curatorial frameworks.
ACTION
I co-developed the Climate Policy Action Network (CPAN) to redefine museums as a public resource, where the nature of content is reassigned to citizens. I managed the project from start to finish and supported the team while also contributing content and subject matter expertise.
CPAN generated public thought on climate change and green futures, through user documentation and public policy across scales. This interactive museum experience was a place for publics to share materials and narratives. Through a two-pronged approach, visitors learned about the carbon footprint of contributed everyday objects; they could then take action, in the form of letter writing to the legislative bodies responsible for climate-related policies.
IMPACT
Participants were empowered to recover from climate guilt and doomism, and emboldened to instigate change via this exchange of object-for-knowledge and knowledge-to-action. Through this interaction, CPAN supported change through the mechanisms of governmental policy rather than through personal behaviour modification. Here, the museum’s role is redefined to reveal how global infrastructures contribute to climate change, while serving as a conduit for publics to contribute to the act of policy making. Involving the individual, and creating opportunities for their unique encounters with climate change to be shared, brought us closer to a greener future.
CREATIVE OUTPUTS
These renderings showcase CPAN and the user engagement.
This was a collaboration with Gabriel Fries-Briggs, Libby Ellwood, and additional support provided by Cheyenne Gurule and Jason Rebillot.
Museums for Climate Action
Semi Annual Scientific Publication
Co-producer + Bulletin Committee Chair
SAN FRANCISCO, CA
PROBLEM
The California Lichen Society needed to modernize systems and communication mechanisms to reach and grow audiences while also maintaining integrity for long running semi-annual scientific journal.
ACTION
I developed strategies for editorial procedures, CMS tools, and digital organization. I also created and edited original content on taxonomy, biodiversity, ethnobotany, and pioneered multimedia transactional dialogues between experts and curious non-experts with Ask a Lichenologist.
IMPACT
The modernization of tools and processes supported a more functioning collaboration between the team while also bringing in new volunteers and society members. By innovating the content process I was able to engage historical members and highlight research to engage members with newly designed programs.
CREATIVE OUTPUTS
These images show the bulletin publication revisions and community outreach events that engaged and grew the audience.
California Lichen Society