Social Media and Science

It’s pretty obvious that I spend a considerable amount of time on social media. I’ve got a Twitter account, @ScientistMags, and I’ve got a public facebook page as well as this blog. I also work full time as a scientist and as a freelance science writer. Occasionally I do allow myself to sleep.

I do get asked why I do it. I do “it” because the internet is supposed to be a utopia filled with free factual information. It isn’t. There’s websites devoted to nonsense promising cures insulting scientists whilst using smoke and mirrors to present information disguised as science. This is why I do it.

I also do “it” because when I was growing up, I didn’t know of any scientists. They were all on television and were always busy in a lab. Now that I am a scientist, I know this is not true. You won’t be able to pick out a scientist at the local shops. They are well camouflaged wearing every day clothes or even busy wrangling an unruly child or two. We’re regular people. Scientists are people, and sometimes we get angry at the same things you might do like when a computer crashes while saving an important piece of work or are known to get swept up in hysteria and join queues outside Apple stores for the latest iDevice.

I’m part of social media because the most important thing I want to tell people about the science I do that above all, I’m someone with feelings, desires and frustrations.

Last week there was a discussion on Social Media and Science on Twitter hosted by Bridge8. I am so sorry I missed it. My Masters thesis is to do with science discussions on Twitter so I was rather frustrated not being able to take part. I said that would do a blog post on it instead. It’s not quite the same.

The questions are what framed the discussion last week.

1. How do you measure the success your professional efforts in social media?
   I find it difficult to measure the success of my professional efforts in social media. I know things have gone well if I have conversations with people about the science news and topics I’ve posted. If things get passed on then that’s all well and good but I don’t know how well it was understood or whether it was because of the pretty picture.

2. How important are metrics (eg no. of YouTube views, followers, FB Likes?) to you and your org?
   Let’s be honest. Who doesn’t like being liked? I think the importance isn’t just having lots of followers and likes. What should be important are the types of conversations and discussions being had with the people who subscribe to you. Are they ones that reflect who or what you are? Have they achieved a goal or aim?There is merit in awareness raising but this should be followed on with something. Activists and lobbyists follow on with a call to action. As an individual I let people know of events and things that they can be a part of that are happening. I share my visits to science centres, museums and libraries because I want to share my enthusiasm for them with other people. Whether or not this leads to people going to them, I don’t know but I do know that I get to talk to people about what it is I see in front of me. To me, that’s more valuable than collecting 100 more followers who don’t interact.

3. How do know when you are #doingitwrong? (“failing” at social media)
   I know I am #doingitwrong when I respond to trolls.

4. Are there things that turn you off? What should be “don’t do” advice for social media?
   Trolls are the very worst things that I encounter. This is different from someone who has a misconception. They tend to engage with a misconception and after a conversation has been established, begin to go on the offensive and attack. It’s incredibly draining and wastes time.The most important “Don’t do” is to treat social media as a broadcasting medium. It’s a communication medium and there will be a transfer of information between yourself and a lot of different people. In some cases, broadcasting works like for news services and emergency updates but when it comes to individuals and organizations, expect interaction from your audience and have a plan on what to do with it.

5. Socmed > Twitter. Where else do you engage and why? What works?
   Twitter is great for quick updates. I use my blog for discussions longer than 140 characters. I have found that facebook has become an area where photos and visuals reign supreme.  I have different audiences and they interact differently. People use different forms of social media and tend to stay with the one they find most convenient or most interesting to them.

6. What’s the most creative use of scicomms through social media you’ve seen? Or done!
   I love the Google+ hangouts. They’re really innovative. I haven’t taken part actively but have watched from the sidelines where a scientist interacts in real time with people from all over the world. Phil Plait aka @BadAstronomer has a weekly one which he promotes on Twitter. More information here.

7. How much time would you spend on social media? How do you find the time?
   How much time do I spend on social media? A LOT. In numerical terms, probably around 20 hours a week.

I am Science

A couple of weeks I saw a call out to scientists on Twitter to share their story on how they became scientists using the hashtag #IamScience. It quickly became clear that the route of being excellent at high school science followed up with fantastical results at university and completing a PhD wasn’t the norm. It existed and I know people who have achieved this and I suffer moments of jealousy because my path wasn’t like that. To get a sense of the tweets that came out, watch the following video.

I have to admit that I didn’t join in despite being a scientist and my persistent call to scientists to let people know that the lab coat doesn’t define them. I stayed quiet feeling like a hypocrite. The path to where I am today as a scientist is unusual and there are some things I would like to obliterate from my memory. I don’t want to give a sanitised representation of science but some things are so incredibly painful to bring up but there are some things that I can share. I want to share these not because I want you to pity me or give me a pile of compliments. I made it. Just. I have made it, thousands don’t. I’m lucky. I am about to tell you and the world things that I wish I could tell students when they ask me whether science is hard but I chicken out for fear of scaring anyone away or deemed too negative to be placed in front of an audience ever again.

• A high school physics teacher told me, “I can’t explain this any simpler. Maybe you should take another class.”
• A high school math teacher said, “You don’t deserve an A in my class” and then consistently awarded me B grades no matter what I did. By the end of Year 10, I hated mathematics.
• In my final year of high school I failed Calculus but I earned a Distinction in first year university Calculus. That Distinction still feels good today. I have kept the letter inviting me to consider a degree in mathematics.
• At university, one chemistry lecturer I once respected told me that I would never be good enough for research. Four months ago, this same lecturer was suggesting PhD research projects for me to consider.
• I have been told, “You’re good at chemistry, for a woman.”
• I’ve been unemployed as a scientist for 25 continuous months and barely managed to pay the bills with short term university teaching contracts and government assistance.

Despite this and a bunch of personal crap no one else needs to know, I’m still a scientist. Sometimes I’m working in the lab. Sometimes I’ve got reference books open with an obscure journal article on my computer monitor to piece together a new procedure. And other times I can be found outside covered in dirt toiling away.

I have to admit that the image of me being a super brain scientist is one that cripples me. Sure, I can probably recall enough random facts to help win a pub quiz but it isn’t who I am. I am not super smart or all knowing.

I have spent hours preparing for 15 minute science talks. Most of it fretting over whether I will come away from the stage looking less of the scientist the world expects me to be. Though this year I am going to be more honest about how I became a scientist and maybe the student who gets average grades but loves science does what they love instead of being funnelled elsewhere.

Related articles

• I am science (astronomycommunication.wordpress.com)

Investing in ASSETS for the Future

It’s the summer holidays and high school students around Australia have participated or are participating in science summer programs designed to show teenagers different aspects of science and engineering to encouraging them to consider careers in science. I attended one myself just before entering the final year of high school. I knew I wanted to do something related to science but I had no idea what and had even less of an idea how to beyond getting into university. After five days spent at a university, I had a better idea and more importantly no longer frightened by the prospect of walking into a laboratory at a university.

With the successes that I have had since my experience of a science summer school, I have a soft spot for them. I’m always happy to volunteer as a chaperone, speaker, or even run a lab activity. I love talking to the kids that attend especially when they realise they are in a place where they can talk freely about what they want to do in science. The conversation goes both ways and I am honest about what I’ve done in science and also about the times of difficulty as a scientist. If the kids are going to be honest then I too must be honest.

Often the reason trotted out for fostering a new generation of would-be scientists is that it’s safeguarding the future and ensuring that scientific research continues in Australia. Another reason which I think is more important is that with the new blood is that someone has an entirely new way of interpreting the science in front of them leading to new discoveries and progress. These are the things that bring excitement into science and keeps things moving.

I have recently come across the Aboriginal Summer School for Excellence in Technology and Science, (ASSETS), run by the Royal Institution of Australia. I think it’s a brilliant programme. It takes in 30 Year 10 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students from across Australia at no cost to them to take part in a nine day program of science, engineering and mathematics in a diverse range of scientific fields. Directly from the RiAus ASSETS website:

The Aboriginal Summer School for Excellence in Technology and Science (ASSETS) program is for Year 10 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students from around Australia with an aptitude for mathematics and science. The nine-day residential summer school in Adelaide is open to students from all Australian states and territories. It is cost free, including return travel, for successful applicants. Accommodation is provided at Wiltja Residence, a successful long term Indigenous boarding school facility.

Participants undertake an academic program in science, technology and mathematics at the Australian Science and Mathematics School. They are required to meet rigorous academic demands in such areas of study as:

• Nanotechnology
• Photonics
• Aerospace science
• Environmental science
• Biotechnology
• Health science
• Geosciences
• Mathematical sciences

There is also a cultural and social program that includes interaction with role models and exploring participants’ language group backgrounds to encourage personal growth and nurture leadership qualities.

As a trained scientist, I’m pretty very excited about the program and wish I could sign up. It’s an incredibly diverse program and I’m always wanting to learn more and more curiosity than a litter of kittens. So what do the students think?

It is really heartwarming to see students from previous years of participating in ASSETS earning a place at university and working towards a career in science.

You can read more of Dannielle Ghezzi’s story here. The RiAus is currently running a microdonation campaign online in an effort to fund at least one student place in the ASSETS program. There is a a disparity in the levels of education and health of Indigenous Australians and the wider population of Australia and there are many initiatives to help close this cap. This initiative resonates with me because it has the very real potential of doing both. Many of the problems  in Indigenous communities can be solved with science and technology but before that education is needed, not just for people living in those communities but also the education of the future leaders of those communities. If you’re able, consider donating to the ASSETS program and help close the gap. It’s an atrocity in 2012 Australia.

Hello 2012. How’s the Apocalypse?

Let me begin by stating the obvious. It’s a new year, a whole 366 days in front of us. It also means that the apocalypse did not begin during anyone’s New Year’s Eve celebrations or if it did or has, it has been sneaky as no one on Twitter has noticed.

Last year was a blast for me. Yes this is going to be a little self indulgent. It’s my blog and I rarely talk about me. I ended 2011 with one less organ than I had at the beginning. For the most part I am happy that my gall bladder has been removed and is no longer hurling gallstones my way when disgruntled. By the time of my operation, my diet was becoming frustratingly limited. Some salad dressings would even lead to hours of discomfort. Now I’m slowly expanding my diet but I will never reach for anything deep fried again. Even if it’s deep fried Camembert.

I am disappointed that my blogging in my Chemistry365 project became infrequent from September. It coincided with a full-time job, being ill, adjusting to living as a FIFO life and the ever constant ringing advice to take things easy. I will go back and fill in the holes. There aren’t too many and I have planned out what I want to write for each day. I will finish it. I just wish I could have managed to blog every single day like I had wanted to. I am so sorry. So incredibly sorry. The experience has taught me that despite all the planning and fail safes, I can’t control everything. And more importantly, the world does not end when things take an unexpected turn and I can carry on.

The year 2012 is going to be awesome. Yes, there will be some amount of crappy things but the best thing about it is that these crappy things will not bring the destruction and ruin of the planet. Terrifyingly, we have the means to wipe ourselves of the face of the Earth but Earth will still be around just fine without us. This isn’t a new information. It’s a statement of fact.

Instead of dwelling on the end of the world, I’m going to treat this year and all the days after as a demonstration that the people predicting The Apocalypse, (the one with capital “A”), are wrong. It would be incredibly polite of people predicting nonsense to lock in one date of their predictions like astronomers do when predicting eclipses and meteor showers but no. These aren’t people who follow the scientific method or use logic and reasoning to reach a conclusion. It’s just crazy talk.

A Toast to Chemistry

Image via Wikipedia

It’s the end of the year. It’s a time to reflect and celebrate and it’s also a time for Champagne. More Champagne corks are popped during the festive season than at any other time of the year.

Champagne isn’t all about the bubbles. It is a type of sparkling wine but only sparkling wine made from the grapes from the region of Champagne in France can be called Champagne. Everyone else has to call it something else.

The bubbles in Champagne and their equivalents are bubbles of carbon dioxide being released. In each glass of Champagned consumed there are over 600 chemical compounds that join with the carbon dioxide creating the aroma and flavour of the drink.

Legend has it that French Benedictine monk Dom Pierre Pérignon invented sparkling wine in the cellars of Abbey of Hautvillers. He didn’t. He did advance the development of the production of Champagne such as the muselet, you know the bit of wire over the cork to hold it in place to prevent the fermentation pressure from pushing the cork out. The explosive quality of Champagne resulted in the wine to be called le vin du diable, (the Devil’s wine). Bottles would explode causing bottles around them to explode, an event that does not lend itself to making a profit. Dom Pérignon was originally given the responsibility of removing the bubbles because of the number of bottles bursting in the cellar.

So who invented sparkling wine? It wasn’t just one person and it was a series of developments from different people, (including Dom Pérignon),  that led to Champagne. The oldest recorded sparkling wine is Blanquette de Limoux that was created by Benedictine monks at the Abbey of Saint Hilaire near Carcossone in 1531. Then in 1662, six years before Dom Pérignon entered the Abbey of Hautvillers’ cellar, an English scientist and physician, Christopher Merret presented a paper titled, Some Observations Concerning the Ordering of Wines to The Royal Society. He detailed the addition of sugar and molasses to wine to make it sparkling. This method in modern times is called the Methode Champenoise, a method to induce the second fermentation in wines without worrying about bottles exploding.

Here’s video from the American Chemical Society on Champagne including advice on how to pour the beverage to maximise the amount of bubbles in your glass.

Happy New Year!

Related articles

• Toasting the chemistry of champagne: New Year’s Eve video from the American Chemical Society (eurekalert.org)