Thread by @realscientists

Welcome back to @realscientists with @MeredithSchmehl! Thanks so much for the questions and comments over the past few days! Yesterday we talked about why #SciComm is important on a broad level. Today we're going to focus on #outreach in more detail: 1/10

https://twitter.com/realscientists/status/1313491695854587905?s=20

Science #outreach is a form of informal education to help people learn about science outside of a classroom. It often involves fun activities or games to help demonstrate concepts 2/10

I discovered outreach as an undergrad at @CarnegieMellon, when I joined a neuroscience club at @cmuneurosci. I joined this club to meet my peers and learn more about my field, but I quickly realized that the group was heavily involved in outreach 3/10

I started attending the outreach events and realized how much fun it was to share my interests with others, especially kids who were being introduced to the brain for the first time! Plus, participating in outreach also helped me develop my own communication skills 4/10

Not only does outreach help the people who learn the science, but it also helps the people doing the teaching! Engaging in outreach taught me the importance of communicating clearly, and helped me build skills such as leadership, public speaking, and event planning 5/10

In my third year, I founded a chapter of @NuRhoPsi (an outreach-focused neuroscience honor society) to create more opportunities to share science with others. We went to schools and museums, and even developed our own 3-hour class to help K-12 children explore the brain 6/10

As a graduate student, I've stayed active in outreach by guiding middle schoolers through experiments with @GWIS_RT and @FEMMESDuke, judging competitions with @dukescioly, and mentoring middle and high school students through the publication process with @JEInvestigators 7/10

I want to make outreach a constant part of my education because I want to help others understand why I love my field, and I hope to help other scientists see the importance of outreach along the way! 8/10

Here's a blog post I wrote for @DukeGradSchool about how I got started in outreach and how #SciComm has benefited my professional development and career planning! 9/10 gradschool.duke.edu/professional-d…

Have you participated in any #outreach activities to communicate about science (or another field) with the public? What did you learn in the process? Do you have any advice or resources to share? #SciComm 10/10