Lately, many of my friend scientists asked me how it is explaining science while drinking a pint. Yes, you read it well. Explaining science while drinking a pint!
Wait! I know it might sound crazy, but do not give up on this post just yet. I am aware that talking about science -which is our job- outside the work environment is looked as odd, perhaps geeky, maybe even pretentious and certainly too often boring. Quite bad connotations, right? So why writing an article about this subject?
Because, I want to convince you that it is not as bad as it seems! First, think about your research job, how it thrills you launching a completely new experiments and how exciting it is when your data answer a long-lasting scientific question. Now, remember when you were a kid: back then, as any other child, you explored the world around and performed meaningful experiments. After failing several attempts, you now know how to assemble pieces together to build a Lego house or sand castles; you learnt how to balance yourself to walk or ride a bike; you optimised the time to wait before drinking a tea without burning yourself or eating an ice-cream without freezing your palate.
As a kid, exploring sounds the best of the adventure. We look fascinated at moon, stars, and animals and we dream of telescopes and microscopes. Then, school comes and imposes to study complicated mathematical formulas and complex biochemical reactions, which make us forget how beautiful science and scientific research is.
Students are often scared off by scientific subjects because of their complexity and difficulty. As well presented by Tracy Palmer et al who performed a survey (see links below) among 333 high-school students (age 14–17), the most important factors to impact on students’ career choices are “enjoyment, interest and ability in a subject” (quoted). If we reasoned that a student can become “able in a subject” though hands-on practice and experience, we then realise that “enjoyment and interest” come primarily from his/her teachers and mentors. And here I wonder: “Who said that science has to be taught in a boring way?”.
We need now to consider that science progress is only possible in case of a future scientist generation picking up from our current discoveries and developing into further advances. Hence, conveying our passion for science is necessary and our responsibility to recruit future brilliant minds. On the wave of this need, world-widely institutions as universities and governments launched campaigns to involve more scientists in education and public awareness. In April 2009, Barack Obama gave a speech to the National Academy of Science where he discussed the necessity of scientists to change their way of teaching for a more engaging method, to reach-out for a bigger public.
Reach-out. Outreach. Outreach is indeed the word in use to describe all the initiatives aiming to boost interest and awareness towards scientific subjects. Nowadays, science outreach is organised by groups within universities, museums and research institutions, or by independent groups of scientists. Science outreach also comes in many flavours but it always aim to be playful, entertaining and catchy! From songs explaining how natural selection influences our genes (Check out Acapellascience songs!), to experiments in museums to extract DNA from strawberries (Science Museum and Royal Institution, London, UK), to lectures in pubs (Pint of Science, Europe) and open mic nights (Science-showoff, UK).
During my PhD in London (UK), I had the chance to participate to an open-mic night for scientists called Science Showoff. This event challenges researchers to present in a fun and entertaining way their work in only 8 minutes! The public will be the real judge of these performances through clapping and laughing. Despite of how intimidating it sounds, talking in front of a random audience of people gathered in a pub was for me extremely rewarding as I discovered myself being able to snatch some laughs from a random public. Similarly, during my Postdoc in Grenoble (France), I retested my abilities of outreaching, by joining the Pint of Science event. Here, as the name gives away, the public shares a pint with the lecturer and is most welcome to ask questions at any time.
Yet, I do not want you to get the impression that scientists “have to outreach” only because it is their duty toward the society. Outreaching improves incredibly the scientist life, thought improving the skill of presenting in public, with consequent impact on innovating the way of thinking and writing. Moreover, sparkling an interest in science in the eye of fascinated spectators will keep alive, if not even renew the researcher passion and motivation for science itself.
So, for all the scientists out there wondering whether it is worthy to present to a non-scientific audience, I will say: Grab a pint and make a joke, cause your science is fun and exciting!
Links:
Tracey-Ann Palmer, Paul F. Burke & Peter Aubusson, Why school students choose and reject science: a study of the factors that students consider when selecting subjects, International Journal of Science Education, 2017
https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2017.1299949
acapellascience youtube page
Science Museum London UK
Royal Institution, London, UK
Science Showoff, UK
Pint of science, UK