Monthly SciComm WrapUp: May 2025
A brief summary of what fun sci-comm things I did in the month of May!
May had some exciting scicomm and mentoring opportunities! Here’s a quick look at what I’ve been up to this month:
SciComm Panel for InvestNScience
On May 7th, I was one of the 4 panelists in the free online science communication workshop hosted by InvestNScience. This event was targeted towards scientists that are just now starting their content creation journeys. We gave some great advice on how to get started and answered some interesting questions from the audience. I suggest you follow InvestNScience for more cool videos about STEM and future opportunties!
Hosted TheBoldPhD at Brown U!
This month I got to meet one of my scicomm heroes, Dr. Gertrude Nonterah! She is the genius behind the The Bold PhD podcast, YouTube and website! She’s a successful medical communications specialist and I really had a blast learning from her in person! She presented a workshop on personal branding and navigating career pivots for PhDs and I am grateful for Brown’s support in hosting her!
Silenced Science Stories Artwork: Dr. Brittin
I was honored to create another feature for the Silenced Science Stories initiative. This time, I illustrated Dr. Rachel Brittin’s story. She worked in the NOAA External Affairs department until her whole team was wrongfully terminated. They were essential to upholding collaborations and developing communication projects. If you want to learn more about the initiative, visit the page: silencedsciencestories.com
New MicroBites article!
Last week, I published another MicroBite! This article was about a specific strain of Archaea that was associated with better cognitive performance in humans. Archaea are incredibly complex organisms that we still don’t know much about. I loved writing about this new neuro-microbiome finding! Read it here!
Seeds of Success Graduation!
Over the past year, I mentored a little disabled girl from Puerto Rico through the Seeds of Success program. Halfway through the year, she had to drop out of school due to her conditions and she was feeling very isolated. I was able to work with the wonderful staff at CienciaPR and the student's mother to help her do a project that was more accessible for her to achieve, even while being out of school. She made a brochure for kids to learn about why mathematics are essential to science and the public. Then, she shared copies of it with kids in her community. She graduated from the program Saturday and sent me an email saying: "Thank you for believing in me, even when I didn't." Science outreach initiatives change lives. I'm grateful to be part of them 🙏 ✨️ Read more about the program and the graduation here!
New Peer-Reviewed Article & Illustration!
I’m happy to share that an article I helped edit and illustrate recently came out in PLOS Computational Biology. It’s titled: Ten simple rules for queer data collection and analysis by STEM researchers. I hope that it will serve as a guide for many scientists out there that want to keep including LGBTQIA+ populations in their studies. I was honored to be referred to illustrate this work and can’t wait to collaborate again with the ALBA Network in the future.
PREP End of Year Event!
Over the past year, I served as a mentor for the Brown PREP program. This cohort of post-bac students spent one year doing research at Brown and applying to PhD programs. As a mentor, I gave them advice and helped them with their PhD applications. I’m happy to report that every single one got an offer from a PhD program and I love to see how much they have grown! They wrapped up the program this week, and while it is bittersweet (since the program is now cancelled), I was glad that we were able to send them off to their next adventure.
That’s a wrap for May! Stay tuned for more SciComm updates next month.
Until then, keep sharing science! 🚀
I’m glad you’re here :)
—Mel
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