Does science make you feel like George?
Trust me, I get it. And I'm a scientist.
With everything we hear in the news, how are we supposed to know what's real and what's not? And with scientific language complicating everything, how can we best find out for ourselves?
Welcome to Out of the Ivory Tower, where I will explore some of these questions and share exciting scientific discoveries going on every day across the world.
Scientists have an unfortunate reputation for being bad communicators. And to be fair, this is probably a well-deserved reputation. We speak a different language on a daily basis, a language we spend YEARS learning; yet we rarely think about translating for a general audience.
But that's no excuse.
I believe that our responsibility as scientists is not just to the science. We have a responsibility to the general public (who by the way, funds the majority of our research with their tax dollars) to ensure we maintain the integrity of science and uphold its reputation.
You might be asking who the heck am I to have these opinions? I'm Emily, a Ph.D.-trained research scientist in the midst of my postdoctoral fellowship, which generally means I have been actively doing research for eight years.
I'm certainly no expert, but that's ok. I want to share why science is so exciting, how to figure out what to make of science news, how scientific research works, and so much more.
I hope to explore why so many of us are afraid of science, why science is so difficult to communicate, what goes on in a research lab, and how academic laboratory research works.
Please join me on this adventure and we can learn together.
