Science Communications participants at work: shooting a video at Mount Norquay. Photo: Sandra Haney.
A set of coincidences brought Elie Dolgin to The Banff’s Centre’s Science Communications program, and ended up charting the course of his career.
While completing his PhD in evolutionary genetics at the University of Edinburgh, Dolgin flew home to Vancouver for his father’s 60th birthday party. When he gave a tribute to his father by talking about what he knew best – evolutionary genetics – he caught the attention of a scientist in the audience who was a faculty member with the Science Communications program.
The resulting two-week immersive residency in the 2007 Science Communications program was a blur of deadlines. Faculty member Tom Hayden, an instructor at Stanford, suggested Dolgin pitch one of his stories to Science magazine. He showed it to fellow faculty member Ivan Semeniuk, who “ripped it to shreds,” says Dolgin, “and said ‘where’s your who, what, when, where, why?’ He covered it in red ink, which was great feedback.” Making revisions in half an hour, Dolgin sent it off to Science. It was published a week later.
A journalism internship at The Scientist, a fellowship at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and a contract at Nature quickly followed. Today Elie is an editor at Nature Medicine. Semeniuk is now not only a mentor, but a colleague as well.
Dolgin’s story, while unique, is not unusual amongst Science Communication alumni.
Mary Ann Moser at the launch of Science She Loves Me, a collection of essays published by The Banff Centre Press.
“For some people, careers are really opened up,” says program director Mary Anne Moser. The program is Moser’s brainchild, an idea that struck during an unusually entertaining research funding announcement. The physicist presenter “had over 100 people laughing,” recounts Moser. She decided then and there to look for support to create a program that would help people be more engaging and entertaining when talking about science.
The Banff Centre, with its focus on creativity and its ability to support interdisciplinary work, was a natural home. Renowned science broadcaster and writer Jay Ingram was keen from the outset. Gathering stakeholders in Banff for a weekend of “kicking tires,” Ingram became a champion for the program, says Moser, and it launched in 2006. Every year since, Ingram’s focus on having fun while having impact has shaped the program’s character.
Science Communications has given birth to books, blogs, newspaper and magazine articles, TV hosting, podcasts, radio spots, TED talks, websites, and inspired science teaching. Jessa Gamble arrived at the program with what she describes as a “laughable version of the book proposal that was to follow.” Now published by Penguin, she proudly describes her book on circadian rhythms, The Siesta and the Midnight Sun, as a “Banff (2008) baby.”
Jennifer Gardy attended the program’s inaugural year in 2006. With a PhD in bioinformatics and experience in print journalism, she’d always thought television would be fun, attending Banff with the goal of “figuring out how to dip my toe into science TV,” she says. Relentlessly picking the brains of Jay Ingram and TV producer Henry Kowalski, she borrowed “Daily Planet” scripts for presenting practice. She has subsequently appeared twice as guest host for CBC’s “The Nature of Things.”
Jay Ingram at a Banff lecture.
“There are a lot of people who love science, who track a career in science but have a creative side that never gets realized,” says Ingram, chair of the program. “I’ve been convinced for decades that the better you can communicate science, the more people in the general public will understand that it really is fascinating and it really is magic.”
The program provides an intense collaborative work environment that could be described as inspiring shotgun creativity. Supported by the Centre’s Film & Media, and Literary Arts departments, program participants work in small groups to conceive, research, design, shoot, edit, and produce a website, video, and two podcasts – all with a goal of effectively and enthusiastically communicating science.
The essence of what many participants take away from Banff is profoundly simple: “that sometimes the only reason you’re not doing it is that you’re not doing it,” a comment Moser made on the program’s first day. “That’s stuck with me every single day,” says 2011 participant Jennifer Gagné.
Science Communications teaches you to let go, take risks, unblock your inner creativity – to stop dreaming and start doing. After six years, the program has established a network of more than 100 science communicators across Canada and beyond, and in October, 2011, Moser was recognized for her collaborative vision and effort with an Alberta Science and Technology Leadership Foundation award. The award is external validation of what alumni of the program already know — that taking a creative approach to science can make all the difference.
Lesley Evans Ogden is a BC-based science writer and an alumna of the 2011 Science Communications program.
