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I'm trying to strike a fine balance between talking about myself as the schedule says I would, and not to bore you all with my unexciting life and personality ("Oh and once I saw a blimp!"). But as I alluded to, I think I'm in a bit of an unusual position as a sci commer: 1/
When I started doing sci comm (which basically means when I joined Twitter) I was already a postdoc. I see the fact that I have a solid science background, but no sci comm background per se, as an advantage & disadvantage at he same time. 2/
Also, I don't come from an academic family/background at all. I think this helps me develop a bit of an 'outsider's perspective' into science and academia. That's NOT to say that those from an academic family are worse at sci comm (in fact, I'll mention an opposite example soon)
But to me, personally, it helps that in my deepest heart of hearts I'm someone who often feels more at home in non-academic work contexts. It's easy for me to think about how something feels to someone who has no background knowledge and, frankly, not much interest either. 4/
As I'll talk about later in the week, I think sci comm is most powerful when it reaches those who don't go searching for science content on their own, so I think that last part is helpful for my own sci comm.
I also feel like I'm standing in the US and Germany with one leg each.
I also feel like I'm standing in the US and Germany with one leg each.
This can also be an advantage, I think, as sci comm in Germany is different from the US.
I hope nobody will get mad at me for saying this, but overall I think US sci comm is more developed and refined. In short: there was never a German Carl Sagan. 6/
I hope nobody will get mad at me for saying this, but overall I think US sci comm is more developed and refined. In short: there was never a German Carl Sagan. 6/
Now, to backtrack immediately: there are EXCELLENT FANTASTIC German science communicators. But that's a recent thing. The amazing talents that are there had to fight their way from the grassroots up. So what Germany is lacking is institutional support in the media and such. 7/
I'll recommend some unbelievably talented sci commers in the next few days (with a focus on those you don't know already anyway) and there'll be German ones in there (although I'll limit those because for most of them you'd need to know the language). 8/9
So anyway, I see myself a bit as an in-between creature, both in regard to cultural and academic background, and I always try to acknowledge the advantages & disadvantages that this brings with it. 9/9
