Read on Twitter
I& #39;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& #39;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& #39;t come from an academic family/background at all. I think this helps me develop a bit of an & #39;outsider& #39;s perspective& #39; into science and academia. That& #39;s NOT to say that those from an academic family are worse at sci comm (in fact, I& #39;ll mention an opposite example soon)
But to me, personally, it helps that in my deepest heart of hearts I& #39;m someone who often feels more at home in non-academic work contexts. It& #39;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& #39;ll talk about later in the week, I think sci comm is most powerful when it reaches those who don& #39;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& #39;m standing in the US and Germany with one leg each.
I also feel like I& #39;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& #39;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& #39;ll recommend some unbelievably talented sci commers in the next few days (with a focus on those you don& #39;t know already anyway) and there& #39;ll be German ones in there (although I& #39;ll limit those because for most of them you& #39;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
