Leveraging Science Communication as a PhD With Leslie Berntsen

Beyond the Thesis With Papa PhD

Storytelling is not just a tool for entertainment; it is a powerful medium for communicating complex ideas in a relatable and impactful manner. In this episode of Beyond the Thesis with Papa PhD, Dr. Leslie Berntsen highlights why leveraging science communication is important, as a PhD, and how embedding your results within personal stories makes science more accessible and engaging to the general public. Adding this human touch to how we talk about science allows us to bridge the gap between the scientific community and non-academic audiences.

Dr. Leslie Berntsen is a social scientist, once-and-former college professor, and the current Director of Education and Research at The Story Collider. She specializes in inclusive pedagogy, teaching social issues, and popular science communication and is the recipient of four national teaching awards from the Society for the Teaching of Psychology and the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues over a seven year period. (She tries to remain as chill about this as a person possibly can.) Leslie’s writing has been featured in The Chronicle of Higher Education, Science, and The Huffington Post, and you can also find the earliest drafts of her forthcoming op-eds on Twitter – which she will stubbornly continue to use until the very last server crashes. Her high school debate team once named her “Most Likely to Color-Code Her Plans to Grassroots Resistance” and she has – with no effort required – been living up to it ever since.

What we covered in the interview:

• The Human Side of Science: Through her work with Story Collider, Leslie aims to highlight the human side of science by tying it to personal experiences and real-life scenarios.

• Career Development through Storytelling: Leslie sheds light on the value of introspection and self-awareness in developing character and career skills. Whether it is for job interviews, academic presentations, or grant applications, storytelling can be a powerful arrow in a young researcher’s quiver.

• Story Fellows Programs: Story Collider fosters initiatives that encourage university students to use storytelling for public scholarship and science communication. These programs involve workshops where participants craft and present their science-related stories on stage.

🔗See the resources section below for links!

This episode’s resources:

3 Story Collider stories

• Nina Christie (harm reduction researcher with a very personal connection to the work)
• Jaclyn Siegel (anorexia researcher dealing with her own anorexia)
• Rebecca Brachman (accidentally injected herself with diptheria toxin)

Papers on the effects of jargon in science papers

• The negative effects of jargon on readers’ interest for science and scientific fluency – Shulman et al., 2020 ; Bullock et al., 2019
• The negative effect of jargon in paper titles on citation – Martinez et al., 2021

Leslie’s socials

• Website: leslie-bern.com/contact
• Twitter: @leslie_bern
• Carrier pigeon sent to her home 🕊️

The Story Collider

• Listen to the podcast
• Attend a live show in any of the Home Stage cities
• Learn more about their educational programming + plot with them to help bring a STEM storytelling fellowship program to your university: [e-mail]

Thank you, Leslie Berntsen!

If you enjoyed this conversation with Leslie, let her know by clicking the link below and leaving her a message on Linkedin:

Send Leslie Berntsen a thank you message on Linkedin!

Click here to share your key take-away from this interview with David!

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You might also like the following episodes:

Sue Ashford – Preparing for life as a PhD

Jessica Schleider –Dealing With Mental Unrest in Graduate School

Jonathan Adler – Avoiding Career Narrative Pitfalls

Gloria Mark – Optimizing Focus and Attention

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