Josh Kohut

A lot of science involves thinking of questions you want the answers to, and then figuring out how to get them. Many times, it requires finding a way to see something the naked eye can’t see—things that are too […]

Just before suppertime on Friday evening the krill team sent out a radio broadcast: they’d spotted five humpback whales feeding just off Outcast Island. The two whale biologists at Palmer Station grabbed their […]

Yesterday, while we were out searching for krill with Dr. Kim Bernard, we saw lots of gentoo penguins, quite a few Adelies, and several chinstraps. They were doing the same thing we were—looking for krill—although […]

Today we went out to search for krill with Dr. Kim Bernard of Oregon State University and Shenandoah Raycroft, her assistant. Krill are an important stepping stone in Antarctic food chains because they eat tiny […]

Tuesday was a day off for the staff of Palmer Station. The day was sunny and calm—perfect conditions for a favorite off-duty pastime called recreational boating. We boarded a zodiac with station staff including […]

At about 1:00 p.m. today, Dr. Josh Kohut was in an inflatable boat over an underwater canyon called the Palmer Deep. The wind was light, there was a little rain, and groups of gentoo penguins were swimming by the […]

Once we reached the Antarctic Peninsula, the ship tucked into a narrow channel called the Gerlache Strait that runs between islands to the west and the peninsula itself to the east. By taking these protected […]

There are two sets of scientists on this voyage to Antarctica. One set will spend six weeks on the ship studying the waters, the plankton, and the whales off the Antarctic Peninsula. They do this voyage every […]

Although the winter holidays aren’t quite over yet, the CONVERGE mission to Palmer Station, Antarctica, has begun. On the day after Christmas, some 32 scientists, postdoctoral fellows, and students said goodbye to […]

Date: Saturday, February 6, 2016

Time: 7am – 6pm

Location: Cook Campus Center, Rutgers University

What Is Shore Bowl?

The Shore Bowl is a regional academic competition  for high school students in NJ, […]

After attending the Gears Professional Development Workshop Series, participants had the opportunity to apply the information that they acquired during the workshop and to work with education and outreach […]

Scientists are increasingly being asked to communicate the “broader impacts” of their work. With the threat of a decline in both the scientific workforce and the public’s literacy on ocean and environmental science issues, the time is now for stepping up our efforts to promote ocean literacy.

Although there is no single approach for a successful integrated research and education plan, this workshop builds the foundation for attendees to think creatively about how their research will impact their education goals and, conversely, how their education activities will feed back into their research. When research and education are effectively interconnected, the process of discovery can help stimulate learning and the resulting research can be communicated to a broader audience.

Workshop Focus:
To help scientists communicate the “broader impacts” of their work and better integrate their education and research activities, four COSEE centers (COSEE NOW, COSEE OS, COSEE Ocean, and COSEE California) have collaborated to develop the Gears Professional Development Workshop for Early Career Scientists. The Gears workshops, which have been held across the county, include both face-to-face and online sessions and feature demonstrations and discussions on a variety of communication techniques. Following the face-to-face workshops, participants have the opportunity to work with education and outreach professionals to develop their own outreach/broader impact plans and products. For examples of work created by previous participant check out the Gears Scientists Projects.

The Gears:

The skills and techniques presented during the Gears workshops are interconnected and can be applied simultaneously. Therefore, we have organized them into four interconnected Gears or areas:

Gear #1: Deconstruct Your Science When translating scientific research it helps to break down your message into its key components. This gear focuses on two methods for deconstructing your message including Concept Mapping (COSEE Ocean Science) and Storytelling (COSEE NOW).

Gear #2: Understand How People Learn This gear focuses on what the educational research says about how people learn and what this can this tell us about effective ways to teach our students and communicate with the public. The Understand gear sets the stage for incorporating effective strategies for learning into practice as scientists share science with diverse audiences (COSEE CA).

Gear #3: Build Effective Communication Techniques Learners build an understanding of the world around them through their experiences, motivation, and social interactions. This gear includes information about how you can apply concepts, and effective practices and strategies gleaned from the learning sciences, into your education and outreach efforts.

Gear #4: Broaden the Reach of Your Science The ability to share your scientific message with those outside your research group is critical for career advancement. With funding trends moving towards large collaborative research programs, it is more important than ever that scientists collaborate not only within their discipline, but also across and beyond scientific disciplines.

***For specific information on previous Gears workshops, including agendas, check out the COSEE NOW Events pages.

Interested in learning from other broader impacts professionals, fostering new collaborations, and discussing the future of broader impacts? Then, check out the second annual Broader Impacts Infrastructure […]

Brad, Ryan, and I left Punta Arenas, in the Southern tip of Chile, on New Year’s Eve.  But before we left, T-Rex rubbed Magellan’s toe (a statue in the town square in Punta Arenas), which is a tradition thought to […]

On New Year’s Day we finished crossing the Drake Passage, saw our first icebergs, and made a quick side trip to a place called Livingston Island. We were taking food, supplies, and one person to a small group of […]

Dear high school students,

Do you want hands-on research experience in Greenland? Do you want to learn about rapidly changing polar systems and see it with your own eyes? Do you want to learn the benefits of […]