Welcome to ComSciCon 2024!
We are excited to announce the 12th annual ComSciCon Flagship Workshop, taking place at Emerson College in Boston, MA from July 24th to 27th, 2024.
Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Use the hashtag #ComSciCon24!
For more information, please contact flagship2024@comscicon.org
About
ComSciCon provides graduate student attendees with a one-of-a-kind opportunity to meet early career leaders in Science Communication, learn from and interact with a remarkable group of invited experts, and produce an original work communicating complex technical concepts from science and engineering to a new audience.
At ComSciCon’s Flagship Workshop, participants build communication skills that scientists and other technical professionals need to express ideas to their peers, experts in other fields, and the general public.
Ample time is allocated for networking with science communication experts and developing science outreach collaborations with fellow workshop participants. Workshop participants will produce an original piece of science writing and receive feedback from workshop attendees and professional science communicators, including journalists, authors, public policy advocates, educators, and more.
Founded in 2012 by graduate students at Harvard University, MIT, and the University of Colorado at Boulder, nearly 3000 graduate students nationwide have already participated in ComSciCon programs, including our annual Flagship Workshops and Franchise Workshops which have been started by ComSciCon alumni across the US and Canada. Attendees have founded new science communication organizations in collaboration with other students at the event, published over 80 articles written at the conference in popular publications with national impact, and formed lasting networks with our student alumni and invited experts.
We are extremely grateful to our sponsors who are making ComSciCon 2024 possible!
Sponsors
Application
This year’s workshop will be hosted at Emerson College in Boston, MA from Wednesday July 24th to Saturday July 27th. We cover all costs related to travel and housing.
The application can be found here. The extended application deadline is March 31st, 2024 at 11:59 PM (ET).
A description of how we review applications can be found here.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact flagship2024@comscicon.org
Thank you for your interest in ComSciCon24!
Eligibility
Attendance at ComSciCon is limited to current (or recently graduated) graduate students in residence at US or Canadian institutions. International students who study at US and Canadian institutions are gladly welcomed. Recent graduates must have graduated no earlier than December 2023.
ComSciCon applications are competitive and we encourage applicants to prepare their responses with care.
Application, registration, and attendance at the workshop is free of charge for accepted applicants. ComSciCon attendees are required to complete pre-workshop requirements, and to attend the entire 3-day workshop.
ComSciCon is committed to equity and inclusion. We strongly encourage applications from people from historically underrepresented groups, including but not limited to the following groups: the Black community, Native Americans and Indigenous Peoples, minoritized racial and ethnic groups, persons with disabilities, and the LGBTQIA2S+ community.
Accommodations can be provided upon request for people with disabilities. We will provide opportunities to request specific accommodations after the selection process for attendees is complete.
Please see our Code of Conduct below.
Pre-workshop Requirements
ComSciCon’s Flagship Workshop is a highly interactive and cooperative event. For instance, several of the sessions include group workshopping of already-developed science communication pieces.
All accepted attendees to ComSciCon 2024 are expected to complete the following in advance of attending the workshop. Keep checking back for additional details of each requirement.
Create-A-Thon
Through the “Create-A-Thon”, ComSciCon attendees develop science communication pieces and workshop them extensively with fellow attendees and science communication experts. Many of these pieces are later published in major science communication outlets. We will be accepting additional submission formats this year (video, comic, podcast, other) in addition to written submissions.
Timeline:
- Tuesday July 2: Rough draft due
- Tuesday July 16: Peer edits due
- Thursday July 18: Revised draft due
Poster (Optional)
Poster sessions are an ideal way to share a science communication endeavour you’re involved with, and they are great opportunities to network and collaborate with other attendees. Many fantastic new projects and initiatives have sprouted from discussions begun at previous ComSciCon poster sessions.
Note that these posters should NOT be on your scientific research. They should be on a project, initiative, or organisation involving science outreach, advocacy, education, etc.
You can see examples of successful abstracts from 2016’s program here.
If you’re interested, please submit an abstract by Monday July 8 (extended) here. You can present in any format/way you think is best (whether that is through videos, a traditional one-slide poster, multiple slides, or something completely different).
Accepted abstracts will be notified by Monday July 1. Please note, there are no charges or fees for submitting or presenting a poster. If your abstract is accepted, you will be given further instructions.
Timeline:
- Sunday June 2 -> Monday July 8 (extended): Abstract submission deadline
- Monday July 1: Selected abstracts will be notified
- Friday July 12: Poster design submission deadline
- Friday July 19: Selected posters and presentation details will be shared with all attendees
- Friday July 26: Poster session at ComSciCon 2024
Evaluation Surveys
ComSciCon is interested in learning more about how best to improve science communication training. We evaluate our performance through surveys immediately following and 6-months after the workshop.
Timeline:
- Date (TBD) (after conference): Complete post-workshop survey
- Date (TBD) (late 2024): Complete follow-up survey
Program
Full PDF Program
Schedule
Thursday July 25
| 8:30-9:00am | Breakfast |
| 9:00-9:30am | Welcome to ComSciCon Flagship 2024 |
| 9:30-11:30am | Creative Storytelling: Carrie Boyce, Emily Mullin, Alex Ip, Emily Cribas |
| 11:30am-12:00pm | Break |
| 12:00-12:30pm | Pop Talks |
| 12:30-1:30pm | Lunch |
| 1:30-3:00pm | Science Policy: Ubadah Sabbagh, Michael Fitzgerald, Laura Hancock |
| 3:00-3:30pm | Break |
| 3:30-5:30pm | Alternative Media: Alex Beard, Shi-En Kim, Darcy Shapiro |
| 5:30pm | Sponsored Happy Hour & Banquet Dinner |
Friday July 26
| 8:30-9:00am | Breakfast |
| 9:00-9:30am | Pop Talks |
| 9:30-11:00am | Data Visualization: Zane Wolf |
| 11:00-11:30am | Break (Poster Setup) |
| 11:30am-12:30pm | Create-A-Thon |
| 12:30-1:30pm | Lunch |
| 1:30-3:30pm | Poster Session |
| 3:30-4:00pm | Break |
| 4:00-6:00pm | Career Session (Panel and Interactive Fair) |
| 6:00pm | Dinner |
Saturday July 27
| 8:30-9:00am | Breakfast |
| 9:00-9:30am | ComSciCon Informational Session |
| 9:30-10:00am | Poptalks |
| 10:00-11:30am | Keynote: Michael Greshko |
| 11:30am-12:00pm | Break |
| 12:00-12:30pm | Create-A-Thon |
| 12:30pm | Lunch and Conclusion |
Venue and Accommodation
The primary event venue will be the Bill Bordy Theater, located at 216 Tremont Street. Additional break-out spaces will be in the Little Building, located at 80 Boylston Street.
Selected participants who require overnight accomodations will be staying in the student dormitories, located at 2 Boylston Place.
Organizing Committee
Programming Committeee (PC)
Ralph White III
Ralph White III (he/his/him) recently graduated with his PhD in pharmacology from the University of Minnesota Medical School. He is now a postdoctoral fellow in the department of Cancer Biology in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, studying metal biology in cancer. Outside of the lab, he hosts his own podcast, Scientifically Sound, forming creative narratives that combine his love of music, history, and scientific discoveries/concepts. He also does music production, sampling vinyl records and playing many instruments. Ralph hopes to establish his own laboratory and mentor the next generation of scientists to battle cancer, while expanding on his science communication to excite the public about STEM.
Mostofa Kamal
My name is Mostofa Kamal, and I was born in the Nilphamari district of Bangladesh. I am currently pursuing my Ph.D. degree in the School of Environment and Sustainability at the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada, focusing on understanding the characteristics of supercell thunderstorms over the Canadian Prairies. Previously, I obtained M.Sc and B.Sc degrees in Physics from Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet, Bangladesh; a postgraduate diploma in Earth System Physics from the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste, Italy; and a M.Sc. degree in Earth and Environmental Sciences from University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada.
Chad Small
Chad Small (he/him) is a 2nd-year PhD student in in Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Washington. Presently his research looks at how moisture from tropical phenomena (like the Madden-Julian Oscillation) might intensify the rainfall, and consequent flooding, from atmospheric rivers that make landfall on the West Coast. Outside of research, Chad has works as a freelance journalist often covering environmental justice, science policy, potential responses to climate change, and explanatory environmental reporting. His journalistic work has been featured in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Grist, Next City, and Gothamist. Chad currently writes as the Climate Fellow for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
Kate Yeadon
Kate Yeadon (she/her) graduated with a M.Sc. in Chemistry from Carleton University in 2023 where she collaborated with the National Research Council of Canada. Her research focused on using electrochemistry to design sensors capable of detecting ice formation on aircraft surfaces. This work limits the build-up of ice on airplanes and reduces the need for more polluting solutions making air travel safer and more environmentally-friendly. Kate is passionate about making science accessible and engaging. She is a member of CAGIS (Canadian Association for Girls in Science) where she runs science workshops for girls, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming youth who share her love of science. Kate also works at the Ottawa Public Library where she promotes science literacy and STEAM programming. In her free time, Kate runs a chemistry blog, The Periodic Ta-blog, where she posts articles on topics ranging from the science of everyday phenomena to break-through research findings.
Elena YH Lin
Elena (they/she) is a PhD student in the Biomedical Sciences at UC San Diego studying T cell immunology. Informed by their personal experiences and interdisciplinary training in the arts and sciences, Elena is learning ways to establish more inclusive and accessible spaces for marginalised individuals. Their science communication adventures range from creating visual arts to directing the social justice-centred SciComm Collective. You can find Elena drawing and stress-baking in their free time.
Sumeet Kulkami
Sumeet Kulkarni (he/him) recently graduated with a PhD in gravitational wave astrophysics from the University of Mississippi. Since then, he has transitioned into science writing and now works as the spring news writing intern with Nature. He was a 2022 AAAS Mass Media Fellow with the Los Angeles Times and has also written for Astrobites, India Bioscience and Scientific American (via a comscicon create-a-thon!) in the past. He previously helped organize Comscicon-Atlanta 2021, and attended the Comscicon-AIP (2019), Atlanta (2020), and Flagship (2022) workshops. In his spare time, he likes taking pictures of jewels in the night sky for his Instagram (@the.sumeetsonian).
Melia Matthews
Melia Matthews is a third year PhD candidate in Dr. Karl Lewis’ lab in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Cornell University. Her research is focused on bone homeostasis and mechanobiology, specifically developing a new in vivo imaging technique with fluorescent nanoparticles. She received her Bachelors in Biology from Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA and she is originally from rural Northern California. Outside of science, she is passionate about outdoor recreation, especially swimming, skiing, scuba diving, and underwater photography. On campus, she is involved in a number of organizations, including Graduate Women in Science, the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly, and the Club Swim Team.
Logistics Committee
Olga Borodina
Olga is a PhD student in Astrophysics at Harvard University. She studies how galaxies evolve by running simulations on supercomputers. Outside of work she loves playing volleyball, knitting, and serving as a Logistics Chair for the ComSciCon-2024 workshop!
Ashley Monahan
Ashley H Monahan is an avid science communicator and visualizer. Classically trained in art for over a decade, she made her transition to the sciences over eight years ago and now uses her expertise for data visualization, marketing, science education, and outreach. Ashley does this through her own company, SciComm Consulting LLC, where she offers science visualization services as well as consulting services to train scientists and STEM organizations how to better speak, write, and visualize their work for the public (scicommconsulting.com). She has worked with a variety of organizations, including national research consortiums and governmental entities. Ashley has held workshops worldwide on science communication, including seminars based out of the United States, Africa, Europe, and Asia. Ashley is responsible for the marketing and branding for ComSciCon USA and also serves on the logistics committee. She also works as a science writer and editor for BioScience Writers, LLC. When not doing science communication, Ashley is a fifth year PhD Candidate in Neuroscience at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. She studies how memory is regulated by RNA binding proteins with a focus on rare human variant modeling using C. elegans.
Mackenzie White
Mackenzie is a 5th-year PhD candidate in geophysics. She works on lunar and martian NASA missions, studying heat flow to understand what planets are made of and how they formed. Passionate about science communication, she aims for her storytelling to strengthen the connection between humans and the natural world. Her experience with science media ranges from writing for outlets like Science Friday and Google Arts & Culture to sharing the newest photos from the Mars Perseverance rover. When she’s not studying space rocks or writing about microplastics, you can find her hanging out with her dogs, Rocky and Maggie.
Emily Costa
Emily Costa (she/her) is a Civic Science Associate at the Rita Allen Foundation and cancer biology PhD based in New York City. She’s also an avid science communicator, storyteller, and trivia host, practicing all three through her podcast Facts Machine, which features scientists and academics from a variety of backgrounds and is performed monthly at nerdy comedy venue Caveat. She’s also a member of the ComSciCon organizational leadership team and volunteers with NYC-based organizations aimed towards increasing accessibility and inclusivity in science education. In her free time, she can be found reading, cyanotyping, or running late to a jazz or chamber music concert.
Wasundara Athukoralalage
Hello! My name is Wasundara Athukoralalage, and I’m a 1st year PhD student studying Astronomy. I work on multi-wavelength transients and X-ray binary systems. Apart from astronomy, I like to crochet and take care of my plants!
Stacy Pitcairn
Stacy Pitcairn (she/her) is a neuroscience PhD student at Wake Forest School of Medicine. Her research focuses on how stress can alter brain regions that are involved in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol use disorder/addiction. Outside of research, she enjoys watching movies, playing video games, spending time outdoors with her dog, and using popular media as a tool to communicate science and engage audiences of all ages. She participated in ComSciCon2023 Flagship as an attendee and served on the Organizing Committee in 2024 (Logistics Committee).
Hannah Mechtenberg
Hannah Mechtenberg is a graduate student studying how the brain deals with uncertainty in spoken language at the University of Connecticut specializing in Language and Cognition. Hannah is passionate about bringing speech and language research out of the lab and into the public, including into museums and other public spaces. Hannah also serves as the early career representative on AAAS’s Linguistics and Language Science steering committee to build more opportunities for all early career researchers to develop skills in science communication and public-facing research!
Alexa D’Addario
Alexa received both a Master of Science and Master of Journalism degree from Carleton University and Ryerson University (now Toronto Metropolitan University). Her research has been featured in the Marine Pollution Bulletin, Environmental Conservation and the Journal of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, and her writing in The Canadian Science Policy Centre and The Hill Times. Alexa enjoys learning about the environment, animals and fossils, and communicating that information to others. When she’s not doing research or writing, you can find her reading, practicing martial arts, and making dated pop culture references no one understands. Please reach out if you would like to learn more 🙂
Gwenyth Lu
Gwenyth recently graduated with a MSc in Cognitive Science of Language from McMaster University. Her research focused on stability of event-related potentials (ERPs) in concussed adolescents and retired professional football athletes. She co-founded Wunderkinds, an initiative aimed at creating open source PDFs of evidence-based storybooks for children ages 5 to 10. The materials are adapted from peer-reviewed research on Linguistics, Neuroscience, and Psychology. She is also the Lab Manager for the McMaster English Language Development (MELD) Office where she helps to explore how second language speakers of English learn language.
PC-LC Liaison
Vyshnavi Vennelakanti
Vyshnavi is a postdoctoral research associate in the department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University. The focus of her current research is to understand the electrocatalytic reduction of nitrogen to ammonia using computational methods. She completed her PhD in Chemistry from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in October 2023. During her graduate research, she studied transition metal complexes with a wide range of applications ranging from biological systems to homogeneous catalysts to spin crossover complexes using computational chemistry. Outside of research, she participated in several outreach activities involving science communication to high school students. In her leisure time, she enjoys singing, writing for her college newspaper, learning new languages, hiking, and traveling. She wants to continue staying purpose-driven and never lose curiosity to explore and learn new skills. You can find her on Twitter @Vyshnavi_1812
Code of Conduct
ComSciCon is committed to providing a safe, hospitable, and productive environment for everyone present, regardless of race or ethnicity, religion, ability, socioeconomic status, age, physical appearance, economic or professional status, country of origin, sex, gender or gender expression, or sexuality. A conference where people feel uncomfortable or threatened is not productive, nor tolerable. Accordingly, ComSciCon prohibits intimidating, threatening, or harassing conduct during our conference and is committed to creating and maintaining a safe environment for everyone during the workshop. This policy applies to speakers, organizers, expert reviewers, and attendees, and by participating in ComSciCon, you agree to adhere to this policy.
ComSciCon expects that participants will:
- Be considerate and respectful to all community members.
- Refrain from demeaning, discriminatory, or harassing behavior, materials, and speech (more below).
- Speak up if they observe anything at an event that conflicts with this Code of Conduct. If you are being harassed or feel uncomfortable, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, please contact a member of the ComSciCon organizing team immediately.
Unacceptable behavior from any community member will not be tolerated. Unacceptable behavior includes, but is not limited to:
- Intimidating, harassing, abusive, discriminatory, derogatory, or demeaning speech, materials, or conduct by any Participants of the event and related event activities. Many event venues are shared with members of the public; please be respectful to all patrons of these locations.
- Violence, threats of violence, or violent language directed against another person.
- Failure to obey any rules or regulations of the event venue.
Harassment of participants will not be tolerated in any form. Harassment includes:
- Offensive verbal or written comments related to gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, age, religion, national origin, affinity group, etc.
- Viewing or sharing sexual images in public spaces.
- Deliberate or perceived intimidation, stalking, or following.
- Harassing or non consensual photography or recording.
- Sustained disruption of talks or other events.
- Inappropriate physical contact.
- Unwelcome sexual attention.
- Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behavior.
Participants asked to stop any harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately. If a participant engages in harassing behavior, ComSciCon organizers will take any action they deem appropriate, ranging from a verbal warning to expulsion from the conference, to contacting local authorities.
ComSciCon organizers may take action to address any behavior disrupting the conference or making the environment hostile for any participants. We expect participants to follow these rules at all conference events and ComSciCon-related social activities.
If you are being harassed, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, please contact a member of the conference staff immediately (by email at the designated confidential address comscicon24-coc@comscicon.org). Organizers will be available to assist anyone experiencing unacceptable behavior and will work to help you feel safe for the duration of the event. All reports will be held as confidential by ComSciCon event organizers.
We value your attendance, and want to make the conference experience as educational, productive, and fun as possible.
ComSciCon 