Gryphon CAST Episode 10 Transcript

Speakers: Michael Lim, Lior Boguslavski, Amanda Reside, Ian Smith, Sarah Bates

Michael Lim
Hello, everyone, it's Michael here. I'm gonna shake things up a little bit as Gryphon CAST is hitting a new milestone. Our 10th episode, or at least you've heard a lot from me over the past few months. I thought it'd be a fantastic opportunity to shine the spotlight on the other members of the Gyphon CAST team. This includes my co-hosts, Lior Boguslavski [Hi, this is Lior] Amanda Reside [Hi] and so for our behind the scenes team members like Ian Smith [Hi, Michael], and Sarah Bates  [Hi, Michael]. For our audience, can you briefly introduce yourself and what you do normally for the university.

Lior Boguslavski
So, as I mentioned, I'm Lior and I'm a Master of Biotech student here at the University of Guelph. I started back in September of 2021. And since this is a 12 month program, I'm going to be finishing up very soon at the end of August. Currently, and since the start of May I've been doing my internship. So, I've been quite busy with that since it's basically a full time job. But for the first eight months of my program, I was taking courses and basically a full time student in every sense of the word. Now, even though I'm still a student, I feel like I'm more in the workforce than anything else. But besides being a student and right now, doing my internship, I'm a SCRIBE writer.

Amanda Reside
My name is Amanda Reside and I am a Master's student here at the Integrative Biology department under the supervision of Dr. Nick Bernier and Dr. Fred Laberge. And my project focuses on naturally occurring toxins that are released by cyanobacteria, how they move in the environment, and how they affect the behaviour of developing fish.

Ian Smith 
Okay, well, my job title is Scientific Illustrator. So, I create graphics and visuals for teaching and research, do some video editing. But mostly I'm known on campus as the go to person for scientific poster printing. I guess I always wanted to meld art and science. And when I came to university, I just did Honours Biology and took an entomology course offered by Steve Marshall who needed some artwork done for papers. So, I ended up working for him for two summers and then he was getting low on money so he convinced me to do a master's. An opportunity arose on campus when Paul Hebert, he kind of initiated some big projects on creating visuals for teaching. And that was a big group. There's several of us and artists too, there were programmers and content creators. Then the College decided that there was a need to have a person in my position. So, the position was created. And I've been here ever since.

Sarah Bates
So, I'm the College Research Manager here in the College of Biological Science, or CBS. And my role is quite varied. But I would say my primary responsibilities are helping faculty with the development of grant proposals when they're applying for research funding to various sponsors, and also communicating the outcomes of the research that's taking place in the college. And this is primarily through our written science communication program, or SCRIBE, which you might call their progenitor or the mother of Gryphon CAST. So SCRIBE is based on a very similar principle, we have graduate students from the college interviewing our faculty members about their latest research results. But in this case, the final product is like a journalistic style of story that we then share over social media and on our college website. And sometimes it ends up in a college research magazine we put out every year. So, I think I ended up in science communication, almost somewhat accidentally. It wasn't intentional to me. I had done my PhD in entomology and was post doc'ing. And then it was really sort of by accident, or maybe serendipity that someone sent me a job ad for a science writer position at a climate change research foundation. And it wasn't something that I considered doing it all. But you know, when I thought about it, I realized, well, this is actually something I really love to do. I've always liked writing and I'm good at it. And I'm interested in science more broadly. So, I sort of went outside my comfort zone in applying for the job and I got the job and I realized that this is really what I what I do like to do.

Michael Lim
We're you're not busy doing your more official university work. You have graciously set aside your time to help make Gryphon CASTa reality. How did you first hear about the podcast and why did you decide to get involved?

Lior Boguslavski
So as I alluded to previously, I heard about the podcast first through SCRIBE. So, I applied to be a SCRIBE writer back in back in the in the winter, I believe, and I finally was able to start in in February I think. And ever since then, since I was involved with SCRIBE I was introduced to the Gryphon CAST podcast and I thought, well, I'm so used to you know, writing articles and you know, doing that kind of stuff like writing that I thought it would be interesting to do another form of science communication in the form of podcasting. So, that's why I decided to get involved. I've never done podcasting before. And I thought it'd be pretty neat. And since I'm very much enthralled in science communication in the writing aspect of it, I thought this would be a great change of pace, and something different to try out. And so far I've been really enjoying it. It's definitely very different from writing, when it comes to science communication but I think having a conversation about science, as opposed to, you know, writing about it could be conducive to a lot of different audiences. And it could reach a lot of different people as well. And it's a different platform that I think it's also important to have science on.

Amanda Reside
Well, for our listeners, Michael, and I share an office on campus. And so I was first introduced to the podcast through his early episodes, he was recording them. And I have always been interested in scientific communication. And Michael suggested that I sign up for the SCRIBE program at the College of Biological Science that helps us put on Gryphon CAST and I thought it was a great idea. So I signed up, and Michael and I did a podcast together. And here we are.

Ian Smith
I think you approached me, for technical advice. But now, my role with the podcast mostly is transcribing the audio for each episode for online accessibility requirements.

Sarah Bates
Well, Michael, I think it's funny that you asked that, because you may recall that Gryphon CAST really began as an idea that you came forward with. And as I remember it, you had just attended a Science Communication Conference. And one of the ideas that sparked in you was the possibility of SCRIBE launching his own podcast to add another dimension to our written program. So I was quite excited about the idea of expanding our research communication activities to include podcasts. And obviously, it's been a huge success. Thanks primarily to your your leadership and skills.

Michael Lim
What are your thoughts on science communication? Or SciCom, in general? Do you think your opinions have changed over time?

Lior Boguslavski
When it comes to science, communication, I think it's incredibly important. And sometimes, I think it can also be overlooked, because we have, you know, scientists and experts in different scientific fields who are doing this amazing research, and coming out with these new discoveries and papers, and coming out with, you know, with things that are advancing technology and medicine and our knowledge of life, right? But because not everyone is an expert, on science in these very specific niche fields. It's hard to sometimes get this new knowledge across to all people of all different backgrounds and levels of education. So that's where science communication comes in. And I think it's so important to be able to communicate science to all audiences, including non-expert audiences. So, I guess you can say, the lay audience, because sometimes the media doesn't always get it right when it comes to delivering credible, you know, news about science or accurately depicting research and research papers and whatnot. So, that's why I think science communication is one of the most important aspects of science because well, if the larger population doesn't know about these new advancements, or new outlooks or something like that in different science fields, then what's the point because we want to educate people. And we want to make sure that everyone knows exactly what they're being told is accurate. My opinions haven't changed about science communication, I think, because I've always known it's very important, but I think I've gained a more advanced appreciation for it because I didn't realize how important it was until I got to university and in my later years of undergrad, and now in my master's, I see how not everyone understand science, like I do. But I think it's so fascinating. and there's certain things that are important for everyone to know about, like nutrition, for instance, or immunology. You know, to some extent, like there's certain things I think, in science that everyone should know at least something about, even if they're not scientists or science students. So again, this is where my deeper appreciation of science communication came in is when I started to get involved with it myself because I wanted to make science more accessible to everyone. So, people can understand science in a way like I do, by putting it in, you know, lay terms or sort of simplifying it so that everybody can understand.

Amanda Reside
Well, I think that SciCom is extremely important. I think that the pandemic really solidified that view for me, all of the misinformation there about vaccines and how diseases work, and how the public was just so hungry for information. And I think a lot of people were introduced to how science works through this. And I think that really good integral scientific reporting and communication became really, really important, especially in the age of the internet, where we just have so much information at our fingertips people expected, you know, to be able to know everything all at once. But scientific communication has to be done really well, in order for it to be disseminated properly to people who don't have a scientific background. So, through that I realized how meaningful that is, in the wider public. And of course, for us scientists is just fun to share our passion with others, I guess.

Ian Smith
I don't know how to answer that question! That's a bit hard for me to answer. I think people's technical knowledge of the various software's like, for creating posters is tremendously different than the beginning, we're I basically had to hold people's hand and build their posters with them in front of me on the computer. Whereas nowadays, people mostly, you know, come with the finished product. Sometimes I tweak it, but mostly, it's good for printing these days. That sort of technology. And I'm not really familiar with now, like when I went through as a student, like it was chalkboard and, and overhead transparencies say that PowerPoint didn't exist, and no Zoom and Teams and well, even the course selection, there was like a paper book you would get with all your courses and you leaf through it. Now, it's all online. I mean, in my day, you would doing a paper for a course, you have to go to the library and find the journal on the right volume on the shelf, then you'd have to line up for the photocopier, to you know, copy the article. And sometimes it wasn't even what you're looking for. It wasn't you couldn't be found someone else had it out and it was somewhere way on the other side of the room in the library. It was a drag. Now you just like get it online and you can copy and paste. I think people should appreciate how easy a lot of things are nowadays.

Sarah Bates
Yeah, that's a great question. I may be a bit biased. But obviously, I think that science communication is super important. To me, science communication is about helping to make science more accessible to everyone, regardless of their background, and also making sure that we're demonstrating the value of research. So most of what we do research-wise here at University is publicly funded through tax dollars. So, it's really critical that the wider public understands the value of what we're doing, because they're essentially paying for it at the end of the day. With respect to what's changed, for me personally, it feels like the stakes have really been rising in recent years. You know, we're facing unprecedented social and environmental challenges that need science to help inform how we're going to move forward and solve some of these problems. And that's something we certainly saw with climate change, and even more so now with the pandemic. And it's just really driving home that we need to be able to communicate science, both widely and effectively.

Michael Lim 
How do you think, or rather hope, Gryphon CAST and SciCom in general will change in the coming years?

Lior Boguslavski
I really hope that Gryphon CAST and you know, SCRIBE articles and other sources of science communication become more popular in the coming years. Because I think that the there's still a disparity between scientific research and experts, you know, scientists and the lay audience and like the general population, I feel like that gap needs to be filled in that science communication, I hope in the future and in the coming years, we'll be able to gain more traction and become more popular in like in the media and in social media and within, you know, all populations really so that way everyone is able to be informed and know the accurate science in a way that they can understand. And also have that science be super accessible to them and readily available as well.

Amanda Reside
I hope that the podcast grows, I think that it's a really great opportunity for people in the community to know what's going on at the university. For people in other departments of the university to know what's going on in the College of Biological Science. And I think that the more grad students who get involved, the more well rounded graduates will be from these programs because I think that we get a little bit into the bubble of our peers. And being able to talk about science with folks who aren't in our programs is just like it makes everybody I don't know, it's a more rounded way to interact with the world for both people on either side. So, I hope that the that Griyphon CAST grows, and that SciCom becomes more, I guess, mainstream. I'm no expert on how this, the government should communicate their scientific research. But I do hope that more transparency, I guess, is involved. Like, I really think it was great at the beginning of the pandemic. And I assume it's still happening now but I was much more tuned in at the beginning in 2020, that Dr. Tam would do her own press conferences, and you would hear from public health officials. Unfortunately, I do think that it's still difficult for the public to really understand what's going on myself included, I don't I'm not in the medical sphere. So, I hope that scientific communication becomes more integral into all of these institutions, government universities, so that scientists can hone those skills because a lot of us, I think, are used to talking at conferences to colleagues, and it can be difficult to sort of bridge that gap of somebody who's in your field and somebody who isn't,

Ian Smith
Oh, how Gryphon CAST will change? Well, instead of being audio, you could do video and audio, but I don't know, I think like I listened to other podcast, I think there is a you know, people do like listening sometimes when you're doing work. And so maybe you don't need to change. And, you know, you do such a variety of different speakers. And that is interesting to see what happens from episode to episode. And you actually learn what other people on campus are doing. I know through the pandemic, there were some virtual conferences, where people would show their I guess their posters virtually and and now there's a bit of a hybrid where people can elect to either attend the conference in person or, you know, online and show the poster that way. But I think it's part of the experience of being a scientist that people do enjoy networking in person. So even this summer quite a few people are flying out to conferences, so So I think for that thing, I don't think people really would want it to change. And then as I said, it's like networking, you actually maybe you've seen the person's name in papers and articles and stuff and or you hear about them from your supervisor. And, you know, they might be the scientific demigod, but you finally get to meet this person and you know, as a bit of excitement there and, you know, they might take an interest in your work and stuff so that it's a real good for your esteem. I don't know, you'd have to ask other grad students what it's like these days. [laughing] I don't go to conferences.

Sarah Bates  
For Gryphon CAST of course, I would love to see the program grow and have more grad students get involved in the production so we can continue to highlight all the cool stuff going on in CBS. I also think it's really just a cool opportunity for students to be able to build science communication skillsand add something to their CV and it may benefit them in ways that they can't yet envision as they as they launch their their postgraduate careers. So for science communication in general, what I hope to see change as practitioners and scientists both is that we can keep working together to find new ways to engage non-expert audiences and help build trust in science. Just like we just talked about this feels like a really critical time to be building trust in science. And it's hard to communicate what are usually very complex ideas in 288 characters on Twitter which is seems to be where so much you know of the conversation is happening good or bad. You know, there's pluses and minuses to Twitter as we all know. I personally think that podcasts are really contemporary and timely way to enable more meaningful conversations in a way that still appeals to non-expert listeners. But I'm hopeful that we can find other ways to to engage an even wider swath of the public. Because again, building that trust is going to be really important in the coming years. If I can if I can, can I use this opportunity to say thank you Michael, for creating Gryphon CAST like I really do mean it when I say we're grateful for your leadership and your initiative on this and really excited to see it grow and hopefully we can continue to carry it [ laughter] after you're done here at the university and in a way that will make you proud.

Michael Lim
Do you have any final thoughts to share for our audience, and perhaps some words of advice or maybe encouragement for current or future SciCommers out there?

Lior Boguslavski
Some words of advice I'd give for current or future SciCommers is to not overlook the importance of science communication. And really try and get involved with it in any way that you can. Because especially as a science student, a lot of you know, a lot of careers, a lot of jobs that are out there, revolve around science communication and being able to express science and scientific terms and concepts, and whatnot in more simplified terms. So, I think that gaining this practice in undergrad and even in grad school is super important. And I would urge everyone to get involved in science communication, whether that be through joining SCRIBE or Gryphon CAST or any other organization that allows the opportunity to be able to simplify science and express it in ways that everybody can understand and that everybody can be educated by.

Amanda Reside
Well, for words of encouragement for other SciCommers, I think that it's really important to step out of your comfort zone, I kind of was a bit resistant myself at first, because it's a little scary to put yourself out there. And everyone hates listening to their own voice. But if you just [laughter] sort of give yourself that push, it can be really, really rewarding. And you know, you never know if you're going to like something until you try. So, if you're interested in SciCom, I highly recommend ingesting more scientific communication content from others. And maybe that'll inspire you. For the audience, I'd like to say thank you for listening. It's really cool that we've gotten to 10 episodes, I hope we see you in another 10 podcasts.

Ian Smith
What advice to people, I don't really know what to say here? I just say if you're interested in doing that sort of thing, then don't be afraid to approach people and and reach out. And the one thing I would say is actually speak to Hillary Dort, because I know she has interns who are scientific communicators so there's that avenue to pursue.

Sarah Bates
Sure, I would say just do it. There's no time like the present. And you know, if you have any interest at in science communication, there's so many ways to get involved and become a practitioner, whether it's just learning to you know, how to tweet effectively about your own research, or to become more involved in a formal way. Like, I think this SCRIBE program is a great example. And, you know, we give training to any interested students and you know, we help you and support you through the process. So, you know, there's support there if you need it. But you're able to do this on your own to write like, you can blog and do Tik Tok, and, you know, write and submit articles to various publications, and there are supports out there to help you learn how to do that. And if anyone is interested in some ideas about where to look for those resources or additional training, I'm certainly happy for anyone to reach out to me to get that information. Keep an open mind about what your skills are and the possibilities that may be awaiting you.

Michael Lim  
And with that, we come to the end of our special podcast episode. Thank you for joining us in our peak behind the curtain to see what it's like to be part of the Gryphon CAST team. I hope hearing about each team members unique perspectives and experiences inspires you. A big thanks to all members of the Gryphon CAST team for joining me today. And to all of you, our listeners, whether you submit questions, recommend the podcast to your friends, or even just listen when you have some time on your commute to or from work. We really appreciate you. Gryphon CAST is brought to you by your host me, Michael Lim and of course our fantastic Gryphon CAST team. Some of our members who you were able to hear about today. If you're hungry to learn more about different science topics, please check out SCRIBE research highlights at scribe, S-C-R-I-B-E research highlights on the University of Guelph website at uoguelph.ca. Or you can follow us on social media @UofGCBS. You can find us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. Music in the podcast comes from uppbeat.io they'll be details in the show notes. And until next time, please stay curious.