Marine scientist Ellen Prager clearly “gets it” about effective science communication. That was obvious just from the title of her presentation on science communication at the AGU meeting last week: Sex, Drugs & Sea Slime (borrowed from her book title).
To demonstrate the importance of audience engagement, Prager flashed on the screen photos of bizarre larval forms of common sea animals, and asked the audience to guess what each would grow into.
Soon the audience was shouting answers (“a pig?”) and laughing; she had us. (Try guessing the critter below, then see the answer Continue reading