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Live event Link: https://bit.ly/MS-SmallVideosBigIdeas
Summary
From going troll hunting in Iceland, to searching for her cosmic twin in a parallel universe, to tracing the footsteps of the world’s last Neanderthals, Melissa Hogenboom – a 2017 winner of the AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Award — has used her storytelling skills to engage the public and challenge the imagination. She has written hundreds of articles, made short and long-form films for broadcast and digital distribution, and has reported for radio and TV.
She launched and currently leads the documentary site BBC Reel, which uses short videos to connect viewers with people “living remarkable lives around the globe, as well as showcasing inspiring and innovative ideas for the future, discovering new mysteries, and debunking hype.” Hogenboom’s recent TV and digital documentary, “A Mother’s Brain,” won a double 2022 Webby Award in the Science & Education category. Her 2021 book, “The Motherhood Complex,” is a scientific exploration of what it means to become a mother.
In her AAAS Kavli lecture, Hogenboom will discuss her pathway into science journalism, what it’s like to work at the BBC, what makes a good story idea, how to get the best from interviewing expert sources, and the importance now, more than ever, of evidence-based reporting for a general audience.
Joining Melissa is Gareth Mitchell, a lecturer on the Science Communication and Science Media Production MSc programmes at Imperial. He teaches radio journalism and audio production. Away from Imperial, Gareth presents the weekly technology show Digital Planet on the BBC World Service. Originally an electronic engineer, Gareth turned to science communication about twenty years ago and since then has written for the likes of Focus magazine, appeared across BBC radio and television and hosted events at the World Economic Forum, OECD, Science Museum, Wellcome Collection, European Commission and others.
Background
Imperial College is delighted to welcome this year’s American Association for the Advancement of Science Kavli Science Journalism Lecture, the first time the event has taken place in Europe. The event is a collaboration between the AAAS and Imperial’s Centre for Languages, Culture and Communication (CLCC), host department of the Science Communication Unit (SCU).
Nestled within an institution focused on science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM), the mission of the CLCC is to deliver excellent teaching and scholarship in the fields of humanities, languages and science communication. The Centre’s Imperial Horizons programme of over 130 modules ensures that an Imperial undergraduate degree includes an education outside STEMM, indisputably critical in our fast-changing world. Our Adult Education day and evening classes, combined language degrees and bespoke programmes also share the common thread of teaching excellence and focus on the student experience. The SCU’s world-leading master’s programme in science communication follows these CLCC principles, giving the next generation of science communicators the technical and humanities skills that will help build better science/society relations.
The AAAS Kavli lecture series celebrates the role of journalism in enhancing the public understanding of science, and in stimulating critical debate about the future directions of science. These also are the aims of the Science Communication Unit, and so Melissa Hogenboom’s lecture reminds us of the importance of international collaboration in this important field.