Earth Science Communicator post - advertisement

THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON

Earth Science Communicator

Up to £25,000 per annum including London Weighting

Mayfair, Central London

The Geological Society of London wishes to recruit a science communication specialist to develop the Society’s media profile through the promotion of its published research and cutting-edge conferences, and to assist in communications activities aimed at parliamentarians and departments of state.

The successful applicant will be responsible to the Society’s External Relations Committee, and will be expected to develop under the guidance of author and science journalist Ted Nield (Editor, Geoscientist) with a view to becoming the Society’s principal media contact in April 2009, subject to satisfactory performance.

The duties of the post holder will include reactive and proactive media relations; drafting responses to Government and other consultations; managing certain of the Society’s international relations (principally with the International Geoscience Programme (IGCP) and the Association of European Geological Societies); drafting speeches for the President and providing administrative assistance to the External Relations Committee. These responsibilities will require some foreign travel, mainly in Europe.

The successful applicant will be a fluent and talented writer, able to assist fellow members of staff as required in the creation of leaflets, brochures and other documents aimed at a general audience - including buying in design and print services, and bringing these documents to publication.

Preferably with a background in the Earth sciences and a postgraduate qualification in science communication or journalism (or equivalent experience), you will be able to demonstrate a strong commitment to the popularisation of science in general and Earth sciences in particular.

Further Information

For further information about the post and how to apply, please click this link to the Society’s Web Site.

www.geolsoc.org.uk/sco

Application will be by CV and written exercise, with a covering letter explaining why you think you would be ideally suited to this position. If you have a portfolio of published science writing, please include this also.

• Closing date for applications: Monday 30 June
• Interviews will be held on: Thursday 10 July

You will be informed if you have been successful in gaining an interview by the end of Friday 4 July. Unfortunately it is not possible for us to write to all applicants.

Biosciences Federation Science Communication Award 2008

The Biosciences Federation has unleashed this year's Science Communication Award. The idea is to reward "research-active bioscientists from UK universities or institutes who make an outstanding and consistent contribution to communicating science to the public". The deadline for nominations is 24 August 2008.

Aimed at working researchers rather than science writers, the award comes in two flavours, £500 for new researcher and £1500 for established researcher. (That should probably be the other way round, if you consider the need for the cash.) The winners will collect their awards at a Biosciences Federation meeting in London on 12 November 2008 which will also have a Science Communication event.

Help to nurture the next generation on 5 June

The ABSW executive committee is embarking on a new drive to nurture and support aspiring journalists, and is seeking the help of its members.

On Thursday 5 June, the ABSW will be holding a ‘Meet the Science Journalists’ event, aimed at students who are currently taking courses in science journalism or who are contemplating a career as a science journalist.

The event will be held in two parts.

The first part will take place between 6:00 and 6:45 pm in the main lecture theatre at the Geological Society on Piccadilly, London, and will consist of a panel of established science journalists discussing and answering questions about their careers and big breaks in the profession.

The second part will take place between 7:00 and 8:00 pm in the upstairs bar at the Captain’s Cabin (4-7 Norris Street, near Piccadilly Circus), and will involve ‘speed networking’ – for a nominal charge of £1, aspiring journalist will have a 15-minute session with an established journalist to gain a personal ‘careers insight’. There is already a lot of interest from students on courses in and around London, so we need lots of ABSW members and other established journalists to volunteer and form the pool of speed networkers. If you are willing to give your time to this very worthy cause, please contact Bob Ward as soon as possible on bob.ward@fsmail.net.

In line with current belt-tightening by the ABSW, there will be a charge for this event; £2 for members and £5 for non-members. One of the aims of the evening is to recruit new student members. Volunteer ‘speed networkers’ will gain free entrance and will be entitled to at least one free drink.

There is already a great deal of interest in the event from student journalists. Carolyn Kelday, the student representative on the ABSW executive committee, has set up a Facebook Group for students who are interested in science journalism (and, hence, who are current or potential members of the ABSW) – it now has 60 members, of whom 35 have so far indicated that they will be attending the event on 5 June. I’m willing to bet we’ll see more than 50 students at the event, so even if you cannot volunteer as a speed networker, please come along to either or both parts, to add to the atmosphere and create a dynamic and positive impression of the ABSW.

For further information, contact Bob Ward on bob.ward@fsmail.net or 07811-320346.

Doing it with style

A perennial issue for any science writer, especially freelance contributors, is which "house style" to adopt. "Style" isn't about fine writing or grammar, but the need to be consistent in what appears in a publication. How do you deal with numbers, for example? Is it "5" or "five"? Neither is wrong, but you cannot chop and change within a publication.

Most larger magazines and newspapers have their own house style. Writers should, then, get their hands on a copy, if possible, and stick with that.

There are times when there is no house style to guide a writer. There can even be projects where the writer has to set the style. This is often the case when you are working for a large organisation – maybe a government department or a research organisation – that is not primarily in the publishing business.

A good place to start on the subject could be the Thoughts on Style from the Institute of Scientific & Technical Communications. As well as offering some sound advice, the ISTC has a pdf file of its own house style. As the institute says, this style guide "demonstrates a minimalist approach to style guidance". It is not a bad place to start to assemble a style guide for other projects.

The ISTC's web also has a page of "Further reading" with links to several other style guides.

Much of this information is relevant to any area of writing. Even the ISTC steers clear of ruling on issues of science and technology. Maybe that is something that the ABSW might like to investigate.

DTP software at a pocket friendly price

Most experienced science writers know that you need a professional designer to see their work into print. But there are times when you want to get an idea of how something you are working on will turn out. Then there are those freelance jobs that are too small, or the client too mean, to stump up the cost of a designer. Finally, of course, some ABSW members can rightly claim to be professional designers.

For longer than I care to remember, I have used a package called PagePlus for simple DTP. (It also does complicated, but that is where I insists on calling in a professional.) A new press release, Serif Launches PagePlus X3, heralds the arrival of yet another version of this package.

Over the years, I haven't pounded the software to death (see above), but I have used it often enough to know that it is easier to use than most. I particularly liked it when they added PDF output to the repertoire of things that PagePlus can work with.

At one time Microsoft also dabbled in the "bottom end" of the DTP market. But it seems to have given up on that and has upped the price of its DTP package which now comes in at twice the price of PagePlus.

One of the interesting things about PagePlus is that it is "made in the UK". The company that produces it, Serif, has been around since 1986.

Another point in Serif's favour is that the free versions of some of their packages. They will even let you buy older versions. And once you own Serif's stuff, their upgrade deals are attractive. That's just as well because they churn out new versions regularly.

Serif also does software for web design and handling photos. Put these together and you have the makings of a reasonable design package.

Yet another minister fingers the media

It is that time of the year again, the Glyndebourne Festival is underway and the Public Engagement in Science and Technology (PEST) season has started. In the same week when the first Glyndebourne production opened to mixed reviews, we had the annual bash masterminded the BA, the PEST practitioner par excellence. As yet there have been few reviews of this gig.

Such is the stature of the subject these days that the BA can even drag a government minister along to mutter some fine words at its Science Communication Conference. In this case, the speaker was Ian Pearson, Minister of State for Science and Innovation.

In his speech at the Institute of Engineering and Technology, Pearson posed a number of questions in his conclusions. The one most relevant to members of the ABSW was "how can the media provide more accurate and balanced information that helps to improve scientific literacy?"

It seems that there will be yet another consultation paper with words on public engagement. You have been warned.