Christin Godale, Opinion contributor Published 10:15 a.m. ET Oct. 19, 2020

(Photo: Getty Images)

In the depths of pursuing a Ph.D. in neuroscience, I spend most of my time in a dark, windowless room using a microscope to take pictures of brain cells. When I do emerge from behind my microscope, I rarely discuss my research with other people, frankly because, like many other early-career scientists, I have not been adequately trained in communicating my research with the public. The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed this dynamic; however, scientists are now encouraged, expected, and even required to explain what is happening across the country.

The "new normal"that we live in poses quite a dilemma to the scientific community. Researchers, like myself, perform experiments and collect and analyze data within academic contexts. We are taught to acknowledge our experiments shortcomings and propose innovative approaches in our grants and peer-reviewed papers. As a result, scientists are open to change whether that is changing a predictive model because of new data or redesigning an experiment because they thought of a new and better approach. Now, scientists need to adapt to the changing conditions outside the lab and seek better ways to communicate science to the public and, as a scientist, I am no different.

Throughout my eight years of combined undergraduate and graduate education, public communication has never been part of the curriculum. Many rising early-career scientists, including myself, believe our field must learn to clearly and effectively communicate our research to the taxpayers that fund it. Yet, it is often challenging to translate complex scientific concepts filled with jargon into clear, concise terms and ideas that the public can thoughtfully digest.

Scientist looking at a digital rendering of a coronavirus(Photo: Getty Images)

But there is good news! Many scientists across the nation are trying to find ways to develop their science communication skills. Professional societies like the Society for Neuroscience, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and The National Academies of Science have developed an extensive collection of tools and programs, like science communication courses and science policy fellowships to help scientists create the necessary skillset to communicate with you, the public. Locally, the University of Cincinnati offers science communication classes. I plan to enroll in one or two of these lectures because I owe it to you as a scientist and as a community member to improve my skills.

The scientific community should have learned lessons from the last pandemic in 1918 that science communication was critical to stifling misinformation. Instead, we are seeing the same missteps today as COVID-19 misinformation circulates on various websites and social media platforms. Much of this pandemic misinformation stems from focusing on single-study results without context; overemphasizing results, particularly treatment effects, without considering limitations; and communicating results that have not been peer-reviewed by the scientific community.

(Photo: Getty Images)

Still, there are a lot of trustworthy resources that you can use to learn about COVID-19s biology, transmission, symptoms, and how to protect yourself, your family, and your community from the coronavirus. I recommend using The Federation of American Scientists COVID-19 question resource (covid19.fas.org), which is designed to connect public members with scientists trained in science communication to answer any and every question you might have about COVID-19.

As scientists, our purpose is to stretch the bounds of human knowledge, but at times, we have failed to communicate our findings with the public effectively. Now we have to take a step back and acknowledge the gaps in our education and work to improve our science communication skills. Science is a powerful tool, but it is up to every individual scientist to become a communicator and ensure our work contributes to solving societal problems instead of making them worse.

Christin Godale is a Neuroscience Doctoral Candidate at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and the former Graduate Student Trustee on the University of Cincinnati Board of Trustees.

Christin Godale(Photo: Provided)

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