Graduate student Clarice Perryman was among the first cohort of UNH researchers to participate in the Research Communications Academy.
What do you study? Why should I care?
Thirty-two UNH faculty members, graduate students and research-related staff now answer those questions with ease and aplomb after participating in UNH’s first Research Communications Academy (RCA) during the 2019 spring semester.
Sponsored by the Office of the Senior Vice Provost for Research and NH EPSCoR, the RCA boosted participants’ communications skills with workshops by the Alda Center for Communicating Science, grant writing consultant Peg Atkisson and UNH’s own media relations, government relations and research office staff.
“The RCA was a great opportunity to practice talking about my research and receive constructive feedback to improve my message.”
“The RCA was a great opportunity to practice talking about my research and receive constructive feedback to improve my message,” says Amy Keesee, associate professor of physics. Keesee took advantage of congressional visits and recorded a StoryCorps interview through the American Geophysical Union.
“I now?have a network of equally motivated peers across?UNH?with whom to continue this endeavor and further hone my?communication abilities,” adds Drew Robison, a Ph.D. student in the Natural Resources and Earth Systems Science (NRESS) program. “I am thankful UNH has recognized the importance of communication from?their researchers and invested in the culitvation of these skills.”
Robison, who credits his RCA training with helping him get accepted into the American Geophysical Union’s Voices for Science program, is among several participants who parlayed their new communications skills into success. Sydney Birch won the Graduate School’s Three Minute Thesis competition by bringing the “sensory systems of Ectopleura larva” to life for a lay audience.?
“We’re proud of these researchers for their commitment to more effectively communicate their research to diverse audiences,” says Kevin Gardner, UNH vice provost for research. “Their training will enhance the power and impact of UNH’s important research.”
“NH EPSCoR is focused on increasing the state’s research capacity and impact by building partnerships across boundaries,” says Justine Stadler, director of partnerships and impact for NH EPSCoR. “We are excited to see how the first RCA cohort and future cohorts use their new skills to move their research forward with new collaborators, industry, funders and other external stakeholders.”
Participants in the inaugural Research Communications Academy were:
Jenn Andrews, staff, Sustainability Institute
Mark Anthony, graduate student, NRESS
Bradley Barr, affiliate professor, Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping (CCOM)
Sydney Birch, graduate student, molecular evolutionary systems biology
Jessica Briggs, graduate student, biology
Sarah Boege, policy analyst, Institute on Disability
Sophia Burke, graduate student, NRESS and Earth sciences
Megan Carney, staff, Sustainability Institute
Simone Chapman, graduate student, natural resources and the environment
Marcy Doyle, project director, Institute for Health Policy and Practice
Katharine Duderstadt, research scientist, Earth Systems Research Center
Lisa Fernandes, staff, Sustainability Institute
Colleen Flaherty, staff, Sustainability Institute
Thomas Gruen, Paul College
Anne Hartwell, graduate student, Earth sciences and CCOM
Sarah Jakositz, graduate student, civil and environmental engineering
Jennifer Johnson, graduate student, Earth sciences and CCOM
Jin Lee, graduate student, English
Dovev Levine, assistant dean, graduate school
Marta Lima, assistant professor, agriculture, nutrition and food systems
Amy Keesee, associate professor, physics and astronomy
Sanchari Kundu, graduate student, biology
Melissa Melendez, graduate student, Ocean Process Analysis Laboratory
Jovana Milosavljevic-Ardeljan, graduate student, education
Jessie Morell, principal lecturer, agriculture, nutrition and food systems
Bryan Mascio, postdoctoral research associate, education
Laura Nickerson, director, STEM Teachers’ Collaborative
Sanjib Paul, postdoctoral research associate, chemical engineering
Clarice Perryman, graduate student, NRESS
Andrew Robison, graduate student, NRESS
Edward Song, assistant professor, electrical and computer engineering
Applications for the next RCA, scheduled for spring semester?2020, will be solicited in the fall. To be notified, contact Justine Stadler.
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Written By:
Beth Potier | UNH Marketing | beth.potier@unh.edu | 2-1566
