Welcome, Rosh!
Please welcome our newest Science Communicator, Rosh! Roshni (Rosh) is originally from Mumbai, India and she immigrated to New York City where she was raised. Rosh earned her B.A in Urban Sustainability with a concentration in environmental science from Brooklyn College and worked for several environmental organizations within NYC such as Hudson River Park Trust and Brooklyn Grange. She recently completed her Masters in Landscape Architecture (MLA) from The Ohio State University. Over the last few years, she has worked for a landscape architecture firm on various projects in the Midwest. She is a licensed drone pilot and has been flying drones for the last five years. She enjoys creating art in various mediums such as painting, sewing, ceramics, and more.
Highlights from the Inclusive Science Communication Symposium
From October 19-21, science communicators Sidney Anderson and Roshni Nair attended the Inclusive Science Communication Symposium hosted by the Metcalf Institution at the University of Rhode Island. While there, they attended sessions on data accessibility, inclusionary storytelling, community building through trust, and new dissemination techniques. They also hosted a session on stakeholder engagement, where they discussed IAN’s engagement strategies, the term “stakeholder” and its alternatives, participant methods for engagement, and led participants through the Get the Grade game, which IAN uses frequently in their engagement workshops. This symposium was a wealth of new and highly applicable information that IAN is excited to work into our own science communication and relationship-building strategies.
First science communication course of 2024
The REEF School Science Communication Course occurred on January 12th at IMET. The course was led by Roshni Nair, Sidney Anderson, and Nathan Miller and discussed the fundamentals of communicating research through the help of visual aids, ABT (And, But, Therefore) Statements, and design principles such as color theory and layout organization techniques. The students then pitched their business ideas to the instructors and got feedback about their communication skills from the instructors and peers.
Chesapeake Global Collaboratory: Baltimore in Context
On October 10th, the Chesapeake Global Collaboratory (CGC) hosted Baltimore Harbor in Context to explore CGC's role in restoring Baltimore Harbor. Eric Shott opened with a presentation on the harbor’s history as a key U.S. port, its industrial pollution, and recent remediation efforts that have improved water quality. This was followed by a panel with members of Blue Water Baltimore, the Environmental Justice Journalism Initiative, Council Fire, and Waterfront Partnership who shared their community-focused efforts to enhance the harbor. Linwood Pendleton from the Ocean Knowledge Action Network then delivered a presentation highlighting the importance of inclusive ocean sustainability strategies prioritizing initiatives led by Indigenous communities and local stakeholders. This inclusive approach was further reflected in a global panel featuring members from Ocean KAN, the COAST Card project, and the World Harbor Project. These experts from France, Japan, Norway, the Philippines, and the USA shared valuable insights on engagement strategies and practices that could help inform restoration efforts in the Baltimore Harbor. Additionally, two breakout discussions facilitated conversations on how the CGC can enhance partnerships for ongoing harbor restoration efforts, setting the stage for a broader Baltimore Harbor summit in 2025.