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Seminars on Sharing Planetary Science
  • +1
  • Christine Shupla,
  • Andrew Shaner,
  • Sha'Rell Webb,
  • Grace Beaudoin
Christine Shupla
Lunar and Planetary Institute

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Andrew Shaner
Lunar and Planetary Institute
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Sha'Rell Webb
Lunar and Planetary Institute
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Grace Beaudoin
Lunar and Planetary Institute
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Abstract

Since 2017, the education and public engagement team at the Lunar and Planetary Institute has conducted seminars for planetary scientists (including early career scientists and planetary engineers) interested in engaging public audiences. Sharing Planetary Science seminars address some of the challenges in effectively interacting with audiences. Seminars include current educational research and incorporate the participants’ knowledge and experiences in engaging public audiences. Sessions include invited speakers with expertise in science education, science writing, journalism, communicating with policy makers, and social media. The seminars are hour-long sessions, on over a dozen topics including understanding audience needs, common planetary misconceptions, engaging culturally diverse audiences, and more. While those conducted in 2017 were limited to in-person participants, by 2019 scientists were welcome to join online. Resources, powerpoints, and recordings are available online, along with information about upcoming seminars, at www.lpi.usra.edu/education/scientist-engagement. The number of participants has increased over the past 18 months. Post-session surveys have been conducted after each seminar; participants find the seminars useful and interesting. This poster will include further details of these professional development sessions, which topics and aspects of the seminars are most popular, and the findings of the evaluation to date.