Author: Katie Walwyn-Brown

Who can resist the call to become part of a dream team? That’s how I got involved with ‘Have you Heard?’. I had volunteered at museum events and entered speaking competitions before, so I knew I enjoyed communicating science and was keen to take it to the next level. When a couple of people I had met at these events made an ‘Avengers Assemble’ -style call to start our own public engagement project, I didn’t have to think twice. One year on I’m writing this blog post to tell you the story of my first adventure in driving an engagement project from the beginning, and why I think everyone should give it a try.

First it was time to get creative. We had to ask ourselves exactly what was our message? Who did we want to reach? How could we best use our skills to do it? We settled on an area close to all of our hearts: how science is viewed in the media. We then took the challenging decision to aim for groups of adults who don’t normally come to science festivals and events, bringing the message to them with interactive workshops. Finally we needed a catchy name, and so ‘Have you Heard?’ was started.

To get the project off the ground we needed a couple of very important things; groups to visit and money to run sessions. When I had volunteered for established events these things were already in place, so this was a new challenge. We applied for and won a couple of public engagement grants, and sent out emails and calls to both old and new contacts. As someone who wants to run my own lab someday, I will need skills like building collaborations and applying for funding , and practising them at an early career stage was great experience.

Over the year we travelled across Manchester; to a retirement community in Wythenshawe and a mental health support group in Longsight, among others, to talk about how scientific research becomes a news story. Each person I spoke to gave me new insights into how science and scientists are viewed. Getting out of the academic bubble gave me a vital sense of perspective and kept me energised in the final stages of my PhD.

Through starting ‘Have you heard?’ I made an impact on issues I care about, and made friends along the way. I would definitely recommend volunteering with established public engagement projects, especially if you are just getting started. But if you have an idea to bring something new to the table, then take the plunge. Find a team of like-minded people and see what you can achieve.

By Dr Katie Walwyn-Brown

@Katie_WBrown

You can learn more about the ‘Have You Heard?’ project here