Nicole Baker Gives Real Scientists Voice in Social Media

Nicole Baker Establishes The UNC Science Writing and Communication Club (SWAC)

Nicole Baker, a pharmacology graduate student in the lab of Channing J. Der, recently established a student and postdoc organization focusing on the importance of both written and oral science communication. The UNC Science Writing and Communication Club (SWAC) was born as part of the 5-year, $1.8 million grant that UNC TIBBS was awarded from the NIH BEST program (Broadening Experiences in Scientific Training) aimed at providing students and postdocs a wide array of career training opportunities.

SWAC endeavors to expose members to a variety of careers involving scientific discourse both with other scientists and those without a scientific background. Monthly, SWAC hosts speakers with various backgrounds, including journal editors, medical writers, regulatory writers, freelance writers, etc., in order to provide attendees an inside look at these careers and initiate networking opportunities. Additionally, SWAC began a successful blog, The PipettePen, where SWAC members can author about and publish posts on science topics that interest them.

SWAC Science blog Gives Real Scientists a Voice in Social Media

Regarding the success of The PipettePen, Nicole, now the President of SWAC, had this to say: “I believe that a strong voice from real scientists is severely lacking in social media, and adequate science communication is a critical factor in social progress. I love talking about science with people, both scientists and non-scientists, and I wanted to stretch my own writing chops and give others a platform to do so.”

This spring, the UNC Training Initiatives in Biomedical & Biological Sciences (TIBBS) and SWAC are presenting a Science Communication Series, where participants will have the opportunity to learn from experts in the field and earn a training certificate. During this series, attendees will develop a “3 Slide Thesis” presentation meant to distill the importance of their research into a presentation aimed at a non-academic crowd. Additionally, attendees will write and workshop an article to be featured on The PipettePen. Participants with exceptional presentations and blog posts will be awarded a travel award to attend a conference. As a finale, TIBBS and SWAC will be hosting Dr. Joe Palca, a science correspondent for National Public Radio (NPR), who will give a closing keynote address for the Science Communication Series on May 20^th.

Visit swac.web.unc.edu to read The PipettePen and see updates on the Science Communication Series. If you have an interest in SWAC, please email Nicole at bakernm@email.unc.edu.