A career in science communication

JAMIE GALLAGHER: Hello. I’m Jamie Gallagher from the University of Glasgow, and I’m the Public Engagement Officer and a Science Communicator. As a Public Engagement Officer, I look at how we engage the public with research. So open up the university, bring the public in, and discuss important research topics. As a Science Communicator, I go out and I talk about my love of science. I perform stage shows, I write, I film videos– lots of exciting projects talking about my love of science. I kind of found science communication by luck, in a way. I went to university, and I did an undergraduate in chemical physics. And then I did a PhD in chemistry and electrical engineering.

So with a science degree you can go lots of different places. And one of the really emerging fields is writing and talking about science. We need people that have an understanding of science to able to translate it for the public. If you think about the ways you get your information, then science communication can take any way, shape or form. So think about where you get your information, just now. That might be reading a paper, it might watching television. But you also get a lot of information through Twitter, Facebook, videos. And so, one place you could go with a degree in science is into journalism or communication.