Professional Communicators Case Study
Case Study - How Professional Communicators Can Help
Dr Ceri Lewis, a marine biologist working on the UK Ocean Acidification Research Programme, considers how professional communicators can make a difference in reaching key stakeholders.
It was a chance encounter with a professional communicator on a research expedition to the Arctic that encouraged me to team up with Digital Explorer, a company that's pioneered educational expeditions and provides inspirational lessons and resources direct from the world to the classroom. Until quite recently, oceans didn't figure at all in the school curriculum.
Most people don't know what ocean acidification is at all, yet the ocean ph is changing faster than it has in the past 300 million years.
As a result of this concern, I contribute research findings to Digital Explorer which, with sponsorship from a private company, Catlin Arctic Explorer, provides free downloads of professionally produced and updated worksheets, lesson plans and even videos of experiments from the field that students can perform in the classroom. These resources are now being used by 410 UK secondary schools.
Inspiring school children is really enjoyable and training teachers to use the material is vital so that they can then train other colleagues.
We found that teachers were afraid to teach about oceans because they didn't feel they knew enough about them, so I get huge satisfaction from my involvement because I can see the impact immediately. I really enjoy breaking down barriers.
Thanks to Ceri Lewis and Research Councils UK for the Impact Case Study and seminar which provided source material for this example.