Abstract Detail

Education and Outreach

Mendelson, Ellie [1], Zumajo-Cardona, Cecilia [2], Ambrose, Barbara [3].

What is Science Communication? Sharing botany with a broader audience.

A quick Google search for “What is a Fruit” renders about 2-billion results. While some of these results might be botanically accurate, finding peer-reviewed resources that are well-suited for young audiences are difficult to come by. People engage with plant life in many ways on a regular basis – through grocery shopping, spending time outside, or by simply breathing air. Yet, information about how plant life behaves, is classified, and evolves is not always palatable for the general population, and even less so for young audiences.
Over the past two years, we published “What is a Fruit” and “What is a Leaf,” two papers written from a botanical perspective for readers aged 8-15, in Frontiers for Young Minds. This journal is peer-reviewed, open-access, and free with two sets of reviewers: young reviewers and adult reviewers. To date, “What is a Fruit” has 34,362 views and has been downloaded 715 times. Our papers provide engagement with a broad audience and are accessible on the internet. My goals are twofold- first, I hope the botany community finds the platform of Frontiers for Young Minds intriguing. Second, that by presenting our work in Frontiers we can spark a conversation about pathways to making science accessible to a broader audience.

1 - Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, 1300 Centre Street, Boston, MA, 02131, USA
2 - Università degli Studi di Milano, Dipartimento di BioScienze-piano 3 torre A, Via Celoria 26 - 20133, Milano, Italia
3 - The New York Botanical Garden, 2900 Southern Blvd, Bronx, NY, 10458, United States

Keywords:
Science communication
Peer-review
Fruits
Leaves
morphology
Accessibility.

Presentation Type: Poster
Number: PEO006
Abstract ID:494
Candidate for Awards:None