W H AT H A P P E N S W H E N Y O U D O N AT E Y O U R C A R E E R T O S C I E N C E

High-Walkin by John Conway

H I I ’ M T H E A B O O D H O O

• Secret “h”Thea

• FuturistNaturalist.com

• Art school dropout

• Copywriter since 2007

• Content Strategist since 2009

• Nike, Target, Visa, Verizon, Activision, Audi

• Science fan since 1987

D I S C L A I M E R :

M Y E X A M P L E O F A C A R E E R I S C O N T E N T S T R AT E G Y, A N D M Y E X A M P L E O F A S C I E N C E I S PA L E O N T O L O G Y.

C O N T E N T S T R AT E G Y A N D PA L E O N T O L O G Y D O N O T N E C E S S A R I LY R E P R E S E N T A L L C A R E E R S O R A L L S C I E N C E F I E L D S R E S P E C T I V E LY.

B U T F R O M M Y S P E C I F I C E X A M P L E S , S O M E G E N E R A L I T I E S W I L L E M E R G E .

Raise your hand if you have a friend or family member who’s a professional scientist.

HTTPS : / /GOO .GL / 5E2Z3S

Quetzalcoatlus sp. by John Conway

“ S U R E LY S C I E N T I S T S N E E D C O N T E N T S T R AT E G Y ”

Quetzalcoatlus sp. by John Conway

“ S U R E LY S C I E N T I S T S N E E D C O N T E N T S T R AT E G Y ”

CHALLENGE

Find any job or project related to science that would utilize my existing skills and experience

BARRIERS Wasn’t focused on a particular science, didn’t know any scientists, didn’t have a degree in science

SOLUTIONS Paleontology, conference, school

T H E A N N U A L M E E T I N G O F T H E S O C I E T Y O F V E R T E B R AT E PA L E O N T O L O G Y

All Yesterdays: Parasaurolophus by John Conway

a technical writer who volunteers as a fossil preparator

an open science advocate

a tetrapod zoologist

a grad student studying ornithischian jaw mechanics

a web developer

a writer who writes about dinosaurs

an invertebrate paleontologist

All Yesterdays: Parasaurolophus by John Conway

CHALLENGE

Meet actual paleontologists and decide which school Ishould apply to for that bachelors degree

ACHIEVEMENTS Made friends, joined web committee, learned more about paleontology in one week than in previous 29 years

REVELATION I belong with these people

T H E A N N U A L M E E T I N G O F T H E S O C I E T Y O F V E R T E B R AT E PA L E O N T O L O G Y

D R E X E L U N I V E R S I T Y, G E O S C I E N C E D E PA R T M E N T

Incubating Gallimimus by John Conway

a paleontologist who sometimes wishes he was a drummer

a coastal geologist who hates dinosaurs

a radiologist who scans fossils

a fine artist who made a taxidermy dinosaur

a character animator who reconstructed a crocodile

a vfx student building a virtual sauropod

a hockey player building robot dinosaur legs

Incubating Gallimimus by John Conway

SEEMINGLY POSSIBLE GOAL

Attain bachelor’s degree

DISCOVERIES Financial aid system not designed for married, high-incomeart school dropouts

LASTING IMPACT $30k debt, tons of XP, ongoing relationship with professors, discovery that paleontologists do need my skills

D R E X E L U N I V E R S I T Y, G E O S C I E N C E D E PA R T M E N T

C R E TA C E O U S M A N T U A

Hesperornis regalis by John Conway

C R E TA C E O U S M A N T U A

“It was the end of the age of dinosaurs, and the waters of a warmer, weirder Atlantic Ocean covered a stretch of green sand that would someday be known as the Hornerstown formation of New Jersey.”

CretaceousMantua.com

P U B L I C O U T R E A C H

S C I E N C E P U B L I C O U T R E A C H

Includes talks, exhibits, websites, videos, etc.

• Recruits new scientists

• Informs public policy

• Improves scientific literacy of general public

• Helps prevent stupid decisions

– S T E P H A N I E PA P PA S , L I V E S C I E N C E , 2 0 1 2

“any researcher receiving a National Science Foundation grant must explain how their research will affect the public, including plans for outreach”

– J A I R A N G A N AT H A N , S C I E N T I F I C A M E R I C A N , 2 0 1 3

“Scientists, here's the bottom line. If you don't convince the public that your science matters, your funding will quickly vanish and so will your field.”

“The dinosaurs died in the world's fifth mass extinction…Right now, our species is propagating

an environmental disaster of geological proportions that is so broad and so severe, it can rightly be called the sixth extinction. Only unlike the dinosaurs, we can see it coming. And unlike the dinosaurs, we can do something about it.”

– K E N N E T H L A C O VA R A : H U N T I N G F O R D I N O S A U R S S H O W E D M E O U R P L A C E I N T H E U N I V E R S E , T E D , 2 0 1 6

T H E A N N U A L M E E T I N G O F T H E G E O L O G I C A L S O C I E T Y O F A M E R I C A

Troodon formosus by John Conway

Troodon formosus by John Conway

OPPORTUNITY

Gain publicity and recognition for Cretaceous Mantua, maybe find a new project

TAKEAWAY Scientists aren’t necessarily drawn in by the visual design of a scientific poster - they skim for key words.

BONUS QUEST GeoCorps America / Geoscientists-in-the-Parks program

T H E A N N U A L M E E T I N G O F T H E G E O L O G I C A L S O C I E T Y O F A M E R I C A

D I N O S A U R N AT I O N A L M O N U M E N T

Stegosaurus stenops by John Conway

1 9 9 7 2 0 1 5

C A R N E G I E Q U A R R Y

T H E D I G I TA L Q U A R R Y P R O J E C T

Apatosaurus louisae by John Conway

D I G I TA L Q U A R R Y P R O J E C T

“Carnegie Quarry is the Jurassic dinosaur fossil bed at Dinosaur National Monument. Often called ‘the wall of bones,’ the quarry includes roughly 1500 fossils that are preserved in the Quarry Exhibit Hall on the Utah side of the park.

For now, five hundred prominent fossils from the wall of bones can be explored in an interactive tool we call the Digital Quarry.”

CarnegieQuarry.com

Apatosaurus louisae by John Conway

ORIGINAL OBJECTIVES FOR 12-WEEK PROGRAM

Digitally archive historical documents, prepare data for eventual interactive quarry, inventory fossils

UNEXPECTED OUTCOME Developed and launched scaled-down version of project

TAKEAWAY Programs intended for junior scientists are sometimes used to fund projects that actually need professional creative help that junior scientists aren’t equipped for, and the depth of experience needed won’t help their careers as researchers

T H E D I G I TA L Q U A R R Y P R O J E C T

park rangers

a saurischian enthusiast

a paleontologist from Mongolia

three geology majors

a bus of French-Canadian geologists

the Weed Warriors

park volunteers

a cave girl

T H E F L A M I N G C L I F F S

Velociraptor mongoliensis by John Conway

T H E F L A M I N G C L I F F S

“The Flaming Cliffs in the heart of the Gobi Desert are home to the fossils of ancient creatures from the dog-sized herbivore Protoceratops to the ferocious predator Velociraptor. As an official park protected by Umnugovi Province, the Flaming Cliffs are preserved for the benefit of humanity’s global scientific heritage as well as the posterity of the Mongolian people.”

FlamingCliffs.org

Courtesy of Bolor Minjin

T H E F L A M I N G C L I F F S

Velociraptor mongoliensis by John Conway

PROJECT GOALS

Educate visitors and locals about the quarry, its fossils, and the importance of preserving them against poaching

PROGRESS Prototype website at 80%, first 4 dinosaur illustrationscommissioned

NEXT STEPS Translation, Mobile Museum, digital archiving, crowdfunding

T H E S TAT E O F C R E AT I V E /S C I E N C E C O L L A B O R AT I O N

W H Y S C I E N T I S T S A R E N ’ T W O R K I N G W I T H P E O P L E L I K E U S M O R E O F T E N

• Scientists who put a lot into public outreach are sometimes looked down on by their peers

• They may not realize they can and don’t know how to find us or who we are

• They haven’t quantified how much faster and more effective their outreach could be if they collaborated with a professional

• They don’t realize that a project a science student could do in a year, we could and would do in a month in our free time

• They may perceive the idea of professional web design as flashy and expensive

• They prefer their collaborators to have a degree in their field

• A shortage of science jobs motivates them to keep the work within their circle

W H Y S C I E N T I S T S A R E W O R K I N G W I T H P E O P L E L I K E U S

• Most grants require public outreach, so there’s no shortage of projects

• We do fantastic work quickly and in a professional manner

• We think of things they don’t

• We know how to make them feel listened to because we work with clients all the time

• They eventually realize that we’re experts at learning new things fast, so we don’t need a degree in their field in order to create something for the public, any more than we need a business degree to create “public outreach” for companies

C R E AT I V E S F O R S C I E N C E

Pteranodon sternbergi by John Conway

Science public outreach benefits enormously from the help of creative professionals.

Tons of creative professionals think science is awesome and want to help.

C R E AT I V E S F O R S C I E N C E

“Creatives For Science is a forum where scientists can find creative professionals to deliver on their most ambitious public outreach goals.

And where creative professionals can find challenging, meaningful projects in the fields they love to read about.”

CreativesForScience.org

R E C E N T P R O J E C T S

• An interactive exhibit on ice age predators

• A video promoting an astronomy tool

• Vector illustrations of every known life form

• A logo for an astronomy app

• An open source interactive fossil quarry

VISION

Collaboration between scientists and creative professionals to make science public outreach as effective as it can be.

PROGRESS Seeking 501c3 status and slowly building tools and services. Projects are posted on social media.

NEXT STEPS Workshops, online tools, platform

C R E AT I V E S F O R S C I E N C E

Pteranodon sternbergi by John Conway

So should you donate your career to science?

F I R S T C O N S I D E R T H E D R A W B A C K S

• Even when they have grant money, science public outreach projects don’t pay what you’re used to.

• You have to think of them like volunteer work, or do them between higher-paying freelance jobs.

• If the project requires travel or full-time hours (like the one at Dinosaur), your job or family may not support it.

• Maybe you’re just not that into science

But if you can, do it.

Science needs our skills right now.

Join Creatives for Science and I’ll (eventually) send you a project.

CreativesForScience.org

T H A N K Y O U

Rick Wing

Denny Luan@lets_experiment

Brooke Haiar

Ali Nabavizadeh@Vert_Anatomist

Alane Fitzgerald@abrashTX

Mike Keesey@PhyloPic

Dave Marshall @Palaeocast

Brian Switek@Laelaps

Darren Naish@TetZoo

Jon Tennant @Protohedgehog

Ken Lacovara@kenlacovara

Anna Jaworski

Krystin Vogele

Paul Ullman

Jennifer Hall@artandevolution

Evan Boucher

Valentina Feldman@vaIentina

Bob Bakker

Erin Dlabola

Dan Chure@CarnegieQuarry

Elliott Smith

Trinity Sterling

Marie Jimenez

Brooks Britt

Joey Lee@leejoeyk

Melissa Bruns

Kaitlin Thaney @kaythaney

Bolor Minjin

Institute for the Study of Mongolian Dinosaurs

Society of Vertebrate Paleontology

Geological Society of America

National Park Service

Dinosaur National Monument

Intermountain Natural History Association

GeoCorps America/Geoscientists-in-the-Parks program

Mozilla Science Lab

WebVisions

Gary Boodhoo @skinjester

And John Conway, for all the paleoart @thejohnconway

Parasaurolophus walkeri and Troodon formosus by John Conway