Antarctica online: return from the ice

Cliff and I are back from the ice, and have started editing our field footage and putting our lectures together. Thanks to a fabulous video camera (Canon XF100) and some incredible locations (and hopefully some interesting commentary from us) it’s all looking really great. One of the only problems I’ve noticed so far, is that […]

Reflections on SCIE 311: Science Communication

Between July – October 2015, Rebecca and I had the genuine pleasure of teaching a topic that we both love, to a class of fantastic, enthusiastic students. This was the first time either of us had taught Science Communication as a formal University course, and we while we had bold ambitions, we weren’t sure what […]

The Conversation

The following work is by Matapuku Robati, a student in our Science Communication course. For this assignment, students were encouraged to explore non-written modes of communication. Below is the story of this work… THE CONVERSATION, BY MATAPUKU ROBATI [vimeo http://vimeo.com/109568592] If I was given the opportunity to communicate something to the world that I actually […]

A very cold classroom

In Norway, they say there’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing. Back home in New Zealand, I wouldn’t tolerate giving a lecture in minus 8 degrees C – or minus 17 if you take the windchill into account. But down here at Scott Base, that’s just fine, because I’m dressed for the […]

Antarctica online

Rhian and I have been pre-recording lectures for our online courses for three years now. Our online courses are asynchronous, which means that students can watch the lectures when and where it suits them – they just need to complete the assignments that are due at the end of each module. Some of our lectures […]

What Lies Beneath – by Matapuku Robati

The following assignment was written by Matapuku Robati, a student in our science communication undergraduate course. Weather, holiday packages, resorts, vacation, and accommodation: these are among the top five Google searches related to the Cook Islands. When I speak with family, friends and work colleagues with reference to my homeland, similar subjects emerge in the […]

HeLa play: Henrietta Lacks comes to New Zealand

The University of Otago, Wellington, in partnership with the Science in Context group at Victoria University of Wellington, the British Council of New Zealand and Made in Scotland, is delighted to be hosting and sponsoring a theatrical performance of HeLa, an internationally award-winning one person play currently being toured through New Zealand. Coming all the […]

Art, Science, and Theatre: three events coming up

Rebecca and I are excited to be involved with three upcoming events that explore the relationship between art and science, and public engagement with science. On Saturday, October 11th, we’re both taking part in Breaking Ice: art-science symposium, part of NZ IceFest in Christchurch. In this one day public symposium, 15 leading artists, scientists and […]

Citizen science, outreach, history of science communication: we’re looking for summer scholars!

Applications for Victoria University of Wellington summer scholarships are open! Summer scholarships offer students (third year or above) $6000 along with valuable research experience for projects running over the summer. Information on how to apply is here – applications are due on 1 October. Here are the projects we’re involved in this year. Please contact […]

What courses are we running at the moment?

It’s mid-trimester break, so it seems like a good time to reflect on what Science in Context courses are running at the moment … and what’s coming up. I still haven’t wrapped my head around the dates of term-times in New Zealand so for those other non-antipodeans out there, we’re currently in Trimester 2, which […]