Register for Speaking Science 2025
Speaking Science is a space to exchange ideas and hone storytelling skills to become better science communicators. Our 2025 conference is happening on Thursday, March 20, 2025. Registration is open – save your spot!
This year, we’re excited to welcome Dr. Tseganesh Selameab and Dr. Ben Trappey for our keynote presentation: The Power of Storytelling in Health Advocacy. The keynote will be followed by breakout sessions on topics including: collaborations across art and science, interacting with media, digital accessibility in science communication, community-based participatory research, SciComm social media, and more.
Speaking Science is designed for University of Minnesota faculty, research staff, post-docs, graduate students, and communications practitioners.
Keynote Presentation
The power of storytelling in health advocacy
In their keynote presentation, The power of storytelling in health advocacy, two faculty from the University of Minnesota’s Center for the Art of Medicine will explore the scientific basis of storytelling in advocacy and share examples from Art + Medicine, a television series created in partnership with Twin Cities Public Television.
Dr. Tseganesh Selameab (she/her) is a wife, mother of three girls, and dedicated physician committed to serving refugee, immigrant, and urban underserved communities. She earned her medical degree from the University of Minnesota Medical School and completed her Internal Medicine residency at Boston Medical Center. A passionate advocate for health equity, she integrates clinical care with community-based advocacy. She is also deeply engaged in narrative medicine, sharing her storytelling at medical school ceremonies, regional conferences, and local story slams.
Dr. Ben Trappey (he/him) is a Med-Peds hospitalist at the University of Minnesota Medical Center. He serves as the Co-Director for the Center for the Art of Medicine in the University of Minnesota Medical school. In this role, he is able to pursue his passion for understanding and appreciating the stories that lie at the heart of the practice of medicine and helping medical trainees and professionals become more effective storytellers and artists of all types.
Morning Breakout Sessions
Beyond NIH and NSF: Finding and talking to mission-oriented agencies for your research
Beyond NIH and NSF: Finding and talking to mission-oriented agencies for your research
Room 324
Many researchers are accustomed to going after basic research funding from NIH and NSF. There are also many research opportunities outside these agencies, in so-called mission-driven agencies, but these other agencies often speak a very different language than faculty are used to. Learn more about agencies like the Department of Defense, Department of Energy, ARPA-H, and others, and how to map your work and the agency’s mission and priorities in order to find new areas of research collaboration, identify the right partner agency, and effectively partner with them.
Presented by: Amy Kircher, University Finance; Stephen Streng, UMN SPARC; Brian Paro, UMN Government and Community Relations
Collaborations across art and science
Collaborations across art and science
President's Room
Artistic and scientific collaborations can play a vital role in helping us imagine new futures, communicate research, reach communities outside of academia, and find cross-disciplinary solutions to problems. Hear perspectives from artists and scientists working in academia and in the community in this brief presentation followed by a Q&A.
Presented by artists and scientists including Kathryn Nuernberger, Jenny Schmid, Emily Beck, Jessie Merriam, Sophie Wang
Health communication in a political environment
Health communication in a political environment
Mississippi Room
Dr. Gollust will present some highlights from a series of empirical studies that demonstrate both how health communication is received in a politically charged environment and on evidence-based strategies to communicate to build more common ground. Attendees will leave with an understanding of the challenges and opportunities of communicating about politicized public health issues in the current context.
Presented by: Sarah Gollust, PhD Division of Health Policy and Management, UMN School of Public Health
Partnering with purpose: The role of community-based participatory research
Partnering with purpose: The role of community-based participatory research
Room 303
This session will explore how researchers and communicators can collaborate with community members to co-create knowledge, ensuring mutual benefits and relevance. Attendees will learn practical strategies for fostering trust, sharing power, and amplifying diverse voices to bridge the gap between public interests and scientific inquiry.
Presented by: Angelica Koch, Assistant Director of the UMN Clinical and Translational Science Institute's community engagement team (CEARCH), and community partners
Speaking to industry audiences
Speaking to industry audiences
Room 323
Working with industry can be a great opportunity for researchers — for sponsored research, philanthropy, consortia, centers, and technology commercialization — but it’s different than partnering with government agencies. Learn how to frame your work in a way that interests a company, how to build productive industry partnerships, and how to work with the University’s Corporate Engagement Center. Session panelists have significant experience creating industry partnerships.
Presented by: Leza Besemann, UMN Corporate Engagement Center
Speaking with policymakers and influentials
Speaking with policymakers and influentials
Room 325
More and more, researchers are asked to make the case for the work that they do, how it fits into the broader research and innovation ecosystem, and why it’s important. Hear from leaders on the U’s systemwide Government and Community Relations team about how to work with them, and how to find elected leaders and staff with influence, to strategize and tailor your story, and to get before the right people.
Presented by: Dan Gilchrist, RIO Communications; Brian Paro, UMN Government and Community Relations; C. Scott Cooper, professor of public and nonprofit leadership, Metro State University.
Afternoon Breakout Sessions
Digital accessibility in science communications
Digital accessibility in science communications
Rooms 303
People process information in myriad ways. How we structure and deliver that information can make the difference between resonant understanding and simply getting stuck. In this session, we’ll explore the topic of digital accessibility: how factors such as sight, hearing, touch, cognition, and environment greatly matter in how we communicate. Then we’ll cover what accessibility is, how it’s measured, and walk through examples of how to make common types of information more accessible to everyone.
Presented by: Jeremy Perkins, Director of UX and Design, iFactory
Interacting with the media
Interacting with the media
Room 324
You've heard the theory, now practice what you've learned with real media representatives! In this popular workshop, you’ll get to practice being interviewed by local and national media representatives and get real-time feedback in a "speed networking" format. You'll improve how you talk about your research and learn how you can raise your personal and professional profile through media coverage of your research.
- Participating media representatives include:
- Jill Burcum, Star Tribune
- Kevin Doran, KSTP Channel 5 TV
- Brittney Ermon, KSTP Channel 5 TV
- Fred Melo, Pioneer Press
- Cari Dwyer, Minnesota Public Radio
- Jeff Jones, Minnesota Public Radio
Thank you to our media sponsors: KSTP Channel 5 TV, Minnesota Public Radio, Pioneer Press, Star Tribune
SciComm social media skillshare
SciComm social media skillshare
Mississippi Room
Social media can be a valuable resource for sharing your work with others. Without the know-how and tools, however, it can quickly become a headache. Join us for a skillshare session to learn more about the tools and tricks content creators can use to communicate complex information with broader audiences.
Presented by: Angie Hong, East Metro Water Resource Education Program
Translating complexity: Visual strategies for environmental and scientific communication
Translating complexity: Visual strategies for environmental and scientific communication
President's Room
The world is complex. On top of our intricate systems, metrics, and processes, we humans are easily distracted. No matter how real data is – if we don't perceive it as having a direct, tangible impact on our own lives (and those of our friends and family), scientific topics will continue to be viewed as abstract and removed from our life experience.
Visuals can help connect seemingly abstract environmental data to people's emotions. By putting information into a visual context; storytelling, infographics, and data visualization can inform audiences and motivate participation. Creative and visual techniques can bring complex content psychologically closer to audiences – by connecting on an emotional level.
This session is an introduction to applying visual narrative to data, including basic principles of information design, the psychology of visuals, and methods to visually present data and information in a way that is relevant to non-expert audiences. We’ll review multiple examples of visuals and creative approaches to scientific and climate communication: all of which are collaborative efforts between agencies, non-profits, institutions or businesses, and creatives.
Together, we’ll explore examples of visual best practices and how you can develop visual communications about your research – to help people see themselves within your data and motivate change.
Presented by: Arlene Birt, professor in Creative Entrepreneurship at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD), and founder and creative director of design consultancy, Background Stories