About Heather Galindo

Heather Galindo put down the pipettor to become the Assistant Director of Science at COMPASS in 2010. Since then she has greatly enjoyed learning about a dizzying array of research from numerous amazing scientists.

Getting to the “So What?” of Your Science

20 June, 2013 by Leave a Comment
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Galindo MB 2006

Handwritten message box from my own COMPASS training as a graduate student (click to enlarge)

Recently, I rediscovered a description of my PhD research produced at a COMPASS training I attended in 2006. I deciphered my messy handwriting to find that I had used the analogy of how people move between cities to explain why I used DNA to track movements of marine plankton between populations. In both cases, understanding how many and how often individuals change locations can inform what might happen if these connections are disrupted. (Think about a freeway shutting down between San Francisco and Los Angeles.) As movement between places is reduced, so is the flow of goods and services, thereby isolating populations.

It turns out that my early attempts at finding the “so what” of my science used the very same tool that we still use at COMPASS today: The Message Box. At all COMPASS trainings (which typically range from half-day to three-day events), the Message Box is how we help scientists distill their science into the most essential and intriguing pieces. These are the key ideas with which you can build a firm foundation of understanding about your research in conversation with almost any audience. It’s not about dumbing anything down. Instead, the Message Box illuminates the heart of your science and inspires your audience to want to learn more. [Read more...]

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Filed Under: About COMPASS, Communications, How We Do What We Do, Messaging, Trainings Tagged With: , ,

5/3/13 Link Round-Up

3 May, 2013 by 1 Comment

Our week here at COMPASS began with the excitement of our commentary piece coming out in PLOS Biology, but is ending on an even higher note. Many scientists we’ve worked with are stepping up to share personal stories of engagement. There have been stories of how:

  • Reaching out via both traditional (Don Boesch) and social (Isabelle Côté) media can open up new opportunities for connecting science to policy
  • Future effective engagement of scientists outside academia relies on cultural change regarding time management (Jessica Hellman, Jim Cloern) and restructuring institutional incentives (Chris Buddle)
  • Becoming better at engaging sometimes means leaving the ivory tower for training in another field (Ryan Kelly) or pursuing science at a for-profit company (Dawn Wright)
  • Doing good science and reflecting on what works and what doesn’t is a critical part of the path to engagement (Simon Donner, Heather Leslie)
  • Above all, it is not science alone, but also hope that inspires people to act (Alan Townsend, Steve Palumbi)

You can watch the conversations unfolding on twitter at #reachingoutsci, or see the running list we’re keeping on our kick-off post.

This is part of a growing trend of scientists being willing to be present as characters in the story. Efforts like Looks Like Science or The Secret Life of Scientists & Engineers, highlight how valuable it can be to share personal stories of who we are, why we do what we do, and why it matters. All of us at COMPASS continue to be inspired by these stories and the scientists who share them. And we can’t wait to see what’s next…

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Filed Under: Miscellaneous

Staying Afloat in a Sea of Information

22 April, 2013 by 5 Comments
When you're overwhelmed by data, there are several tools you can turn to, to help you sort through the deluge. Photo courtesy of Intersection Consulting via Flickr Creative Commons.

As a research scientist, my attention to detail and obsession with being thorough were clear assets. Every project was meticulously planned and every data point double-checked. But now that my job involves being able to track the latest science across a huge range of topics, in addition to shifting policy and social contexts, these assets can sometimes weigh me down. I’ve had to come up from the depths and get better at skimming the surface (in marine biology terms, more snorkeling and less SCUBA). But with an unwieldy amount of information coming at me from a variety of outlets, even navigating the surface waters can be tricky. So this year, I’ve decided on a plan of attack to get my personal information management (PIM) in order. [Read more...]

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Filed Under: How We Do What We Do, New Media, Science, Twitter Tagged With: ,

Why Everybody Needs A Prep Talk

19 February, 2013 by Leave a Comment
After considerable preparation, Dr. Mark Carr, Dr. Anke Mueller-Solger, and Dan Yparraguirre present their talks on long-term monitoring and adaptive management before an eager audience. Photo by Chad English.

When people are asked about their greatest fears, many often include public speaking. Something about looking out into a sea of faces hanging on your every word is universally terrifying. However, for me, it is the idea of a practice talk that causes borderline panic – although I’m only looking out into a small pond of faces, they are all intently focused on what I am doing wrong and how to fix it. But here’s the thing: Public talks don’t scare me. Why? Because I am ready. And why am I ready? Because I have worked really hard to prepare.

Whether it’s a legislative briefing or a AAAS symposium, COMPASS requires the scientists we work with to commit to putting in the preparation time. Although we often work with already accomplished speakers, it still takes planning to make sure there is cohesion among multiple talks. After all, even talented musicians must rehearse before playing their first gig together. In the words of UC Santa Cruz marine ecologist Mark Carr, “The COMPASS prep calls prior to our panel presentation really helped to focus the messages of my presentation and linked my presentation with others to make a more cohesive suite of presentations and stronger messages.”

Our prep process generally involves lots of back-and-forth over email, as well as 2-3 conference calls with everyone participating in the event. As we evolve from setting the goals and framing everyone’s talks to dress rehearsals, scientists tend to go through the following three stages: [Read more...]

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Filed Under: About COMPASS, Advice, Communications, How We Do What We Do, Outreach Tagged With: , , ,

Ocean Acidification Science Takes Center Stage in Washington State

3 December, 2012 by 1 Comment
Panel members stand behind Gov. Gregoire, while she signed the Executive Order. Photo courtesy of: Kate McDermott/Taylor Shellfish

Last Tuesday, Washington State Governor Chris Gregoire announced the release of recommendations from the Washington State Blue Ribbon Panel on Ocean Acidification and underscored the effort with an Executive Order for the state to take action on this issue. The 28 member panel was the first of its kind in the country and was notable for the prominent role that both science and scientists played in the process. From the first public meeting in March 2012, the seven scientists on the Panel worked tirelessly to convey the current state of ocean acidification science to both their fellow Panel members and meeting attendees. Having worked with many of the Panel scientists over the past year on effective communication about this topic, including at the recent COMPASS Ocean Acidification Communication Workshop, and following the process closely, I can say that this was no small task. [Read more...]

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Filed Under: Catalyzing Science, News, Science Tagged With: , , , , ,

Confessions of a Conference Zombie

22 October, 2012 by 2 Comments
C'mon everyone! The plenary is this way. Photo from wikimedia commons.

Admit it. You’ve been in this situation at one time or another:

You arrive at a scientific conference focused on the minutia of your favorite scientific field or organism (e.g. fruit fly legs or microbial social dynamics) and simply cannot wait to soak in the science, hobnob with great minds, and enjoy free coffee. Suddenly, you find yourself weighted down by an enormous tote bag and a veritable tome of talk schedules and abstracts. After a few days, you are numb from racing between sessions, endless networking, and long hours wandering aimlessly among rows and rows of badly formatted posters. And when you finally arrive back home and your colleagues want to know who you’ve talked to and what you learned, you stare at them blankly and can’t seem to articulate even one or two of the coolest things you heard.

Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be this way! While none of us are completely immune to these symptoms, after many-a-stint in the land of the conference undead, here are a few ingredients (both my own and ideas I’ve collected from other scientists (in italics below)) for an anti-conference-zombie vaccine: [Read more...]

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Filed Under: Miscellaneous

Catalyzing Science: A Lab Protocol

25 July, 2012 by 2 Comments
Catalyzing new science, like attempting to catalyze a new chemical reaction, requires an understanding of what's been done before, appropriate resources, communication and, sometimes, a healthy dose of patience. Photo courtesy of WikiMedia Commons.

A greeting card hangs above my desk that reads: “If I were a scientist working in a big lab, I’d shout ‘Eureka!’ every so often just to boost morale.” I keep it there to remind me of those moments of inspiration that not only boost morale, but drive the whole of science. To me, those “Eureka!” events aren’t just reserved for medical breakthroughs or discovering new species, but perhaps even more importantly, are for making surprising connections among seemingly unrelated ideas to tackle a complex problem. Although some scientists have an innate ability to do this, others can start with just curiosity and a willingness to ask their colleagues, “What if we were to combine this with that?” After all, regardless of how much experience you have, solving complex problems requires dialogue across disciplines and perspectives.

It’s a bit like experimental chemistry – at first the bottles on the shelves just seem like a dizzying array of options for endless combinations – but eventually you come to know enough about classes of molecules to understand how they are likely to behave in a reaction. This ability to see patterns (whether among molecules, methods, or ideas) allows for informed creativity that can serve as a catalyst to move science forward. But of course, just knowing which chemicals you want to combine isn’t enough… so here are a few more steps in my own lab protocol for catalyzing science: [Read more...]

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Filed Under: Catalyzing Science, Communications, How We Do What We Do, Miscellaneous, Science Tagged With: , , , , ,

Interdisciplinary Science: The Final Frontier

7 May, 2012 by 3 Comments
The away team stands ready to engage.

Throughout my training as a research scientist, I hopped across disciplines – oceanography, ecology, population genetics, and fisheries – and even across the food web – from diatoms to halibut.  What I learned from my adventures is that the key to facilitating effective interdisciplinary science is not just incorporating the right fields, but also ensuring those fields are represented by the right people.  The best collaborations come about when you have a group of scientists who are well grounded in their own work, but also have the curiosity, generosity, and communication skills to work across boundaries (it also helps if you don’t mind being stuck on a ship or at a field site with them for weeks at a time.)

Tackling challenging, big-picture science questions that are relevant to policy sets the bar for scientific collaboration even higher.  To illustrate my point, I turn to a time-honored cultural reference among science types – Star Trek.  First, there’s the ship’s crew: a community of people from cadets to captains with a variety of expertise, working together to make new discoveries and keep things running.  However, from time to time a call for help is issued from a nearby planet and the right people are then carefully selected to comprise the away team.

[Read more...]

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Filed Under: About us, Miscellaneous