Alan Alda and ANU promote science communication

The Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science, based at Stony Brook University in the US, has welcomed the Australian National University (ANU) as its first international affiliate.

The science communication centre was founded in 2009 with the help of actor Alan Alda — best known for his role as Hawkeye in the long-running TV show M*A*S*H — whose vision was to teach scientists the skills he had mastered as an actor to help them communicate better with policymakers and the public. As a result, the centre uses innovative instructional approaches, including improvisational theatre exercises, to help scientists communicate more clearly and vividly.

The Alan Alda Center Affiliates Network previously included 15 universities, medical schools and professional associations, which share Alda Center curriculum, materials and training, and collaborate on better ways to help scientists communicate more effectively with the public. The ANU Centre for the Public Awareness of Science (CPAS) is the 16th body to join the network, with the new partnership fostering exchanges of staff, students and research.

“ANU has a distinguished history in science communication,” said Alda, who is a visiting professor in Stony Brook’s School of Journalism. “This partnership raises our work to a level I’ve only been able to dream about until now.”

CPAS Senior Lecturer Dr Will Grant said the Alda Center and ANU have complementary strengths and that Australian students will benefit from the partnership.

“Alan Alda is a gifted storyteller with a deep connection with audiences around the world,” Dr Grant said. “He’s fun; a well-loved actor who loves science and brings a lay person’s curiosity to it. Science communication can really gain through that.”

Alda will give a public talk at ANU on 8 March on the topic ‘Getting the public beyond a blind date with science’ before heading to Brisbane for the World Science Festival.

Image caption: Alan Alda.