As we head into the start of Spring, SCANZ is launching an online Month of Learning.
Hosted over four weeks, this is a series of online talks designed to expand and build upon the conversations from our 2026 SCANZ conference.
We want to continue exploring ideas and practices that are shaping our field and bring together people who are curious to learn, question, and connect.
Bring your lunch and settle in.
Registration
Click here to register and be emailed the Zoom details.
Week 1 - Wed 30 Sept
12:00 - 12:05 pm - Welcome
12:05 - 12:55 pm - Speakers (10 mins each)
12:55 - 1:00 pm - Wrap up
Speakers
(in order of appearance)
Caitlin Walters-Freke, Science Communicator/Ambassador, University of Waikato
Ana Podolyan, Molecular Biologist / Science Communicator, Bioeconomy Science Institute
Michelle Jewell, PhD student, University of Canterbury
Katherine Dewar (FCIM), Founder & Director, GoodSense
Topics
My Experience as a Student Science Communicator
Caitlin Walters-Freke, Science Communicator/Ambassador, University of Waikato
The University of Waikato School of Science is unique in that it hires science students as science communicators to run their social media platforms. The UOW school of science covers a wide range of disciplines from earth science to marine biology. As science communicators, we aim to showcase the current projects of our researchers and students. This, in turn, helps to attract funding and future students. This talk will discuss my experience as a student science communicator over the past four years. It will detail the unique things I’ve done as a science communicator and the things I’ve learnt in running their social media accounts.
Herbarium in the spotlight - substituting tours with a video
Ana Podolyan, Molecular Biologist / Science Communicator, Bioeconomy Science Institute
The Allan Herbarium, located in Lincoln, is the largest herbarium in New Zealand. As part of its community outreach efforts, it offers 'on-demand tours' that have become increasingly popular over the years. The herbarium attracts a diverse range of visitors with varying objectives and levels of prior knowledge—from high school students and local community groups to government officials. To manage this high demand and lighten the load on staff, a five-minute introductory video was created. This talk will summarize the challenges of producing a video for such a nationally significant collection and share lessons learned to inform future science communication strategies. The session will conclude with a screening of the video to invite feedback and ideas for improvement.
Gauging Interest: Crowdsourcing a conspiracy content database and co-producing moderation strategies for extreme weather events
Michelle Jewell, PhD student, University of Canterbury
Calling all social media managers of nature, media, weather, or community accounts! Do you encounter conspiratorial, anti-science, and/or radicalized comments, especially during extreme weather events? Do you wish you had science-backed guidance for these messages? Perhaps you’re not a moderator, but interested in this topic? Then this discussion is for you. A new project from the University of Canterbury’s Media & Communications Department will examine the conspiratorial communications landscape during extreme weather events, simulate this landscape to test possible interventions, and codevelop a guidebook of best practices - for moderators, by moderators. This talk is an invitation to help shape the questions and outputs of this research so that they are useful and used.
Pushing the boulder uphill - the hidden money delaying the impact of climate science
Katherine Dewar (FCIM), Founder & Director, GoodSense
The climate emergency is biting hard and citizens, here and overseas, have low faith in their governments' responses. Your climate science communications are landing in a context of discourses deliberately seeded to delay action. This 10 minute slot Katherine Dewar, Founder & Director at SCANZ member org GoodSense, will share a framework of the sources of climate misinformation, disinformation and malinformation based on work by Leah Chamberlain-Gunn, Principle Advisor, Strategic Communications at the New Zealand Climate Change Commission. It draws on research by Jennie King, Senior Non-Resident Fellow of the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD) and Dr Sanjana Hattotuwa of the Disinformation Project. This session will help you support your stakeholders understand the scale of the task at hand and be better equipped to push the boulder of successful science communication up hill.
more information
If you have any questions about this event or would like more information, send us an email.