The Institute for Environmental Analytics (IEA), a partner of the University of Reading, has launched a new communications platform to connect scientists, researchers, communicators and science journalists in Malaysia.
The ScienceJMY (Science Journalism Malaysia) email list has grown out of a four-day course devised by the IEA to train scientists, journalists and science communicators alongside each other, building up contacts and trust to support accurate, reliable and relevant science news reporting in Malaysia. It was delivered by an environmental scientist and a journalist from the IEA team – training and development manager Vicky Lucas and marketing and communications manager Sally Stevens.
The course ran in March in Kuala Lumpur with 40 delegates from around Malaysia, including two from the University of Reading Malaysia, with an enthusiastic newsroom-style atmosphere.
It was funded by the Newton-Ungku Omar Fund through a partnership of the British Council, MIGHT (Malaysian Industry-Government Group of High Technology), MOSTI (the Malaysian Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation), Academy of Sciences Malaysia and the Young Scientists Network Malaysia.
Vicky Lucas says: “The aim was to deliver science communication training to scientists and journalists side-by-side to develop skills and a working relationship that will result in an increase in reliable reporting of science news in Malaysia.
“The ScienceJMY list will support the longer term objective of developing an ongoing network of scientists and journalists who keep in regular contact, leading to a sustainable increase in science reporting, supporting science, technology and innovation in Malaysia.”
Academy of Sciences Malaysia CEO, Hazami Habib, believes the media is an effective platform for public engagement and to popularise science among non-science communities. She says: “To increase science literacy in the country, the public must appreciate science as a part of our daily lives and revolves around everything we do. Journalists play an important role in communicating science, and connecting them with the right experts will give them the confidence to cover more science news.”
Key elements of the course included:
- Forging knowledgeable and reliable contacts for the future
- Creating an ongoing dialogue to facilitate fact-checking and seeking and giving expert opinions
- Giving journalists the confidence to tackle scientific topics
- Giving scientists trusted, established contacts to approach when they have a story
- Raising awareness of the vital role independent, credible and accurate news has to play in telling the story of Climate Change and Sustainability and therefore in tackling these crucial issues.
How to apply to join the ScienceJMY communications list: https://www.lists.rdg.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/sciencejmy
Contact the IEA about science-media and end-user communication training and data training courses. Email
More about the IEA http://www.the-iea.org.
About IEA
The IEA is a world-leading applied research and development organisation focused on supporting customers who understand the opportunity afforded by environmental data analytics to manage risk, improve business operations and open up new markets.
Our work is focused on 3 areas – late stage research, the development of software applications and training. Our team includes data analysts, software developers and visualisation experts who all have many years’ commercial experience translating complex scientific data into useful information.
With strong links to a range of partners across the data supply chain, from earth observation companies to cloud platform providers and leading universities, we are well positioned to help our customers gain real value from the ever-growing quantity of data being created.
IEA Partners include the University of Reading, Airbus Defence and Space, Deimos Space UK, Lighthill Risk Network, Met Office, Microsoft UK & Microsoft Research, National Centre for Earth Observation, University of Oxford, Sainsbury’s, Satellite Applications Catapult, Science and Technologies Facilities Council, University of Surrey, Telespazio Vega, BMT Group, ERM, Agrimetrics and CGI. The IEA also works closely with the UK Space Agency and hosts Space4Climate, a community of stakeholders along the entire climate data supply chain.
