…

                                                                                                            163 days until
                                                                                                   Year of Science 2009...
                                                                                                            and counting!

                       The COPUS Clarion
                                  A monthly newsletter of the COPUS network Volume 2 Issue 7 July 2008
       The Coalition on the Public Understanding of Science (COPUS) is a grassroots effort linking universities, scientific societies,
science centers and museums, advocacy groups, media, educators, government agencies, businesses, and industry in a peer network having
                        as its goal a greater public understanding of the nature of science and its value to society.

QUEST: A Different Kind of Science and Nature Adventure
Sue Ellen McCann, QUEST Executive Producer, KQED Public Broadcasting
                                       "Cover everything. Just don't make it boring." That was the blunt advice from the 12
                                       science and environment community organizations that gathered at KQED Public
                                       Broadcasting back in 2004 for the first conversation about a new Northern California
                                       focused science and environment series. The conversation brought together a wide array of
                                       community partners including museums, zoos, research institutes, and university partners
                                       all to support KQED's most ambitious local offering ever.
                                       The idea eventually grew into a cross editorial project called QUEST (www.kqed.org/quest)
                                       that includes content produced by KQED's four platforms ­ web, radio, TV and education.
                                       By the third community gathering, the 12 science and environment organizations became
                                       the "fifth" platform acting as both story advisors, and event and education partners. In
                                       2007, four more organizations joined the group.
                                      Now at a year and a half into its production cycle, QUEST is reaching a wide audience and
                                      produces 48 weekly science and environment radio segments and 20 half-hour TV programs
annually. While KQED maintains full editorial control of the QUEST content, the community advisors recommend experts for
background research and interviews, and contribute story possibilities. Many of those ideas -- from Bay Area astronomers
searching for new planets similar to Earth to an invasion of giant squid off the California coastline -- have made it to radio and
TV. Beyond the broadcast, QUEST makes its radio and TV segments available by streaming and download and can easily be
`embedded' onto other web sites. Partner museums and research centers enhance their exhibits by including QUEST video
segments. QUEST's community science blog also gave its partners the opportunity to become first-time bloggers, reporting on
everything from efforts to remove invasive species to the mysteries of dark energy.
QUEST continues to evolve as new projects are defined and KQED and its                         Welcome New Participants!
                                                                                                   - American Society for Photobiology
partners take advantage of each other's strengths. Given KQED's unique role as a                  - American Society of Mammalogists
public media institution, QUEST can provide training and resources to partners in                       - Beth Schachter Consulting
using multi-media to educate and explain science to the public. In return, QUEST                       - Hudson Valley Science Cafe
relies upon the science expertise of its partners combined with media tools such               - Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation
as mobile devices, photographs, video, audio and GPS, to create science/nature                               - COSEE SouthEast
hikes, maps and other community-based science media content.                                       - Delaware Valley Science Fairs, Inc.
                                                                                                             - Down to a Science
With these partnerships already in place, it was only natural that KQED and the                      - Entomological Foundation, Inc.
QUEST project would see COPUS and its Year of Science 2009 initiative as a                                       - GalaxyGoo
wonderful opportunity to broaden and strengthen connections with the                                   - Museum of Life and Science
community. As an active participant in the COPUS San Francisco Regional Hub,                                   - Ocean Institute
QUEST is finding new ways to collaborate and reach new audiences. KQED                                   - Science Café, Little Rock
                                                                                                      - Science Writers in New York
plans to program TV, radio and interactive content tied to the monthly Year of
                                                                                             - Stanford University Office of Science Outreach
Science themes and look for opportunities to co-sponsor events such as Science              - Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy and Health
Cafés and science hikes. Partners have also requested that KQED offer new                            Sciences, University of the Pacific
media training to the community on how to create digital content such as widgets                        - Washington Middle School
and podcasts that can be shared with new audiences and each other.                                         - WGBH Radio Boston
                                                                                                                   -WGBH
The unique partnership of institutions that comprise QUEST has come a long way since
its 2004 inception, and as it expands its efforts through COPUS, and continually charts Welcome New International Participants!
new territory in science and media -- the "boring" factor is nowhere in sight.
                                                                                                             - Darwin 200
For a complete list of the QUEST partners, go to www.kqed.org/quest/about.                    - School of Marine Science and Technology,
                                                                                                          Newcastle University
Featured Program: What A Year!
Cool Science is Happening Now
Dr. Alan B. Dittrich, President
Massachusetts Society for Medical Research, Inc.
As a society whose members are themselves biomedical research organizations
and supporters of research, we are committed to helping improve Life Sciences education. Concerned that current high school
students might not have a realistic view of research, we sought an accessible learning tool which would specifically emphasize
that research is:
         Collaborative;
         Incremental;
         Continually ongoing in many settings; and
         Accomplished by all sorts of people who share the common traits of great curiosity and the desire to
         improve human and animal health.

   What A Year! highlights a             We developed a website, updated each month with the story of a current research
                                         breakthrough, rewritten for high school students and teachers, and presented with as
 breakthrough each month and
                                         much web-savvy as we can muster. We named the project What A Year! because each
 gives some information about            research year is composed of exciting months.
 the people behind it. You can
 learn what's going on in your           Each month our writer scans journals and news releases and then proposes several
scientific backyard, and to dig a        possible stories. We pick one and contact the investigator involved to measure his or her
     lot deeper if you want.             willingness to participate. The participating investigator agrees to be interviewed, to
                                         provide a lab team photo, and to offer images such as whiteboards, time-lapse photos, and
    All around us, every day,            anything else that will help make the story more lively on the web. We also seek links to
     science is happening!               radio and television interviews, animations, or complementary sites.

Our writer produces the draft, which is then read by several people, including a high school student, to make sure it "works"
for the intended audience. We accompany it with a Student Worksheet and a Teacher Guidance and post it on the website
(www.WhatAYear.org) along with any interesting connections we can find, from YouTube videos to cartoons to websites of
pertinent health organizations.
Once the story is posted, we e-blast a tease announcement to our database.
To students who might believe that all science was completed just in time to make it into their textbooks, or that every great
advance sprang complete into the mind of a single scientist, it is important to show that science works differently. Because we
also cover a spectrum of science and research, we can run a story on Batten Disease one month and suspended animation as a
protector of heart attack and stroke victims the next. So each month, in a few minutes, a student can find something fun to
learn about.
The ultimate goal, of course, is to increase science enthusiasm and literacy. Every student who enjoys interacting with the
website and gets excited about research - thanks to What A Year! - will become a better informed citizen, with all the future
benefits that produces. More immediately, we get a strong link to students and teachers, encourage participants in our
essay/poster competitions, and gain additional credibility in the educational community. We also build bonds with the
researchers who agree to participate, and have recently
found organizations coming to us with story ideas for
What A Year! based on research in their institutions.

Questions? Comments? Ideas? Contact Sheri Potter at spotter@copusproject.org.
 Support for COPUS planning workshops was provided by the National Science Foundation under grant numbers EAR-0606600 and EAR-
 0628790 to the University of California Museum of Paleontology. The cognizant fiduciary body for COPUS and the Year of Science 2009
project is the American Institute of Biological Sciences Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, which is providing staffing support, IT, and
   other resources. The Geological Society of America, the University of California Museum of Paleontology, and the National Science
  Teachers Association are also contributing funds for COPUS and the Year of Science 2009. The Steering Committee welcomes support
             from additional scientific organizations and is also pursuing funding from federal agencies and private foundations.