Jessica Rohde

While earning my M.S. in fisheries science, I discovered my true passion for science communication—I wanted to make my science matter outside of the ivory tower. Luckily, I discovered the Engage Program—I enrolled in their science communication course and gave a public presentation on my research at Town Hall Seattle. I have since helped secure funding for the program, re-designed the website, and best of all, am now teaching the University of Washington graduate level course. I decided to spearhead this #SciFund project after participating in COMPASS’ #GradSciComm workshop, a truly transformative experience. I worked with the leaders in the field to explore pathways for integrating science communication training to graduate education, and to identify the key roadblocks on these pathways. I and the other Engage Program researchers aim for this project to help overcome those roadblocks and make science communication training more accessible for all graduate students. Read more about me on my website.

January 2014