NUCSJ 2023

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Interested in publishing scientific research as an undergraduate? Curious about the spread of scientific information? NUCSJ is hosting the National Undergraduate Conference on Scientific Journalism on October 21st, 2023, and you’re invited to attend! The conference, which is the largest of its kind, will bring together hundreds of student scientists and multiple undergraduate research journals from across the nation to discuss research ethics and practice, the publication process, the role of student journals, and more. Topics covered will be relevant to undergraduate research authors,  science majors, journal-affiliated students, and scientific professionals alike.  The event will be held over Zoom.  We're looking forward to seeing you there!

Intro: NUCSJ will give opening remarks on why the NUCSJ was founded, the state of undergraduate research journals after COVID, and why we are doing this conference.

Session 1:

Dr. Graves/Oliver panel on lessons learned in a faculty-run URJ

Drs. David Oliver and Marcia Graves have been working with faculty-run URJs and student-run URJs at UBC for the past few decades. They have made great strides in understanding how to organize undergraduate research journals and effectively learning goals. In this panel, they will discuss various lessons learned through working on both and help attendees come to conclusions on how to effectively increase effective outcomes in their own journals such as scientific literacy, the ability to perform original research, and gaining leadership skills.

Credibility and Accessibility in Research Consumption

How can we as students and scientists maintain a level of credibility through presented information while also remaining accessible for undergraduates? This panel seeks to provide answers to key questions at the heart of undergraduate research. In addition, we will discuss how undergraduates can make informed conclusions about scientific literature in both their own research and the publication process for undergraduate journals. Panelists will include Claudia Willmes from Cell, Mary Beth Terry from Columbia University, Carly Goldstein from Brown University, and Abba Greenleaf from Columbia University.

Journal Fair/networking with professors

Session 2:

Workshop: Get started on your URJ impact study

In 2006, the University of Pennsylvania’s Drs. Jorge Santiago Aviles and Krimo Bokreta helped undergraduate students from “Penn Science” publish a paper detailing the state of the journal and its effectiveness at fulfilling target goals. In 2023, this paper remains the sole undergraduate-driven study on an undergraduate research journal. This workshop aims to change that: every URJ is capable of writing a research paper detailing their methods and current evaluation of their operations, and by the end of this workshop, students will have a general understanding of how to get there. If interest is great enough, the NUCSJ may host a series of workshops after the conference on further steps.

Faith Kearns: Getting to the Heart of Science Communication

Dr. Faith Kearns is a scientist and science communication practitioner with particular interests in water, wildfire, climate change, and people. Aside from being a faculty member at Arizona State University, she is the author of the award-winning Getting to the Heart of Science Communication. Join us for her panel on the importance of science communication, how to get involved, and how to improve your science communication skills for future careers.

Session 3:

StoryForm Science workshop

Dr. H Adam Steinberg and Holly Walter Kerby have been teaching Undergrads, Postdocs, and faculty for more than 25 years on how to effectively communicate their science through research posters and research talks, and on how to visualize their data, giving numerous talks on these topics at many colleges and universities. This presentation introduces the Storyform method and tools and shows how they are used to create highly effective and engaging presentations, slides, posters, and Storygraphics. It includes multiple examples of work created by scientists from diverse fields using this method. 

Careers in Scientific Communication

Scientific communication is of great importance for all scientists, regardless of their specific profession. This panel will discuss the role of scientific journalism and communication in future career paths for undergraduate scientists.  Panelists will include Matthew Hutson from The New Yorker, Kate Stoll from  AAAS Center for Scientific Evidence in Public Issues and Jon LaPook, Chief Medical Correspondent for CBS.

Keynote speaker: Dr. Evelyn Sun 

Evelyn Sun is a Lecturer in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University

of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. In her presentation, Dr. Sun will speak on the importance of Undergraduate research journals using published data and her own experiences. Evelyn has designed case studies derived from primarily literature for a second-year foundations in microbiology course and a data science research course for upper-level students. Much of her work on curriculum development involves course-based undergraduate research experiences which are extensible research opportunities for undergraduate students to conduct authentic, novel research projects and publish them in an undergraduate research journal called the Undergraduate Journal of Experimental Microbiology and Immunology.