One of the pillars of the Yale Ciencia Academy (YCA) is that beyond their research, our scientists can contribute to society through science communication and public engagement. As part of their program year, YCA Fellows participate in science communication training and complete one outreach activity of their choice to engage with a community they care about. Since 2016, YCA Fellows have completed 150 outreach projects including blogs, newspaper articles, op-eds, and podcasts; lesson plans for educators and school visits; panels, workshops and conferences; public lectures; new science communication and advocacy initiatives; and hurricane relief efforts. The COVID-19 pandemic has been no exception.

Ciencia Puerto Rico (CienciaPR) was one of a dozen non-profit organizations from all over the United States who participated of NBCUniversal’s (NBCU) Summer of Service, an initiative that connects NBCU employees with organizations for pro bono consulting to enable them to achieve their organizational goals.

Over two weeks, a team of NBCU employees (Monique Joe, Linette Sifre, Andrea Ruiz and Kieran Bertram) developed several communications and marketing tools and strategies for our organization. The positioning statement, social media plan, templates, marketing plan and timeline (among other resources) created by them will help CienciaPR communicate our work, value, and impact better and do more with limited resources and bandwidth.

Doctors Greetchen Díaz Muñoz, Roselin Rosario Meléndez and Minerva Cordero Braña, and engineer Beatris Méndez Gandica, organizers of the Semillas de Triunfo (Seeds of Success): IF/THEN Edition program, are included in the world's largest library of resources celberating women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). These women are four of the 125 IF/THEN ambassadors selected by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and Lyda Hill Philanthropies as outstanding women in STEM and role models.

Scientific community underscores the need for "a coherent strategy, informed by the best available scientific evidence" and offers 9 concrete recommendations to achieve it.