About

The University of Rhode Island’s (URI) Metcalf Institute, Michigan State University’s Knight Center for Environmental Journalism, and the URI Science and Story Lab launched the SciComm Identities Project (SCIP) to prepare the next generation of science communicators from diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds.  The project, supported by a $2.8 million collaborative National Science Foundation grant, will address a significant gap in science communication research and training by centering the motivations, experiences, and priorities of racial and ethnic minority scientists.

This project tests the extent to which normative behaviors ingrained in academia and science relate to cultural norms and communication styles of underrepresented racial and ethnic minority scientists, and how these factors influence their science communication efforts.

Fellowship

The SCIP Fellowship is a one-year professional development opportunity for pre-tenure faculty at U.S. institutions who identify as underrepresented racial or ethnic minorities.

The SciComm Identities Project (SCIP) aims to shift the paradigm of science communication training and create a more representative suite of academic science communicators through a new fellowship designed to test a training curriculum based on intercultural communication theories. Ultimately, we hope SCIP will elevate science communication activities as a valued aspect of academics’ institutional contributions. We also are undertaking this project to increase representation of underrepresented minority scientists and engineers as science communicators and as public intellectuals in environmental news coverage to foster culturally relevant conversations about environmental issues.

For more information, please visit: https://scicommidentities.org/