INAR Climate Festival in Helsinki

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Figure 1. Wall projection in the Think Corner of the
University of Helsinki during INAR Climate Festival
(Picture: Arnaud Praplan, CC-BY-4.0)

The INAR Climate Festival took place on 25 May in the Think Corner of the University of Helsinki. It was a large event meant to inaugurate the new Institute for Atmospheric and Earth System Research (INAR) and present its important research to society. 

Among the guests for the inauguration were former President Tarja Halonen, Jukka Kola (Rector of the University of Helsinki), Kaarle Hämeri (Chancellor of the University of Helsinki), Juhani Damski (FMI Director General), Jari Gustafsson (Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment) and Erja Heikkinen (Science Adviser at the Ministry of Education and Culture), displaying the many connections and large impact of INAR in society: education, research, business. All guests were stressing how INAR is an important platform to understand and potentially solve global problems related to climate change and air quality issues. 

The day was filled with various events such as a multilingual breakfast with scientists to ask questions, speeches, dance and music performances, scientific presentations and an after-work event during which scientists presented their stories about visiting various places of the world for their research

 Rather than writing a report of the events, I decided to experiment with a new form of blogging and I sat down for an interview with my good friend Stephany Buenrostro Mazon, a doctoral student at INAR, who hosted the after-work session. We discussed atmospheric research, science communication and her role in the INAR #ClimateFestival. Also, she is the person who convinced me that it is worth getting involved in communication in my own community, but also beyond that. With this blog, for instance. An edited transcript of our conversation follows.
Figure 2. Stephany after the after-work
session that she hosted during the
INAR Climate Festival
(Picture: Arnaud Praplan, CC-BY-4.0)


Arnaud: Hi Stephany! Thanks for taking the time to answer a few questions for my readers. 

Stephany: Thank you for having me.

A: Could you first say something about your research and how it fits in the vast web of INAR activities?

S: One of the main topics inside INAR is new particle formation (NPF). We study how tiny particles that are relevant for air quality and climate are formed in the air. I talk about particles smaller than 10 nanometers in diameter. Specifically, I am looking at the different environmental conditions under which these particles form.

A: How were you drawn to that kind of research? 

S: My bachelor was in Earth Science and Space Physics at the Jacobs University Bremen, a multidisciplinary programme encompassing geology, oceanography, space and astrophysics. I loved the idea of Earth Science, studying our planet from different perspectives - the bedrock, the ocean, etc. It is as exciting as visiting a science museum! Then the question was: what do I choose to focus on? Even though my thesis was on marine geology (hydrothermal vents), I learned about the interactions of the different components of the Earth system and, studying ocean currents, I got fascinated by how the ocean directly affects our climate. You would think the climate is in the air, but the ocean is part of it and these interactions are extremely important in our research.
When I saw the ABS Master's Programme in Helsinki on Atmosphere-Biosphere interactions (nda: nowadays, Master's Programme in Atmospheric Sciences), this was the perfect opportunity for me to study these broad interactions. I was the first graduate student to graduate from ABS. Even though I'm in "physics" I'm not a physicist. I am not an expert in physics, neither in marine geology, but it is nice to have a global vision about my work. However, I'm convinced that my broad background is a strength for doing science communication.

A: I am glad you bring up this topic because I know that you are very active in science communication (SciComm) and I wanted to ask you what do you find difficult in doing it and what do you think is rewarding about it?

S: Well, I started doing it without really noticing. The idea of a science museum is my idea of science: touch, pull, observe and have fun! I want to take that to other people, but I did not think of SciComm as a "term" or a "profession" as I do now. I think that the challenge starts with the scientists themselves, ourselves. Sometimes scientists think that it is not easy to communicate when the other person does not understand the jargon; but why should they if they are already professionals in something else? Scientists tend to see it as an extra burden to share their work beyond their colleagues without using scientific jargon.
I participated in the iLEAPS Early Career Scientists Workshop last September about science and society in Oxford. We played a game. One person was told a song without others knowing it and this person had to make the others guess the song simply by knocking on the table... and nobody got it! But that's the point: it was clear for the person what the song was because this person could "hear" it in their head, but only when the song was revealed to us, we could hear the song from the knocking. We needed that extra background information. That is why I always say: Be aware of your audience! Because you have to make it work for them.

"The idea of a science museum is my idea of science:
touch, pull, observe and have fun!" - Stephany B. Mazon


A: That is a really good metaphor to explain SciComm. Now, how was the idea of a #ClimateFestival born and how did you get involved?

S: The festival was a way of publicly inaugurate the establishment of INAR this year and show to the general public what we are working on. I was first asked to create a banner and communication material. But then the organizers asked me about hosting an after-work event. Originally it should be a small event where people would ask questions to the scientists. But then I though, if we are in this awesome ThinkCorner, we should better take advantage of it. Because it was supposed to be relaxed, I focused on the story telling.

 A: Was it difficult to find volunteers?

 S: It was difficult to find people who where available for that evening, but everyone I asked was interested in the idea. Because people were in these campaigns, they are excited to talk about it, because they enjoyed it! I then came up with the concept to take the audience on a trip around the world. Because people like traveling, we brought them on a trip, while telling them how scientists do science in these exotic places.

A: How did it go?

S: It would have been nice to have a full audience, but people who were there really liked it. As a host, I could see their faces. Speakers were also excited afterwards (most of them are PhD students), because they got a chance to talk about what they do in a different way. Ultimately, the aim was to make scientists relatable.

A: But these talks have been streamed online and are now available for anyone to watch.

S: Yes! The event was streamed, because I pushed to have it on the main stage of the ThinkCorner. We have now recordings and every presenter will have their own presentation to be shared to reach even more people. This kind of presentation takes effort to make, but you can reuse it... it's definitely worth the effort.
A few years ago, I made a video for the Dance your Ph.D. contest and it has been watched more than 4000 times! Yes, it took me time to make it but it is out there now and it was definitely worth it!

A: That is really nice. Finally I wanted to ask you this: almost exactly a year ago you gave a talk at TEDx Helsinki in 2017, so what's next? What's your next biggest dream for your research and/or your activities in SciComm?

S: Actually it's very clear! I had this dream for a very long time. I always liked to write and I always wanted to write a children book. So now I want to write a children book about climate change. I really decided to do it during an Arctic Summer School in Greenland about the impact of science on society. You know how it's always about the polar bears... but there were kids there and I thought why not tell their story. Unfortunately, I did not manage to talk with them, but I already have a plan on how the book will look like.

 A: Oh, that is amazing news! Thank you so much for sharing this with us and all the best for this great project. I cannot wait to see it materialize.

S: Thank you!

Location: Think Corner, Yliopistonkatu 4, 00100 Helsinki, Finland

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