Communicating science, disseminating knowledge and highlighting the role of research in social and human development. To make these aspects visible, the Somos Científicos dissemination competition brought together 30 experts from all over Spain with students from 85 schools in Spain and South American countries between 16 and 27 April. Organized by Fecyt and La Caixa, the aim was to interact, open lines of dialogue online, resolve doubts and give answers to these young people on topics such as food, health, energy, nanotechnology, robotics, chemistry, biology, etc. The students themselves were responsible for choosing the favorite scientist, a recognition that in this edition went to the researcher from the University of Vigo María Fernández, taking over from Alba Aguión, winner in 2017. Fernández was proclaimed winner in the food section, in which she participated by talking about aquaculture and explaining to the students what the fish that will be eaten in the future will be like. Communicating science, disseminating knowledge and highlighting the role of research in social and human development. To make these aspects visible, the Somos Científicos dissemination contest brought together 30 experts from all over the State with students from 85 educational centers in Spain and South American countries between April 16 and 27. Organized by organized by Fecyt and La Caixa, it was about interacting, opening lines of dialogue online, solving doubts and giving answers to these boys and girls on topics such as food, health, energy, nanotechnology, robotics, chemistry, biology, etc. The students themselves were responsible for choosing the favorite scientist, a recognition that in this edition went to the researcher from the University of Vigo María Fernández, taking over from Alba Aguión, winner in 2017. Fernández was proclaimed winner in the food section, in which she participated by talking about aquaculture and explaining to the students what the fish that will be eaten in the future will be like. The biologist is part of the Marine Genetic Resources group (ReXenMAr), under which she is carrying out her doctoral thesis and a pre-doctoral stay in Tromso, in northern Norway, working on a project to improve cod farming. She declares herself a firm defender of the dissemination and communication of science and that is why she decided to participate in this competition. “I believe that it is essential that society knows and understands what is being researched in science,” she explains, but above all she defends the need for this knowledge to reach young people.
Student involved and interested in science
The evaluation of this experience is very positive, both for the involvement and the enthusiasm of the students. “Something that started as a small idea to try to spread science, has far exceeded my expectations”. The competition is divided into thematic blocks and, in the Food area, “during these two weeks we were able to debate current issues such as bacterial resistance, transgenic foods, the benefits of aquaculture or even the big problem of microplastics as pollutants in the oceans”, explains Fernández. But there was also time to give advice on big decisions such as choosing a career, the steps to follow to become a scientist or the keys to a healthy diet. “If I had to keep something, I would keep the passion for learning from the students and their spontaneity, it is impossible to predict their questions!” He points out that from the first moment the students who participated in the chats showed emotion. “With expressions like Hello! I can’t believe I’m here talking to you, they make me realize the importance of this initiative and how we influence students; they were the ones who encouraged me every day to want to receive questions, participate in chats and even made me value my work as a researcher even more”. In this sense, she is very grateful to the participating students, “because they made me review concepts of biology and other sciences in addition to challenging me to know how to explain it in a concise and simple way; but above all, thank you for your votes! Because winning this contest meant a lot to me and it also made me realize how grateful the students are for having dedicated my time to them”.
María Fernández also has words for the teachers, who encouraged students to participate, ask questions and discuss in class the topics covered in the chats. “I think the effort everyone made to learn about our work was noticeable,” says the researcher, who also highlights the work of the organizers and the rest of the scientists in the Food area, “from whom I learned a lot, from meat issues to the importance of yeast.”
The future is about outreach
For Fernández, the great challenge that science faces in becoming strong in the field of dissemination is the lack of time. “Most scientists have a full schedule of meetings, classes and trips, so sometimes it is very difficult to find some free time to dedicate to disseminating what we do”. In this context, she highly values initiatives such as Somos Científicos, which allows “to communicate science via the internet and from anywhere in the world”. The prize consists of 500 euros that must be invested in activities related to scientific dissemination. She is not yet clear on what her proposal will be, but she is convinced that she will continue to disseminate information, “I will try to visit the schools of the participants or organize a visit to the University of Vigo, since they have asked me a lot and perhaps we can design an experiment together”. However, she believes that there is still a lot to convey to society about aquaculture in particular and about science in general, “so I hope that this does not end here and that many future projects appear”.
Source DUVI
