Lab Matters Summer 2017 | Page 15

feature radiochemistry and water quality— a big issue in a state with a large agricultural presence, an imposing rivershed and heavy reliance on well water.

Yet even with her department’ s impressive array of products( including coloring books!), Blake said,“ One of the most helpful things we’ ve done is to make the laboratory available for interns,” such as high school teachers who come for summer externships and, a few years ago, a doctoral candidate from the University of Iowa journalism program( who developed a widely viewed newborn screening video).

Blake’ s work is complemented by the SHL’ s Education, Training and Outreach program, led by Beth Hochstedler. The program focuses mostly on STEM education for teachers and students from kindergarten through post-doc, but also hosts educational events for lawmakers, focusing on issues like Zika virus.

For the past ten years or so, the program has chosen a SHL“ ambassador” to promote the laboratory. The inaugural ambassador was the then-reigning“ Miss Iowa,” who had an interest in steering young girls into science.

“ One of the things we’ ve been successful in,” said Hochstedler,“ is finding unlikely partners who have helped us to be effective in the state.” For example, she said,“ When we’ re engaging students, we’ re engaging their parents too.”

One measure of the program’ s success is the fact that schoolteachers tweet about it.

Another high-powered communications shop can be found at the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene( WSLH), located at the University of Wisconsin – Madison( UW – Madison). Jan Klawitter, MA, the lab’ s communications lead, said her job is“ to build a broader base of people who are aware of what the lab can do for them.”

From Gilgamesh to The Iliad to Star Wars, stories have been an integral part of the human experience.“ There is an appetite for stories,” said Liz Neeley, a former marine biologist and current director of The Story Collider— a nonprofit organization dedicating to sharing true personal stories about science.

Like a craving for a juicy steak, the appetite for stories is grounded in biology: the human brain is hardwired to respond to character-driven narratives. While a recitation of bullet points activates the brain’ s language processing areas, a compelling story activates the parts of the brain that would be used if the listener were actually experiencing the events of the story— a phenomenon known as“ narrative transportation” or being transported into the speaker’ s world.

“ We know that’ s a powerful brain state,” said Neeley.“[ Listeners ] are imagining the motivations and experiences of characters and often having strong emotional reactions. And they take the characters’ opinions, beliefs, attitudes back into their own life.”

In fact, character-driven stories with emotional content trigger the synthesis of oxytocin, a hormone that enhances empathy and may also enhance trust. Research has shown that such stories prompt better understanding and better recall of a speaker’ s main points— key reasons storytelling is so widely used to market products and ideas.

According to Neeley, the most captivating stories:

• Are authentic to the story-teller

• Involve a chain of events, with a beginning, a middle and an end( as opposed to disconnected facts).

• Start in the action with something interesting( with scientific details added later).

• Develop tension in the narrative.

• Don’ t try to tell it all.

• End with flair.

Said Neeley,“ In the heat of an outbreak, dispassion and calm are essential. But being able to complement that, at times, with shared experiences can go a long way toward building trust.”

“ Some people say science communication is about transmitting facts. But in storytelling, we’ re digging for deeper truths.... What do we care about? Who are we? How do we survive in this world?”

“ We are people who believe in data. Believe it’ s worth spending money on science. We’ re people who’ ve conquered horrible things, like polio. We’ re capable of taking the worst that Mother Nature throws at us and saving lives.... I think scientists forget how amazing they are. It gives me goose bumps.”

Liz Neeley, executive director of The Story Collider, talks about the value of storytelling in science communication at the 2017 APHL Annual Meeting

She said,“ I think when people think of laboratories, they think of equipment and testing; it’ s technical and abstract. But in the end, our ability to do our job and to serve our customers comes down to relationships— those human-to-human relationships, which prove to be as important as any technical knowledge.”