The Easiest Out-Reach You Will Ever Do.

Outreach is easy right? Actually, it can be. Most financial advisors will encourage individuals to diversify their portfolio. So why not diversify your scientific outreach? Many scientists already do.

So what are you doing the 2nd Thursday of each month at 9pm Eastern?. Once a month scientists and high school students gather together on Twitter and use the hashtag #SciStuChat (scientists student chat) to talk science.

#SciStuChat has been around for two years now and we are constantly looking for more scientists, science writers, and thinkers to engage the high school students. Topics are decided by the student participants. During the past twenty-four months we have covered topics ranging from black holes, evolution, genetic engineering, shark misconceptions and conservation, cloning, and many others. We usually have two student moderators who are responsible for welcoming those who join the chat and developing 7-10 questions about the chosen topic to be asked during the discussion. Here is a short tutorial about the format and participation for #SciStuChat.

The purpose behind our monthly chat is to give students a chance to talk to real scientists as well as learn about pressing science topics in the world. Many students never get the chance to meet a scientists and as a result they are dependant on the stereotypes they see in the media. As you know scientists are a diverse bunch, not all wear lab coats, glasses, or pocket protectors. Some scientists enjoy skydiving, ultimate frisbee, arguing about sports, or watching The Walking Dead.  So whatever you are doing for science outreach, continue your efforts, but please join us once a month for an invigorating discussion with high school students and other scientists. Even if you are not an expert in a particular field, we need science thinkers.  If you have already joined in the past, Thank You, and I hope we will see you again in the future.

For more information about #SciStuChat, check out the website sg.sg/scistuchat1. Here is some good press we have received in the past couple years.

• Science Friday (NPR) http://www.sciencefriday.com/blogs/06/26/2013/talking-science-on-twitter.html?series=17

• Nature.com http://www.nature.com/spoton/2013/04/social-media-for-science-outreach-a-case-study-scistuchat/?WT.mc_id=TWT_Scitable

• ASBMB.org http://www.asbmb.org/asbmbtoday/asbmbtoday_article.aspx?id=33155

• Promega Connections http://promega.wordpress.com/tag/scistuchat/

• Biology101.org http://www.biology101.org/archive/2012/10/high-school-students-host-discussion-scientist-twitter/

• Biodiversityinfocus.com http://www.biodiversityinfocus.com/blog/2012/10/10/entomology-in-the-digital-classroom-scistuchat/

• Sciencmuse.com http://sciencemuse.com/2012/05/04/twitter-scistuchat-creator-adam-taylor/

Stereotypes you can help break as suggested by scientists