While winter storms were pounding the UiB and UNIS campus in the transition from January to February, BIO MSc and PhD students traveled to sunny University of California at Berkeley to partake in the annual iSCOPE workshop.
The workshop is part of the iSCOPE project, a joint effort between the science and arts through communication and education, combining biologists from UiB, arts from HVL, astrophysics from UCB and education science from Concordia.
The goal of the week was to work towards iSCOPEs aim to create of a suite of verifiably effective, innovative science pedagogies to make Norway a leader in the impact that marine biological research offers the global community.
The students were split into five interdiciplinary groups to work on projects:
-What are we doing this week at #iSCOPE? This and much more! pic.twitter.com/hQ39OyxyR8
— Magnus S. Nerheim (@magnus_s_n) January 30, 2017
Throughout the week, a large variation of communication methods were presented. Examples of these were include a presentation from the different iSCOPE branches, a workshop on motivation and inspiration from a local black metal band and a presentation of Virtual Reality technology which ended up being included in two of the students’ projects:
Day 2 of #iSCOPE: Testing #VR apps for presenting marine life. Pros for exhibition: much content with little space! pic.twitter.com/VrgcFtWSol
— Joakim Vindenes (@VindenesJ) January 31, 2017
The participants also ventured out of the UCB campus, partaking in a workshop at a local high school, visiting Monterey Bay Aquarium Research station and getting a behind the scenes tour at the Monterey Bay Aquarium combining marine biology communication and the Seafood Watch program.
On the last days of the workshop, the projects were presented. The variety and applications of methods in communicating and teaching through science and arts were striking. Combining these oral presentations including physical elements and individual reflection notes with feedback and content learnt throughout the week will be key to further reach iSCOPEs goals.
Photo: Janne Robberstad