SCTN Reboot Team
Leadership
Since 2017, the SCTN has alternately been led by volunteer conveners, a Core Team, a Network Weaver, and a Board.
As of January 2024, we are in a transition phase and are seeking funding to sustain future operations. Our interim leadership structure is the Reboot Team, named below.
Diverse representation from the SCTN community is important on our leadership team. If you are interested in getting involved with the SCTN at the leadership level (we have room for low- to high-commitment roles that are potentially compensated monetarily or in other ways that works for you), please contact us at SciCommTrainersNetwork@gmail.com.
Dr. Jac Goldstein (she/her) is the Instructional Designer for the MIT School of Engineering Communication Lab, where she trains researchers in technical communication and peer-coaching best practices. She is particularly interested in using inclusive communication to foster scientific understanding and identity in higher education. She is also a founder of SciCommBites, a research summary blog dedicated to digesting the latest research on science communication.
Sara Kobilka (she/her) owns Renaissance Woman Consulting and is a dedicated lifelong learner. She’s spent years specializing in science communication in TV/radio, education in informal and formal settings (from preschool to university and beyond), and the non-profit realm. As a meteorologist, journalist, and educator, she helps bridge the gap between the scientific community and those who consider themselves to be outside of it. Sara is involved nationally in diversity in STEM and STEM engagement initiatives that seek to inspire interest and excitement for STEM broadly.
Jessica Rohde is a PhD Candidate developing monitoring and evaluation tools to improve science communication and enhance its benefits to society. She primarily uses qualitative, realist, action research, with a side of quantitative analysis and data vizualization. She has ten years experience leading community engagement for research organizations in which I applied a range of media on various platforms to cultivate cross-sector collaboration and include more diverse publics in the process of science.
Dr. Virginia Schutte (she/her) is an award-winning storyteller, consultant, and trainer who is unstoppably and loudly enthusiastic about how science makes life better. Since earning her Ecology Ph.D. in 2014, she has worked to diversify how people interact with science online. She has created and led digital engagement programs, designed communications strategies, and trained scientists to identify and meet their communications goals.
Dr. Marissa Weiss (she/her) is a science communication trainer, communicator, and researcher. She is currently a Climate Fellow at the USDA. She is a co-author of the "rainbow figure" for inclusive scicomm. She was a 2010 AAAS Mass Media Fellow, and a co-founder of the inaugural scicomm class for grad students and postdocs at Cornell University in 2007.