Science Communication and the Post-Pandemic Future with Martina Hestericová

Join Nikesh Gosalia and co-host Jayashree Rajagopalan as they talk to science communicator Martina Ribar Hestericová, who is on a mission to make science more accessible to everyone. In this episode, Martina talks about giving back to society by communicating science, interacting with young scientists from other parts of the world, and increasing recognition for science communication work. She also shares a personal anecdote on how a frustrating lab session on a late Friday evening led to the creation of her highly popular Instagram account science_exercises.eu.

Martina delves into the hot topic of women in STEM, with her sharing her thoughts on providing the right work environment for not just women but all minorities in science. Finally, the conversation shifts to an issue pertinent to all scientists worldwide – how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the landscape of science communication, from the creation of the hybrid communication model to remote working practices.

Martina Ribar Hestericová is a Science Communications Manager for Lonza, freelance science journalist, and polyglot with a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Basel as well as several indexed publications under her belt. Featured on Forbes 30 under 30, Martina is involved in several science outreach projects, including Lonza’s biotech podcast “A View On” and her popular Instagram account science_exercises.eu. Connect with Martina on LinkedIn.

Enjoyed this discussion and want to hear more from Martina Hestericová? Tune in to Part 2 here.

Nikesh Gosalia

Hi, everyone. Welcome to All Things SciComm! All Things SciComm is a weekly podcast brought to you by ScienceTalks, a media platform that aims to make science accessible to everyone. In this program, we dive into the latest from the sci-tech world.

My name is Nikesh Gosalia, and I’m joining you from London. I’ve been part of the science communication and scholarly publishing industry for more than 14 years. I’ve had the privilege of working with researchers, academic publishers, journals, societies, and universities. It is my absolute pleasure to be hosting this podcast about the latest in science, tech, and research, an area that I’m tremendously passionate about. Enough about me. Say hello to my co-host for today, Jayashree Rajagopalan.

Jayashree Rajagopalan

Thanks, Nikesh. I must say I really like your energy. I think you’ve set just the right tone for today’s conversation. A big hello, good morning, good afternoon, and good evening to everyone who’s joined us on today’s podcast episode of All Things SciComm. My name is Jayashree, and I host and oversee a community forum for researchers. I have been part of the scholarly publishing industry for over a decade and have had the opportunity to interact extensively with researchers, scientists, publishing and science communication professionals. Speaking of science communication professionals, I’m really excited to be able to speak to a fantastic SciComm professional today. Nikesh, so should we roll out the red carpet for our guest?

Nikesh Gosalia

Absolutely. Let’s do that. So, let’s get started with our episode.

Nikesh Gosalia

Today, we are chatting with Martina Ribar Hestericová. Hi, Martina.

Martina Ribar Hestericová

Hi, Nikesh. Hi, Jayashree. Thanks for having me. I’m really excited to be here.

Nikesh Gosalia

Likewise, Martina. So let me introduce Martina to our listeners. Martina is currently a Senior Manager, Science Communications at Lonza. Martina earned a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Basel in Switzerland. During her days as an academic, apart from publishing scientific manuscripts, she started writing as a freelance science journalist that instilled a love for science communication. So, after finishing her studies, she first became a forensic analytical chemist but continued with writing and communicating science and eventually switched to science communication completely.

Jayashree Rajagopalan

Yup, and Martina does a lot of science outreach. And when I say a lot, I mean a lot. She runs a really busy Instagram account. It’s called science_exercises.eu. And it has over 32,000 followers. I think I have about 200 to 300 followers on my Instagram account, but who’s comparing? Well, Martina uses her Instagram account to bring science to everybody. She also runs a biotech podcast with Lonza called ‘A View On’ where she talks about topics related to the pharma industry. In addition to this, Martina also regularly contributes science communication related content pieces to different forums and platforms. Martina, wow. It’s mind-blowing. And I’m really inspired by how everything that you’re doing is related to what you’ve learned and what your passion in life is. And I’m really excited to have you here.

Martina Ribar Hestericová

Well, I’m glad that you find it interesting. And now that you put it all together, it sounds like a lot. But when you look at the day-to-day activities, it’s really something that motivates me, that I’m really passionate about. And I feel like I’ve been studying for years, also having finished Ph.D., as you mentioned, 4 years ago, it’s been a while. But I feel like I spent almost 20 years, it’s cool, which is true. And now I finally have the chance to give back to what I’ve learned to society, to kids, to teenagers, to young students. And this is something that really fulfills me, and I hope that people enjoy it.

Jayashree Rajagopalan

It sounds really noble. And giving back, I think what better way than to give back to society than communicate science and make sure it reaches the people. I think I’d like to begin with an anecdote since we’re talking about your personal interests here. I think I want to begin with an anecdote. Now I’ve read about this, and I’m sure our listeners would also really find this interesting. You mentioned in one of the posts you wrote that you actually literally stumbled into science communication when during one of your really bleak phases as a researcher, you posted on Instagram a photo of yellow chromatography tubes. This is really interesting. Could you just tell us a little bit about the beginnings of your SciComm journey?

Martina Ribar Hestericová

Of course, gladly. It’s correct. It was, I think, at the beginning or towards the middle of my Ph.D. studies. And I guess like every graduate student, at a certain point, you experience a block when it comes to your writing abilities, when it comes to your motivation, or your project may just get stuck. And it was a really hard time for me because at that moment, I was trying to basically initiate one catalytic reaction to work using enzymes and chemistry at the same time was also quite complex. And you can imagine that I felt alone, I felt really stuck. And one evening, I remember, I was purifying my product, I think, or starting material or something like this. And column chromatography can be really rewarding because even if it’s really messy, if you’re lucky enough to work with a colorful compound, it’s really beautiful.

And I just remember that it was a late evening, and it might have been a Friday evening, and I felt like what am I even doing here? But then I looked at the rack with test tubes, and they were filled with various shades of yellow solution because that’s how the purification actually went. And it made me just take off the gloves, take out my phone, snap a picture, and I posted it on Instagram. I think back then my profile didn’t even have the proper name, sciencecexercises.eu, and I just called it 60 Shades of Yellow because I found it funny. And I remember, it might have received about 100 likes, mostly from my friends and family. But it made me realize the effect it had on them, the way how they laughed, how they contacted me back asking additional questions. What was it? What are you doing? What’s your project about? Even from my parents, grandparents – well, believe it or not, my grandparents, my grandma has an Instagram account.

It made me realize that the beautiful visuals can be used to communicate science on a really general level. I didn’t have to go into details how that particular reaction is important to my overall project. I could explain the technique, compare it to our daily lives and use humor a little bit at least and most importantly use beautiful pictures to illustrate science. And this is how I actually stumbled into it. It made me realize that even if a project is stuck, I can still talk about it, and it still has value. And eventually, of course, it worked. And the paper got published in Nature Protocols, I believe. So it was really, really great the project eventually. But back then it made me realize and rediscover passion for science, because it was really a huge switch from being stuck somewhere to realizing its potential and impact to society even.

Nikesh Gosalia

Yeah, absolutely. I would echo what Jayashree said, Martina. I just realized while you were talking about it, before I ask my question, I’m just guessing that this must be extremely gratifying for you with so many followers. Are there one or two reactions that come to your mind which have stood out? I mean, I don’t know, from young children or young researchers and anything that you would like to share?

Martina Ribar Hestericová

That’s a fantastic question. And I’m glad you asked. This happens, I don’t know, once every 2 weeks. I receive a DM from a follower. Many times, my former students from the university follow up with me and thank me for what they learned, which is clearly we had a personal connection. I knew them personally. We saw each other face to face. But what happens from time to time is that I get a message from someone in India or in Poland or Colombia, and they tell me I felt stuck or I was feeling a bit unmotivated or even I was not sure if I can become a scientist because my teachers at high school told me it’s not for you or it’s not for women. And it makes me a bit emotional even to talk about it. But they tell me that seeing a scientist at work or seeing a science communicator pursue their passion motivated them and kept them on track and made them realize that indeed, pursuing their dreams, it’s their own thing and they should be responsible for that. They should not take these really negative comments from anyone. So, it happens from time to time. Of course, I sometimes have to deal also with other comments that would be on the opposite side of the spectrum, but it’s part of what I do. But if I should focus on the positive, this is something that really warms my heart and motivates me as well to keep doing what I do.

Nikesh Gosalia

Wow! I mean, I think I have goosebumps as well Martina just hearing. And I think similar stories, similar vision is what we’ve had at CACTUS as well. I mean when we started working with researchers, especially from the non-native countries, Jayashree would remember instances when researchers would write back to us and the sense of gratitude that they would have in terms of just the help that we provided, and now that they’ve overcome maybe an obstacle that is probably in their mind in terms of just it could be editing a paper or finding the right journal for them. And when you wake up in the morning and when you see those messages from Japanese, Korean, Chinese researchers, it just motivates you to really kind of go to work and do what you do. So, I can definitely relate to that. So, clearly, you’re very passionate about making science accessible, Martina, especially to younger people. Do you think research societies are equally invested in this? And if not, why should they care about younger scientists, science students, sharing your opinion there?

Martina Ribar Hestericová

That’s a really, really good question. I’m glad you decided to focus on this area. So, I think what’s really important is to realize that science communication should be part of a job of every scientist. First of all, maybe to take a step back, when we talk about science being accessible, we shouldn’t only talk about making the information available to anyone or think about how science is supported through taxpayers’ money, so they should have the right to see the data, etcetera. I think that’s clear, and that’s a given. But what we should also keep in mind is the accessibility also should mean making the information accessible for people with impairments or disabilities, right? So thinking about people on the autism spectrum or with reading disorders, speech disorders, hearing impairments, etcetera, color-blinded people.

This is actually something that I remember happening from conferences. We kept hearing these stories from our professor that when he showed a graph on a conference with various colors, etcetera, many people would come to him afterwards and tell him that they couldn’t understand the data because they couldn’t see the difference between colors. And then when I joined industry, one of my bosses was color-blind as well. So really, having experienced this made me realize how many people are affected and how many people don’t even realize this. So, now when I present data, I try to adjust for that.
But going back to your question, I think that societies and especially research societies are slowly starting to realize the importance of communicating science to the general public. However, I think there’s still room for improvement.

What I would like to see more is offering courses to graduate students, postdocs, and even professors on how to communicate science effectively, even a little bit about marketing strategies. Because if you think about it critically, science communication is a lot like marketing. You need to know your target audience. You need to meet them where they are, speak their language, go on platforms where they are. This is also one of the reasons why I then decided to continue with the Instagram account. Since the target audience of scienceexercises.eu, which is a page that publishes free math, physics, and chemistry, soft chemistry exercises, the audience there is students at university and in college. So, I wanted to bring this content to them.

And this should also be considered at universities or research institutes in general that people should be awarded for work that they do if they already do science communication. And the work they do should be considered as the official part of their job. If they decide to go and present or talk about science at a high school, in my opinion, they should be properly compensated for this. So clearly, there’s room for improvement, but I see improvement already and great improvement.

Nikesh Gosalia

Yeah, absolutely. I would agree with you, Martina. I think we are on the right track, perhaps a bit slower than expected, but I think we are starting to move in that direction. I think you’ve partly answered my next question. But just in terms of, I think, again, research societies, when they say that they’re focusing on early career researchers, they may not have all the policies and practices that reflect this. So, what do you think research societies can and should offer early career members and an important area, which is women in STEM, do you have any thoughts on that?

Martina Ribar Hestericová

I was really fortunate to have studied at the University of Basel here in Switzerland because when I was in my second year of my Ph.D., a new program was launched that was focused on women in science. And generally, we got training and coaching on how to develop our skills, soft skills but also technical skills, writing, how to build your network, etcetera. And I think something like this should be implemented everywhere. However, not only focused on women in science but expanded to all minorities in science or just offer it to everyone, why not, I don’t see a reason why this should not be offered for everyone. So, that’s one part. I think creating courses that not only target the technical aspects but also the soft skills that are really important in, as I like to say the real life. So, once you’re out of school, either you pursue a career in academia or in industry or you go to a startup or do something completely different, you still need to improve your communication skills, your negotiation skills. You should know how to analyze data, how to transform information into something that is more palatable by the general public. And this is something that anyone can benefit from.

That’s really, really important. And sometimes I have a feeling that universities especially tend to focus on only preparing Ph.D. students for life in academia. But then if you look at the data, I remember a value from 10 years ago, I think it might have changed, but approximately 4% of Ph.D. students eventually get a tenured position as a professor. But what happens to the rest? They struggle. They need to realize how to feed into the real world, how to feed into another career type. And I think if the university would realize this a bit early on, it would make the life of their graduates a bit easier.
And then to come back to one of your other points, how should they focus on women in science? I think this has already been addressed. I mean we are in 2022, it’s not so bad anymore, at least not in my environment, in my bubble.

Of course, there are still areas that need improvement. But I think at this time, we should focus and expand the focus on all minorities and ensure that also people with disabilities have the right environment to work.

Nikesh Gosalia

Absolutely, Martina. Thank you for that. And I agree with you. I think just to share my thoughts and summarize what we just discussed, I clearly see a lot more intent being shown by societies, publishers, universities in communicating science. Can we do more? Of course, we can do more. And I think that’s where people like you are helping to really spread the word. As far as policies and practices are concerned, I think we need maybe to kind of urgently look into that. And I believe the pandemic, in a way, has forced everyone to do that, as conferences have moved to on online mode, as people are not getting time really to talk in person. We, as always, are adapting to newer ways. And I do agree with you. I mean, I see a lot more awareness around women in STEM. I don’t really think that’s a very big problem, and really good work is being done in that area.

Martina Ribar Hestericová

You brought up an interesting point about how the pandemic has been affecting this. And I read an article in Nature recently that analyzed the way how women in particular are participating in conferences. And I think the pandemic has allowed more women to be able to join, given the fact that many of them need still to have the caretaker role in their personal life, not being forced to travel long distances, and just being able to join virtually has allowed them to join and participate actively, which is something really positive. And I hope we will be able to take this forward even beyond the pandemic.

Nikesh Gosalia

Yeah, that was just before I hand over to Jayashree. I mean that was maybe a question that just occurred in my mind as you were talking about that Martina, that how do you see the post-pandemic future in terms of conferences, in terms of, again, science communication, in terms of just networking? Do you think we’ll have more of a hybrid model with fewer events? Do you think we’ll just be working remotely because now people have gotten used to this new way of working? I mean, just any quick thoughts.

Martina Ribar Hestericová

Let me first begin by saying that this is my personal opinion. I can’t speak on behalf of anyone. I do like the hybrid model at the moment that we see in trade shows, in conferences, in congresses, but I do miss the personal connection. Of course, you can give a talk. And it might even be easier for someone with ADHD or with some other issues to only focus on the screen, not being forced to filter out all the surrounding noises, etcetera. But at the same time, the main motivation to join a conference is not only to present your own work, but to network, to interact with people. And many times, and it’s something that I miss at the moment, is that you come up with ideas unexpectedly when you bump into someone over coffee or when you have the conference after party. I remember many times hearing stories about people coming up with new research ideas over beer. And this is something that might have slowed down scientific progress in the past 2 years. So, to sum it up, I hope to see at least some level of return to the older ways while keeping the ability to have the hybrid setup.

Nikesh Gosalia

Absolutely. Again, my personal view, Martina, and I agree with you. I miss the face-to-face interactions. I don’t think we can just completely replace that. But at the same time, I agree with you that maybe I’ve started questioning, do I really need to travel for a particular conference or a particular trip, which is I think the way to go, a more balanced approach and our own way to contribute to some of the real challenges that we’re talking about. It could be climate change, it could be carbon footprint, it could be just really, do I need to do this or do I want to do this? So, again, this is just my personal view. I don’t know, Jayashree, what do you have to say about that?

Jayashree Rajagopalan

I completely agree with you, Martina. I like this hybrid approach. But I miss the human contact. I miss being able to brainstorm with my colleagues. I miss being able to meet a scientist or a researcher face to face and watch them, discuss or talk about their struggles. I currently manage a community forum for researchers, and all the conversations are online, but I can still hear the pain, the angst, the struggle that researchers share. Just a couple of days ago, we were discussing the importance of mentoring in academia and how it really shapes a researcher’s character. But then imagine being able to have this discussion face to face in a sort of roundtable, casual context where I can talk to people and just understand, watch what they feel, rather than just have a completely virtual interaction. There are upsides and downsides, but I guess as a global unit, we are all moving to some sort of complex or hybrid model. It will keep changing, I guess, as the pandemic has its ups and downs. And as we all go through different kinds of experiences dealing with it socially, economically, academically, professionally, personally. So, I think it’s going to be a long journey with that one.

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