Baltimore is a hub of scientific innovation, boasting three major biomedical research institutions — The Johns Hopkins University (JHU); the University of Maryland, Baltimore; and the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Yet discoveries from these local institutions do not typically reach the city’s general population. As co-leads of the Project Bridge science communication committee and Ph.D. students at JHU’s school of medicine, Malka Svei and Jackson Mace are aiming to change that.
The duo co-created Charm City Science, a quarterly scicomm (science communication) zine. “We thought this would be a great opportunity to showcase work from, mostly, JHU research and provide an event list of interactive scicomm events that take place throughout the city.”
By reading the zine, Baltimore locals learn about interesting research going on in the area, with curated content that is hard to find for those not in the research community.
New issues of the Charm City Science zine come out roughly quarterly. Paper copies can be found at various locations downtown — including Lexington Market, the Enoch Pratt central library, Red Emma’s bookstore, and other drop-off locations shared to their Instagram account (@PBSiComm). Digital copies are sent to email subscribers and posted on Linktree, where all issues can be accessed at any time.
“Research institutions have a tremendous influence on life in Baltimore. With the amount of land it owns, Hopkins literally dominates the physical landscape,” says the zine’s co-founders. Yet, the zine’s co-founders noticed a disconnect between the research institutions and the wider Baltimore community. “To most Baltimore residents, these institutions are opaque, inaccessible and vaguely threatening — if not actively hostile.” That’s why the zine focuses on local science news.
To Malka and Jackson, Charm City Science presents an opportunity to begin making amends. “Obviously, sharing a few research highlights is not going to heal the historic tensions with local communities,” the two acknowledge. “However, we wanted to at least give ordinary people some ownership over the scientific endeavors that directly and indirectly affect their lives.”
The zine’s co-founders also believe that science communication is the duty of scientists. “We scientists essentially work for the public — most of our research is taxpayer funded,” they say. “That means that our work should be accessible to the public, not just in how we communicate, but where.” Engaging with the community to discuss research is not only essential to fostering public trust in the scientific and medical communities, Svei and Mace say, but it can also help the public make more informed choices about health.
Despite the importance of science communication, it is critically overlooked during training for Ph.D. students, Svei and Mace say. This leads to real world consequences. “As scientists ourselves,” says Malka and Jackson, “we know that there is a huge disconnect between the work that is carried out within a laboratory and what the general population knows of the scientific topic.”
Due to scientific jargon and steep paywalls, the public typically can’t access or understand journals in which scientists share their findings, or the journals are just located in places that everyday people do not usually look. This furthers the disconnect between the scientific discoveries made in academic research and the public. “To really reach a broader audience, we need to think creatively, beyond the kinds of forums that scientists may be used to going to for our own information needs,” say Malka and Jackson.
The zine offers a critical platform for training scientists to share their work in a way that is accessible. Each issue of Charm City Science has a section highlighting local science events that are open to the public. “There are so many cool opportunities for the general public to interact with science,” say Malka and Jackson. “But you wouldn’t necessarily know that they are happening unless you know exactly where to look. We try to bring as much of that information together as possible in each issue of the zine.”
Jackson, who is a fifth year student in the cellular and molecular medicine program, says his favorite part of the zine was an interactive element published in the second issue, in which viewers were asked to help identify the origin of a mystery microscope slide image. “The answer we offered — printed in the following zine issue — came via Twitter from a histologist in Australia!”
The zine reaches a large geographic range, and beyond. As a fourth year neuroscience student, Malka’s favorite content in the zine reaches outside the co-founders’ expertise. “A lot of the images we’ve included are of things that I know nothing about, like crystallography or magnetic field radiation,” they explain. “So those are always really fun and interesting to me.”
Do you want to get involved? “We are open to contributions from all working scientists who live and/or work in Baltimore City,” say Malka and Jackson. The co-founders are always looking for more local researchers to share their work in the zine. Charm City Science has featured cool photos that didn’t quite make the cut for journal publication, short articles summarizing an interesting paper recently published from a local lab, and any material relating to local science news. Most contributors have been Johns Hopkins graduate researchers, but the zine hopes to broaden its range of creators. “If you are reading this and have an idea for an article, image or some other creative piece of science content, let us know!” The team can be reached by email at [email protected], [email protected] or [email protected].
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