Associate Professor Carol Oliver
PhD SciCom SFHEA
In April 2023, my book chapter, The social brain and the neuroscience of storytelling, was published in the Springer Nature book Teaching Science students to communicate: A practical guide (Editors Susan Rowland and Louise Kuchel). You can read it here: Continue Reading …
Astrobiology is the perfect interdisciplinary name for the crossroads of sciences that collectively study life with a cosmic perspective. How did life arise and evolve on our planet? Does life co-evolve on Earth? Is there life elsewhere in the universe? Continue Reading …
One of the most intriguing questions in searching for life in the universe is the one asked by physicist Enrico Fermi in 1952. During a lunch break, Fermi reasoned our solar system is only a third of the universe’s age, Continue Reading …
It was 1961 at the Green Bank radio telescope. Frank Drake, a young researcher at the observatory, was looking at a blank sheet to figure out a meeting agenda for America’s foremost thinkers on the question: Are we alone in Continue Reading …
Science can be communicated in many ways. But what evidence do we have that any of our communication is effective in improving the understanding of the practice of science? I posed the same question many years ago, and the answer Continue Reading …
In a world where fake science news threatens our ability to communicate science effectively, applying the art of evidence-based science communication has become an important skill. BEES6800 The Science of Science Communication is a fully online University of New South Continue Reading …
What will online learning look like in the future? See my thought leadership piece here: https://www.education.unsw.edu.au/news-events/news/the-writing-is-on-the-virtual-wall
A project I led produced a quirky result among the data. While participating students could clearly understand the many different approaches to science, they apparently still could not let go of the alternative conception that the practice of science is Continue Reading …
Opinion September 2017, The Conversation. Australia’s new national space agency will help students reach for the stars in STEM, C. Oliver https://theconversation.com/australias-new-national-space-agency-will-help-students-reach-for-the-stars-in-stem-84702 (5,000 reads to December 2019). December 2013, The Conversation. To launch Australia into space, we need inspiration, M. Continue Reading …
According to science communicator Craig Cormick (2019), the elements of effective science communication are so simple it uses fewer characters than a tweet: Know your audience Tell a good story Know why you are telling that story Of course, explaining Continue Reading …