XIV Workshop APECS Portugal
“Lost in Communication – How to Improve the ERCs Communication Skills?”
It is with great pride that we present the 14th edition of the APECS Portugal Workshop: “Lost in Communication – How to Improve the ERCs Communication Skills?”. The workshop will take place on 🗓️ November 2, 2023, at the 📌 Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon.
This year we will address the importance of science communication in their different forms, whether using photography, writing or public speaking.
Hence, the morning session will be shared with our Portuguese colleagues from Polar Educators International and will focus on the importance of sharing the science with the public, how to interact and engage with different types of public and mostly on the bridge between scientists-teachers-public.
The afternoon session will be more practical and will focus on learning and meeting new methods and tools, and therefore more practical and informal, with two excellent Portuguese guests on science and outreach (Nuno Vasco Rodrigues and Rúben Oliveira).
Don’t miss this opportunity to extend your network, meet colleagues and scientists, and learn new tools for your future. The workshop is FREE, just requires registration.
Invited speakers
Heïdi Sevestre
The superpowers of science communication
Dr. Heïdi Sevestre is a glaciologist and member of The Explorers Club. In 2022, she was awarded the Shackleton Medal for her efforts in protecting polar regions. Heïdi works for AMAP, the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme, Working Group to the Arctic Council. Heïdi teaches glaciology to students at the University Centre in Svalbard, located in the Arctic. Heïdi regularly leads scientific expeditions to polar and high mountain regions. Through her work, she aims to make scientific knowledge more accessible and to motivate action to combat the climate crisis.
José Xavier
Science communication on Climate Change in the Antarctic: How to reach policy makers quicker?
The talk aims to provide the latest information on climate change in the Antarctic and discuss various avenues to improve science-policy making interactions, based on experience as the head of delegation of Portugal at the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings.
José Xavier is a marine ecologist (Cambridge University, PhD) and Professor at University of Coimbra, focusing his research on Southern Ocean ecology, particularly on foraging and feeding behaviour of top predators, and ecological links to their prey, to climate change, collaborating with more than 10 countries, since 1997. José is a Tinker-Muse Prize awardee for science and policy in Antarctica and the Head of Delegation of Portugal at the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings. He also coordinates science-policy-education projects.
Zita Martins
The importance of Science Communication – A Scientist’s Perspective
Zita Martins is an Astrobiologist, an Associate Professor at Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), Portugal, and the Co-Director of the MIT-Portugal Program. She works in the field of Astrobiology and Cosmochemistry, and her research interests include the detection of bio-signatures in space missions, and the potential contribution of organic compounds present in meteorites and comets to the origin of life on Earth.
She has a 5-year undergraduate degree (Licenciatura) in Chemistry from IST (Portugal, 2002) and a PhD in Astrobiology from Leiden University (The Netherlands, 2007). She was an Invited Scientist at NASA Goddard (2005 and 2006), and an Invited Professor at the University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis (France) (2012). In 2009 she was awarded a Royal Society Research Fellowship worth 1 Million British Pounds, and she was a Royal Society University Research Fellow at Imperial College London (UK) until the end of 2017. Since January 2018 she has been an Associate Professor at IST (Portugal).
Rúben Sousa de Oliveira
How to engage an audience in polar science without freezing their brains
Rúben Sousa de Oliveira is a biologist, ecologist, science communicator and event producer dedicated to promoting scientific literacy in dialogue with education and culture. With a Master’s degree in Conservation Biology, he is a member of the Communication Office of cE3c – Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Change at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon, where he is responsible for creative activities, content production and science communication. He also coordinates the communication of the Tropical College of the University of Lisbon, co-founded the Pint of Science Portugal festival and FIC.A – International Science Festival, assuming the position of Scientific Director at the latter. In 2020, he was part of the group of 10 ‘under-40’ personalities from various fields invited by the Minister for the Environment and Climate Action to debate projects for a sustainable way out of the crisis and, in 2022, he launched the book “A Little Everywhere: Ecology in the 21st Century” with the renowned ecologist Maria Amélia Martins-Loução. He is currently studying for a PhD in Ecology and Conservation, specializing in Conservation Marketing, in the Mediterranean and Tropical Biodiversity research group at cE3c, in partnership with the University of Oxford.
Nuno Vasco Rodrigues
The role of photography in storytelling for marine conservation
Nuno Vasco Rodrigues is a marine biologist with a master’s degree in integrated Ocean Studies, author of dozens of scientific articles and several books on marine fauna. A conservation photographer and regular contributor to publications such as Oceanographic and National Geographic Portugal, his photos have won several international awards, and he was named Conservation Photographer of the Year 2021 by Ocean Geographic. A certified scuba diver since 2000, he has logged more than 1,500 hours underwater in various parts of the world, most of them studying and photographing marine life.
