Thursday April 19th went down in history for being the first Science Online Vancouver event!  Held at none other than Science World, SOVan drew in around 50 enthusiastic science lovers of all age groups and skill levels.  I had the pleasure of attending this event and I honestly had a lot of fun!  Time passed by so quickly that by nine oclock, I didn’t want to leave!  Science Online is a monthly discussion series where people can discuss the roles of science and how science communication is talking new roles as technology improves.   It is NOT a lecture about a scientists new research!  Instead, it allows guests to communicate, give their opinion and just simply express how they feel about developments in science.

The first session’s theme was the changes in science communication.  With the internet at our finger tips, we are learning about science in so many different ways.  Many guests explained they are avid tweeters, how they read things on the internet and how television has stooped very low of the information resource totem pole.   In order to really connect this theme and idea, the story of NASA’s supposed arsenic life forms was related.  Rosie Redfield spoke about her research and how NASA was quickly discredited for their announcement and research.  As a researcher, we heard her point of view and learned how she openly blogged about all her data whilst doing the project.  This is something new in the world of science and not often done because researchers are often afraid of being “scooped”.  We also heard from Lisa Johnson and got the reporter’s view of the story.  At the time of NASA’s press release, many news stories simply reported what they heard from NASA because this was the newest information.  Lastly we heard from the consumer`s point of view from Anthony Floyd.  He mentioned how NASA “pushed” this story on us, the consumers, and compared this to stories we find or “pull in” ourselves. I really liked how the story was talked about from all these different viewpoints because as a high school, I think I can appreciate a little from all of them.

Throughout the night, we also discussed which platforms we use the most for science.  Since we were in groups, it more of a compromise and although I didn’t fully agree with everyone, I could definitely understand their points.  When it comes to facebook, twitter, the internet, Wikipedia, television, radio, etc we could all agree that the reliability of our information depends on the article itself.  Something on twitter may be extremely accurate from one member but nonsense from another.  I also thought that where you go depends on who you are.  I’ll be honest, as a high school student, I’m not reading blogs on wordpress or journals on a daily or weekly basis!  I get my information and news from my friends, the internet and yes the television.  Furthermore, I know I’m not as up to date with all science current events as I wish I was but lately as I’ve learned what all these platforms can offer, I think that I’m improving!!

Vancouver’s first science online was definitely a success.  It was such an inviting environment and I’m really looking forward to next months!

Check out this link for more info: http://scienceonlinevancouver.com/

storify of the night for those who missed it! http://storify.com/sciovan/the-first-sovan-science-online-vancouver?awesm=sfy.co_qGc&utm_campaign=&utm_medium=sfy.co-twitter&utm_source=t.co&utm_content=storify-pingback