Communicating geoscience is the focus of the 57th KGS annual seminar

What does it take to effectively communicate geoscience information in our rapidly changing and sometimes wildly contentious world? That will be the question of the day at the Kentucky Geological Survey’s 57th annual seminar on May 18.

This year’s keynote speakers will be Lauren Cagle from the UK Department of Writing, Rhetoric and Digital Studies, and Aileen Buckley of the mapping and spatial software company Esri. Cagle will share ideas on using rhetoric to help stakeholders communicate about difficult topics and Buckley will draw upon her experience as a professional cartographer to speak about visual communication of spatial data.

Steve Evans, associate director of the Kentucky Water Resources Research Institute at UK, will discuss communications from the citizen scientist experience of Watershed Watch of Kentucky. Ellen Hahn, alumni professor in the UK Colleges of Nursing and Public Health, as well as director of the UK BREATHE program, will speak about translating and disseminating public health information from a perspective of interest to geoscientists.

KGS staff will also talk about the ways they communicate about Kentucky to Kentuckians, from improving the relevance of geologic maps to the dangers posed by geologic hazards. KGS scientists will also display technical posters about ongoing work.

The seminar—held at the KGS Well Sample and Core Library, 2500 Research Park Drive, Lexington, KY 40511—is free and open to the public, but registration is required. Learn more about the agenda and register by May 11.

Certificates for professional development hours will be available for those in attendance.

For more information, contact Mike Lynch at mike.lynch@uky.edu or (859) 323-0561.