Articles, Presentations, Videos & Conference Archive

URMA 2024 had a packed schedule which included a keynote with Shark Week Host & NC State communicator Michelle Jewell to a fireside chat with Matt Shipman, author of “Handbook for Science Public Information Officers” (ask Matt your questions here). You’ll also hear from Duke University’s Karl Bates about a #scicomm internship program to boost diversity in our field and from UNC-Chapel Hill’s Layla Dowdy on what goes into hosting University Research Week.

PHOTOS

Day 1 – May 14

Day 2 – May 15

Day 3 – May 16

Day 4 – May 17

Professional Portraits

 

FILM FESTIVAL COMPILATION

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kXTIoZAJuc

 

PRESENTATIONS

Layla Dowdy: University Research Week

Karl Leif Bates: Finding and Nurturing New Talents

Essie Torres and Allison Lazard: Research Communication Strategies for Diverse Audiences

Lorin Bruckner: Making an Impact with Data Visualization

Brett Beasley: Firehose Session

Craig Korn: Firehose Session

Martha Terry and Rachel Coker: Firehose Session

Mimi McHale: Firehose Session

Amanda Dobbs: Firehose Session

Michael Terrazas: Firehose Session

Joe Kays: Firehose Session

RESOURCES

Making Science Come to Life with Animated Illustrations
Karuna Meda, Thomas Jefferson University, 2020

Optimizing Your Online Content for Search Engines
Diane Boudreau, Arizona State University, 2019

Remaking Your Visual Identity
Catherine Zandonella, Princeton University, 2018

Your publication is only as good as it looks (2016)(this is not available)
Tricia Perea, art director, Augusta University
Becky Lang, editor in chief, Discover Magazine
Kathryn Lavey, graphic design manager, VISIT Milwaukee

Collaboration among editors, designers and photographers
Tim Steury, editor of Washington State magazine, 2014

Illustrating Science
Jen Christiansen, Scientific American, 2013

Choosing a Cover
Frank Stephenson, 2009
Accompanying commentary

RESOURCES

Text to Talk
Joe Kays, University of Florida, URMA 2022

Reddit and Instagram for #SciComm
Karla Arboleda, University of Florida, 2021

TikTok: More than just Dancing Videos
Nate Spada, University of New Hampshire, 2021

TikTok: A Growing Platform for Science Communication
Claudia Prindle and Nick Orchanian, Columbia University, 2021

Animating Research for Impact
Jeffrey Chase, University of Delaware, 2021

Going where few microphones have gone before: Bringing university research to the podcast world
Nancy Bazilchuk, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 2021

Inside Media/Message Training

Mario Aguilera, Director of Communications for UC San Diego’s Division of Biological Sciences, 2021
Kim Rubinstein, Professor Emeritus at UC San Diego Department of Theater and Dance, 2021
Dana Topousis, Chief marketing and communications officer at UC Davis, 2021
Sherry Seethaler, Educator in research communications at UC San Diego, 2021

Smartphone storytelling with photo and video
Wasim Ahmad, Assistant Teaching Professor of Journalism, Quinnipiac University, 2020

Helping scientists become strategic communicators
John Besley, Ellis N. Branp Professor of Public Relations, Michigan State University, 2020

Tweeting in the Time of COVID
Noel Rubinton, Brown University, 2020

Same But Different
Kelley Christensen, Michigan Technological University, 2020

Sneaky Science: Making You Eat Your Veggies While You Think You’re Having a Cookie
Miriam Kramer, senior science editor at Mashable, 2018

Collaborating on the Subatomic Smackdown
Kathryn Jepsen, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory and Kristen Coyne, National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, 2018

360-Degree Video Project
Rachel Coker, Binghamton University, 2018

Mic Your Marketing: Storytelling and Podcasting as Brand Marketing 
Terésa Dowell‐Vest, Film and Television Director; Michelle A. Dowell‐Vest, Communications Director and Podcast Host, 2019Convince Me: How to Sell Your Story in the Age of 24/7 News
Alex Stuckey, NASA and Science Reporter for the Houston Chronicle, 2019Using Instagram Stories
Kelly Hochbein, Lehigh University, 2019

Using the iPhone for Research Stills and Video
John Toon, Georgia Institute of Technology 2016
Slides (.pdf)

The Conversation: An Unconventional Opportunity for Faculty Experts and Authors

Maria Balinska, 2015

Why write for the Conversation?

What is the Conversation?

Social Media Strategy at Georgia Tech
Steven Norris, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2015

Twitter: 10 Best Practices
Kathryn Jepsen, Editor in Chief of Symmetry Magazine, 2015

Social Media for Science Communication
Paige Brown Jarreau, blog manager of SciLogs.com, where she writes the blog “From The Lab Bench,” 2015

Storytelling and Online Technology
Santiago Uceda and David Baker in Oregon State’s Interactive Communications Department, 2014

Visual Storytelling
Alisa Machalek, National Institutes of Health; Morgan Heim, conservation photojournalist, 2014
Slides (.pdf) Presentation (.pdf)

Giving Visual Power to Research Stories

Small group discussions among editors, designers, photographers and illustrators, 2014

Optimizing Your Magazine for an Online, Social, Mobile World
Michael Stoner, 2012

Build it and They Won’t Come: The Rules of the Audience Game Have Changed, and How You Can Play to Win

Rachel Mersey, 2012

Online Publishing

Rachel Coker, 2012

Creating an HTML newsletter

Jason Smith, 2012

Setting up and running a blog

Emily Carlson, 2009

With friends like these: Using social media

Max Malloy

Casting your web: Communicating research through Web 2.0 and new media

Diane Boudreau

Podcasting

Presentation Gene Charleton
Podcasting equipment and software recommendations (.doc)
Podcast/audio interview tips (.doc)

How a web site became a blog

Diane Boudreau

RESOURCES

Sci Comm on Instagram
Elise Mahon, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Presented at URMA Live, April 2026

2026 vs. 2016: Why social media success looks different now
Alex Hatch, University of New Hampshire
Presented at URMA Live, April 2026

LinkedIn for Higher Ed: Utilizing LI Articles
Colleen Brown, North Carolina State University
Presented at URMA Live, April 2026

Why Research Universities Should Be Active on BlueSky
Presented at URMA Live, April 2026

RESOURCES

Learning From Content Marketing
Edyta Zielinska, Thomas Jefferson University, 2021

Test Your Knowledge: Creating an Immersive Experience
David Barczak, University of Delaware, 2021

Use What You Have: Publishing a magazine when resources are restricted
Christina Dierkes, Ohio Sea Grant, 2020

How to Start a Science Pub with No Budget
Lewis Taylor, University of Oregon, 2018

Symmetry’s redesign or: How I learned to stop worrying and love the internet
Kathryn Jepsen, SLAC, 2016 

Firehose Session, 2015
Coffee Talks: Communication with Research Administrators
Joe Kays (University of Florida)
Creativity when the Cupboard Is Bare
Nick Houtman (Oregon State University)
Producing Quality Research Videos with Your iPhone
Melanie Goux (Georgia Tech)

Writing about Mathematics
Catherine Zandonella (Princeton University)
Cash Poor, Data Rich Audience Research
Kathi Wallace (Georgia Tech)
Working with Illustrators
Erica Endicott (Georgia Tech)
Communicating Animal ResearchNatasha Martineau (Imperial College)

Strategic Planning for Research Communications
Dave Pacchioli, Penn State; Su DiBella, UNLV; Laura Perry, UCLA, 2014

Conservation Magazine: A collaborative model for science communications
Kathryn Kohm, editor, 2014

Making a Magazine
Neil Caudle, 2012

2008 Institutional Magazine Survey
Kate Vonderhaar with Dartmouth Medicine provides this public report summarizing production values, costs, feedback mechanisms and online presence of 19 magazines. It includes anonymous anecdotes from additional magazines that chose not to share their data. The zipped download includes Word and Excel documents.

2007 Survey of URMA Members
Production and distribution information

Creating a Communications Plan
Kelli Whitlock

Working with Young Writers
Joe McClain, College of William & Mary, 2013
Nancy Marie Brown and Melissa Paugh

Contract templates for artists and photographers
All rights
One-time use
First time
(Provided by Steve Blount, Media Consultant, Orlando, Florida)

General copyright information
Copyright (hi-res 6.6 MB)
Copyright (low-res 1.4 MB)
(Provided by Steve Blount, Media Consultant, Orlando, Florida)

RESOURCES

Ally Relationships with Business Professionals of Color: Lessons learned from Research
Jennifer R. Joe, Cohen Family Chief Diversity Officer of Lerner College, 2021
Wendy Smith, Co-Director of the Women’s Leadership Initiative, 2021

Four Tips for More Effective Media Relations
John Toon, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2021

Emerging from the Pandemic: Lessons for Practice and Process
Rick Borchelt and Allison Eckharp, Department of Energy – Office of Science, 2021

The Birth and Growth of UF CTSI’s Diversity and Cultural Competence Council
Tiffany Danielle Pineda, University of Florida, 2021

Make a Research Video in Less Than an Hour
Catherine Zandonella, Princeton University, 2019

The Value of Twitter Series Posts
Noel Rubinton, Brown University, 2019

Cornell’s NYS Impact Initiative
Ted Boscia, Cornell University, 2019

Convince Me: How to Sell Your Story in the Age of 24/7 News
Alex Stuckey, NASA and Science Reporter for the Houston Chronicle, 2019

Should It Be One Story? The Evolution of NASA’s Messaging
Ralph Grau, Deputy Manager, ISS External Integration, NASA, 2019

Developing a Dynamic, Online Fact Sheet
Christina Dierkes, Ohio State University, 2019

Behold the Scutoid! How the Discovery of a New Shape Went Viral
Lori Friedman, Lehigh University, 2019

Second Annual URMA Film Festival, 2018

Audience Research with QuadBoard
John Toon, Georgia Tech, 2018

Marketing Tools and Social Media Strategy
Deb Bright, UC San Diego, 2018

Communications Challenges of Ebola
Mary Loftus, Emory University, 2015

Science Stories: Training your scientists to share their passion
Summary (.pdf) Joe Kays, University of Florida; Naomi Hirsch, Oregon State University, 2014

Visibility of Team Science: A Case Study of Media Coverage of the NSF Science and Technology Centers
Deborah Illman and Fiona Clark

RESOURCES

Communication in the Time of COVID
Renate Myles, Acting Director of NIH Office of Communication and Public Liaison, 2021

Emerging from the Pandemic: NSF’s transitions, takeaways and moving forward
Amanda Hallberg Greenwell, Head of NSF Office of Legislative and Public Affaris, 2021

Making Science Come to Life with Animated Illustrations
Karuna Meda, Thomas Jefferson University, 2020

Panel: Supporting #BlackInTheIvory: How University Communicators Can Support Diversity in Science and Engineering Research, 2020
Interlocutor: Brian Burt, Assistant Professor, Educational Leadership & Policy Analysis, University of Wisconsin-Madison @Brian_A_Burt
Panelists:

• Makeda Stephenson, Ph.D., biomedical engineering graduate research assistant at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine @MKQS
• Juita Martinez, a pelicanologist and graduate student at University of Louisiana-Lafayette @JuitaMartinez
• KeShawn Ivory, an astrophysics research assistant at Fisk and Vanderbilt Universities @keshawnrants

An Engineer Works to Explain His Trade 
John Lienhard, Ph.D., Author and Voice of NPR’s The Engines of Our Ingenuity, 2019

How to Communication‐ing Clearwise: The Challenges of Engaging the Public Even Though, You Know, Science
Adam Ruben, Ph.D., Author, Comedian and Molecular Biologist at John’s Hopkin’s University, 2019

Beyond the Abstract: Communications Training for Researchers
Beth Potier, University of New Hampshire, 2019

Spoons and Thumbs: Funny, Spooky, Poignant, and Completely True Science Stories
Sam Kean, New York Times bestselling author, 2018

Field Trip to Oak Ridge National Lab: Overview Presentation 2018

Rigor Mortis: Sloppy Science Leading to Unrealistic Results
Richard Harris, National Public Radio correspondent and author, 2018

Promoting Public Appreciation for Science
Ginger Pinholster, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, 2017

Refreshed and Energized to Share Science
Amanda Solliday, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, 2017

Humor in Science
Pete Ludovice and Lew Lefton, professors at Georgia Tech

Is It Safe? Risk Perception and Communication
Kaci Buhl, National Pesticide Information Center, 2014

Eventful science: Bringing research alive through events
Natasha Martineau, Head of Research Communications, Imperial College London, 2013

Eventful research: The value of hosting events for research communication
Melissa Beattie-Moss, Penn State, 2013

Revisiting the Value of Research
Sue DiBella, UNLV, 2006

RESOURCES

Rethinking Communication During a Pandemic and Social Unrest
Amanda Solliday, Duke University, 2020

Telling the Story of Research: Tactics for Communicating the Value of University Research
Brooke Thayer, consultant at EAB, 2018

Preparing for the Possibility of Really Fabulous News – Nobel Prize 2018
Scott Merville and Laura Harvey, MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2018

Making a Magazine
Neil Caudle, 2012

Constructing University Brands through University Research Magazines
Christel Binnie, 2008

A Report on Research Activities at Research Universities
Mark E. Welker and Alan R. Cox, Research Management Review, 2006

Surveys of Research Magazines

Final 2017 URMA Survey
Additional 2017 URMA Survey
2007
2005
2001

Reader Surveys Created by URMA Members
University of Ottawa 2007 survey
University of Kentucky 1998 survey letter
University of Kentucky 1998 survey

Revisiting the Value of Research
Sue DiBella, UNLV, 2006

RESOURCES

How to Tell the Story of Science
Ellin Kavanagh, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, 2017

Break Through the Clutter: Science stories that get noticed
Marilynn Marchione, chief medical writer, Associated Press, 2016
View the video

Why science and journalism are mutually incompatible – and why that doesn’t mean all is lost
Michael Lemonick, formerly of Time magazine and now an editor at Scientific American, 2016

“One in a Billion: The Story of Nic Volker and the Dawn of Genomic Medicine.”
Mark Johnson and Kathleen Gallagher, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Bringing the Audience In: Finding compelling details in science stories
Maryn McKenna, journalist and author, 2015

Narrative for the Heart and Mind: What scientists see but cannot say
Cristina Eisenberg, Oregon State University, 2014

Ranly on Heads
Don Ranly

Literature and Research Writing

• Growing up on Faulkner Neil Caudle
• Three lessons and a curious mind Roger Martin
• Is literature special? David Pacchioli

Point of View

• How writers create a voice Neil Caudle

The Interview

• In the style of the eager child Roger Martin

The Importance of Sound

• Poetry in an unknown language Nancy Marie Brown

RESOURCES

Metrics: How to Report Our Successes (Digital Fact Sheet)
Stachia Marioneaux & Mereditch Keating, LSU College of Science
Presented at URMA Live, September 2022

RESOURCES

Starting a Marine Science Podcast from Scratch
Brian Yurasits, New Hampshire Sea Grant
Presented at URMA Live, January 2026

People, Parasites and Plagues
Dr. David Peterson, professor of infectious diseases at University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine
Presented at URMA Live, January 2026

Bringing Norwegian research to the podcast world
Nancy Bazilchuk, Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Presented at URMA Live, January 2026