Science Storytelling Topic of Thursday Talk at AMK Ranch

Tips on how to relate scientific discoveries to the public will be discussed Thursday, July 24, at the University of Wyoming-National Park Service (UW-NPS) Research Center at the AMK Ranch in Grand Teton National Park.

This week’s Harlow Summer Seminars speaker is Emilene Ostlind, editor and communications coordinator for UW’s Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources. She will speak on “Natural History Storytelling: Tricks for sharing science with the public” at 6:30 p.m. at the AMK Ranch, located north of Leeks Marina. A barbecue, at a cost of $5 per person, will take place at 5:30 p.m.

Reservations are not required. For more information, call the UW-NPS Center at (307) 543-2463.

Ostlind writes, edits, produces and manages Western Confluence magazine, a biannual publication from the Haub School’s Ruckelshaus Institute covering collaborative approaches to natural resource problem solving in the West. A UW bachelor’s and master’s degree graduate in creative nonfiction writing and environment and natural resources, she has worked as a photographic coordinator for National Geographic and as a reporter for High Country News.

Her graduate thesis was a collaborative project with wildlife photographer Joe Riis to document the migration of a herd of pronghorn antelope from its summer range in Grand Teton National Park to its winter range in the Green River Basin and back.

“Every day, researchers and scientists unveil fascinating new discoveries about wildlife and ecosystems, geology and hydrology, and so much more. But much of that work never reaches the public,” Ostlind says. “Science writers can apply different storytelling techniques to help the public better understand complex scientific discoveries and their significance.”

In her talk, she plans to explore the art of science communication through stories about the ecology of fear, snow leopard conservation, deer migration and more.

The UW-NPS Research Center provides a base for university faculty members and government scientists from throughout North America to conduct research in the diverse aquatic and terrestrial environments of Grand Teton National Park and the greater Yellowstone area.