Ayelet Baram-Tsabari Israel Institute of Technology, Israel
People need to make science-based decisions in their personal lives that directly affect their wellbeing (should I celebrate Passover with my elderly relatives during the COVID-19 outbreak?). More often than not, their information sources are the traditional and new media, offering information of varied quality. My quest is to support the public’s ability to make informed evidenced-based science-related decisions. My training in science education (PhD, Weizmann Institute of Science) and science communication (visiting scholar, Cornell University) alongside my considerable experience as a journalist, editor, and a TV presenter has shaped my interest in building a community of science communication practitioners and scholars.
Today I am an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Education in Science and Technology at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology and head the “Applied Science Communication” research group. I have founded the Israeli Science Communication Conference series, and serve as an elected member of the scientific committee of the Public Communication of Science and Technology Network (PCST), which aims to improve science communication worldwide.
I am a member of the Advisory Board for the US National Academy of Sciences’ LabX public engagement program, was elected member of the Israel Young Academy (2016-2020), and served as Chairwoman of its Communication Committee. I am a member of the Israeli Centers of Research Excellence (I-CORE) on “Learning in a Networked Society” and “Taking Citizen Science to School,” among other professional activities.
My research focuses on bridging science education and science communication scholarship, identifying people’s interests in science, building on people’s authentic interests in science to teach and communicate science in more meaningful and personally relevant ways, and supporting scientists in becoming effective science communicators.
I have published extensively in the leading journals in both science education and science communication, and served as an Editorial board member on both the highest impact science education journal – Journal of Research in Science Teaching [JRST] (Editorial board member 2010-2012, associate editor 2013-2014) and the highest impact science communication journal – Public Understanding of Science [PUS] (2020-).
Contact Details
ayelet[-at-]technion.ac.il
Faculty of Education in Science and Technology, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology
Technion City, Haifa 3200003, Israel
