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Dec 17, 2025 Essay

Towards a terroir approach to science communication and its evidencing

by Marianne Achiam, Martin Grünfeld, Sabrina Vitting-Seerup, Jacob Thorek Jensen and Louise Whiteley

This essay proposes terroir as a metaphor for rethinking science communication. In contrast to dominant calls for a science of science communication, grounded in broadly replicable and generalisable methods, we suggest that communication practices are fundamentally shaped by the particularities of place, people, histories, and more-than-human relations. Drawing on the agricultural origins of terroir, we argue that good science communication is not about imposing control but about cultivating resonance within specific ecosystems of meaning. This perspective also invites us to recognise the value of intuitive knowledge, local practice, and arts-based methods, which are often excluded from dominant frameworks. As part of the research programme Addressing Sustainability with Arts-Based Science Communication, we explore co-creative, arts-based approaches that surface emotional, sensory, and contextual dimensions of sustainability science communication. Ultimately, we call for a shift: from the search for universal best practices to the careful, situated crafting of an arts of science communication.

Volume 24 • Issue 07 • 2025

Dec 16, 2025 Practice Insight

Strengthening practice-research connections to improve evaluation: perspectives of science communication practitioners

by Ana Godinho, Sophia Charlotte Volk and Mike S. Schäfer

Researchers and practitioners have emphasised the importance of evaluating science communication, but agree that, on the one hand, much research on evaluation does not find its way into practice, and on the other, researchers do not fully benefit from the wealth of data that practitioners produce. Using semi-structured interviews with heads of communications at different research organisations in four countries we show that practitioners agree on the importance of evaluation, but that obstacles to evaluation cut across organisational characteristics and countries. Our interviews suggest that communications leaders have a strong interest in working with researchers, and we discuss their proposals for practice-research interfaces that could improve evaluation practice.

Volume 24 • Issue 07 • 2025

Dec 11, 2025 Practice Insight

Scaffolding in science mediation: a superhero-based educational initiative to explore how mediators support students' knowledge appropriation

by Florence Vigneron, Cecile de Hosson and Muriel Guedj

This practice insight examines how science mediators facilitate students' appropriation of scientific knowledge. It focuses on the Science of Superheroes initiative, which is an informal education curriculum activity designed to engage middle school students in exploring environmental challenges through the creation of a superhero. Using Bruner's scaffolding framework, we analyze how mediators' interventions shift between scaffolding functions, depending on the task. While the appropriation of scientific knowledge is supported by questioning and information-sharing strategies, the creative phase sees an increase in proposal-based scaffolding, which struggles to counterbalance students' reliance on magical thinking. This cognitive tension highlights the challenges of integrating scientific knowledge into a fictional narrative. Our findings highlight the need for science mediators to refine their questioning techniques, foster greater self-regulation among students, and enhance their ability to meaningfully incorporate scientific concepts into their superhero designs. Our study contributes to ongoing discussions on the professionalization of science mediation and offers new insights for mediator training.

Volume 24 • Issue 07 • 2025

Dec 09, 2025 Article

When the public disagrees: differential effects of negative user comments and form of evidence on scientists’ trustworthiness

by Bianca Nowak and Nicole Krämer

Scientists and experts using social media platforms to engage with the public risk negative public feedback, potentially harming their efforts. This paper addresses how negative user comments affect experts’ trustworthiness and the messages’ credibility depending on whether they frame their message as scientific versus anecdotal using an online study with a 2 (evidence type: scientific vs. anecdotal) x 3 (comments: neutral, negative-factual, negative-emotional) between-subjects design. The results suggest that relying on scientific evidence when engaging in emotionally charged discourses is beneficial. Negative-emotional comments have a significant negative impact on trustworthiness, which is especially pronounced when using anecdotal evidence.

Volume 24 • Issue 07 • 2025

Dec 03, 2025 Article

The implications of self-reported and physiologically measured disgust sensitivity for climate change risk perception

by Soobin Choi, Stuart Neil Soroka and Gavin Ploger

This study examines the relationship between disgust sensitivity and climate change risk perceptions, using both self-reported and psychophysiological measures of disgust sensitivity. We find that disgust sensitivity is connected to climate change risk perception, although results are far weaker with physiological measures than with self-reports. Results consequently suggest that the connection may stem more from cognitive and expressive factors than implicit biological impulses. Given theoretical functions of disgust, these findings offer valuable insights regarding the structure of environmental attitudes and heterogeneity in the effects of science and environmental communication.

Volume 24 • Issue 07 • 2025

Nov 26, 2025 Article

Exploring the role of partnerships in enabling public engagement by Long-Term Ecological Research programs

by John C. Besley, Alexandra Benitez, Kari O'Connell, Martha R. Downs and Cristina Lissette Mancilla

This study explores how organizations that conduct scientific research support communication activities, including activities aimed at fostering public engagement. It uses qualitative, thematic analyses of semi-structured interviews to propose an initial partnership categorization based on the degree to which communication support is embedded within or external to the organization, as well as the degree to which engagement resources are pooled across funding sources. It then discusses how different categorizations might be associated with several different metrics of public engagement quality. Findings suggest that partnerships with external groups that have shared goals can enhance engagement efforts in situations where the organization lacks the resources to build internal engagement teams and programs. These findings challenge past work focused on the value of internal communication infrastructure. However, the potential benefits and limitations of different approaches to within-organization versus external-to-organization communication support need further research.

Volume 24 • Issue 07 • 2025

Nov 24, 2025 Book Review

Review of the book: Medical Editing – A Guide to Learning the Craft and Building Your Career.

by Mark Bos and Nathalie Kuijpers

In Medical Editing – A Guide to Learning the Craft and Building Your Career, Barbara Gastel delivers exactly what the title promises. Moving from introductory overviews to practical insights to ethics and career advice, the book offers a nice entry point for those new to the field. While primarily focusing on medical editing, its insights make it a useful resource for most starting in scientific or academic communication.

Volume 24 • Issue 07 • 2025

Nov 19, 2025 Article

Public communication of science by Argentinean researchers: changes and continuities in a digital world

by Luciano Guillermo Levin Dr. and Pablo Kreimer

Starting from the premise that public science communication practices have changed in recent years, this paper asks where these changes are heading and what factors can explain them. We conducted a survey among researchers at CONICET[CONICET (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas) is the National Council of Science and Technology.] in Argentina, asking them about these changing practices. Considering the major technological changes that have taken place in recent years, we find that science popularisation activities have intensified, but with significant differences in the means used to communicate informed by the career stage of the researcher. We also consider the different motivations of scientists to engage in science communication activities.

Volume 24 • Issue 07 • 2025

Nov 17, 2025 Book Review

Reviewed book: The Whispers of Rock: Stories from the Earth

by Richard Holliman

In her book Anjana Khatwa combines geological and Indigenous ways of knowing from across the globe, offering a wide-ranging guide to an area of science communication that can be overlooked, the Earth sciences. This would be sufficient to recommend it to science communicators. The book goes further, however, offering a deeply personal perspective on exclusion and inclusion in academia, and multicultural society. For anyone interested in equitable approaches to science communication, this is an essential read.

Volume 24 • Issue 07 • 2025

Nov 10, 2025 Editorial

Editorial for the special issue on emotions in science communication

by Luisa Massarani, Neta Shaby and Daniel Silva Luna

While substantial research has focused on emotions within classroom activities such as class attendance, studying, and test-taking, less attention has been paid to emotional experience in informal science settings such as media, museums, and public science events. Despite their significant role, emotions are under-theorised and under-researched in science communication. However, there is a growing interest among researchers and practitioners in understanding their role in the public communication of science and leveraging these insights for more effective science communication. This context lead us to propose and organise this Special Issue on Emotions in Science Communication, comprising six manuscripts as detailed in this editorial.

Volume 24 • Issue 06 • 2025 • Emotions and Science Communication (Emotions and Science Communication)