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science communication can promote broader public engagement with STEM topics, build public agency, and improve decision-making. One of the primary components of Menezes’ work, and a key element in her teaching, is understanding the opportunities for, and challenges of, inclusive communication. “People talk about the general public all the time, but that’s not a real thing,” Menezes says. “There are many different types of public audiences out there, and if we want to communicate well, we have to understand who specifically we are trying to communicate with and what their priorities are, as well as our communication goals.” Whether writing, speaking, teaching, or working with partners outside of academia, Menezes works to make space for more scholars to improve their science communication skills. “A lot more people could be great science communicators if they had the support and the learning to do it better,” she says. “Science communication is not for everyone, but there are more and more people coming from the academy who want to explore science communication in big or small ways. They need support to do it well.” Menezes was recognized by AAAS because of her work to champion inclusive science communication, which aims to amplify the insights of groups whose perspectives have been minimized or ignored by the scientific community. She speaks to her discipline’s need for continued evolution. “We can learn so much from varied lived experiences and expertise. It’s important to make sure we’re recognizing the various types of knowledge that people bring to societally important topics that relate to science,” she says. People from marginalized communities—which can be related to race, ethnicity, gender, disability, and sexual orientation—are often actively or passively excluded from scientific conversations. “We’ve got some major social, societal problems that science can provide insight on,” Menezes says, “but the solutions require a lot of conversations about what we’re all willing to do and not willing to do. That’s not a scientific question, that’s a social question, and we will only find the best solutions if all affected parties are part of the conversation.” Hence Menezes strives to train URI students, staff, and faculty, as well as people from other universities, nonprofits, and corporate businesses, in inclusive science communication. And the efforts have worked, with the institute counting more than 3,700 people completing its trainings. That training allows journalists, researchers, and other science communicators to more effectively spark conversations about science. “Millions of people around the world every day are impacted by the Metcalf Institute,” she says. “It has been an immense privilege to do this work, and I’m excited to keep shifting the paradigm of science communication in my next chapter.”

SUNSHINE MENEZES Clinical Professor Environmental Communication

Sunshine Menezes GSO alumna Sunshine Menezes is a clinical professor and served as executive director of URI’s Metcalf Institute from 2006 until 2023. Housed in the College of the Environment and Life Sciences, the Institute conducts science training for journalists, communication training for researchers, and hosts a plethora of public programs. As executive director, Menezes led a growing community of academics, state and federal agencies, nonprofits, businesses, community representatives, and news

organizations nationwide to advance informed, inclusive public conversations about science and the environment. “Science communication is absolutely critical for sustaining and improving research,” says Menezes, who has a background in both lab and field-based research and environmental policy. Researchers cannot be limited to talking only to each another about the impact of their work. They must be able to engage with individuals outside of their own discipline and with diverse public audiences. When done well, Menezes argues,

“SCIENCE COMMUNICATION IS ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL

FOR SUSTAINING AND IMPROVING RESEARCH.”

- SUNSHINE MENEZES

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