Using Science Communication and Informal Education to Become an Informational Portal to the Public

Effective communication with the public is a key component of research outreach. As graduate students, our curriculums usually require some form of public outreach. You are expected to demonstrate the broader impacts of your research through multi-generational education; however training for this type of communication is usually not provided. Reiman Gardens (Ames, IA) provides outreach development and training to Iowa State graduate students, scientists, engineers, researchers, and other science-based professionals through their Portal to the Public Science Communication Fellowship. The fellowship provides training on how to effectively communicate your research to diverse audiences and enhance science communication skills. Each fellow worked individually to develop a hands-on activity related to their specific research with an intention to share this activity with the general public audiences through various programs at Reiman Gardens. The activities developed are presented at schools, conferences, and other educational or professional settings. My activities intended to demonstrate the skill sets required from primatologists to conduct behavioral research in the field. These included a “monkey charades” activity, intended to reveal some of the obstacles associated with deciphering primate behavior and a “monkey memory” activity envisioned to convey the complexity in identifying individual primates within a large troop