Communication

Everything becomes a little different as soon as it is spoken out loud.
-Hermann Hesse-

Everything in nature is special. But you need to be aware of this to see it. A biologist, like no other, has the opportunity to see, experience and understand what makes nature tick. I don’t believe that understanding takes away wonder. Trying to understand the Whys and Hows of animal behaviour have only made animals more remarkable and special to me. And this I wish to share with others. Nature deserves a big audience.

A brief overview of my outreach activities:
Speaking for and interacting with general public: CineScience, Dutch Bird Fair, Leibniz-Kolleg Science Slam, Open days NIOO, Open days WUR, SoapBox Science; Twents Carmelcollege de Thij; Wereld Haven Dagen Rotterdam; Weblog writing: Beleef de Lente Vogelbescherming NL (2012-2017), NIOO-KNAW ‘Dr Ecologie’ (2015-2016), ‘Exploring Conservation Conflicts’ (2019-Current), Personal website: http://www.lysannesnijders.com. Popular science writing and (radio or tv) interviews (e.g. Bionieuws, BioScience, British Ornithological Union, EditieNL, Kijk, Landleven, New Scientist, NRC Handelsblad, Resource, Vogelbescherming Vlaanderen, Vroege Vogels Radio, Vroege Vogels Podcast, Zoogdier). Popular science vlogging: NIOO-KNAW ‘Dokter Ecologie’, TracesDreams; Popular science news editor: Nature Today International (2017-2018); Online teaching: SchoolTV, MOOC, ‘Expert supervisor’ Candea College; Twitter (2009-Current).

Since 2019, I am an active member of the recently established Animal Behavior in Conservation Working Group of the SCB. The mission of the Animal Behavior in Conservation Working Group (ConsBehav WG) is to bridge the existing gap between the scientific knowledge of animal behavior and its implementation in the field of conservation by fostering discussions, collaborations and initiatives that will promote the effective integration of animal behavior research into conservation practice.

I manage the twitter account: @SCB_ConsBehav, contributed to the latest newsletter and made myself available to provide information and advice on conservation behavior.  Click here to download the list of conservation researchers specializing in varying aspects of animal behavior. And for information about the Working Group please contact Oded Berger-Tal. Join us!

In 2018, I was asked to give my very first plenary at the Oikos Sweden meeting (5-7 February, 2019). I was very excited (and maybe also very scared) to get this opportunity to speak about Behavioural Ecology in a big picture. For more information about this interesting conference see here and for my experience see here!

The first weekend of June, 2017, I was a speaker at Berlin’s first ever Soapbox Science event. Soapbox Science takes science to the streets, or in this case: an abandoned airport. At the same time the events promotes the visibility of women in science. To get an impression of the event and the things I had to say, look here.
In January 2017, I started writing and editing for the nature news website Nature Today. This was not entirely new for me, because during my Master Biology, already a couple of years ago now, I also wrote and edited for this organisation. Then it was called Natuurbericht and I wrote solely in Dutch. But, these days I (try to) write mostly in English. The Nature Today website aims to keeps you informed on topical developments in nature. The stories are written by biologists on a wide range of topics including butterflies, mammals, amphibians, dragonflies, plants and birds.

The vision of Nature Today is: By continuously and actively informing the public and specific target groups on topical developments in nature people will become more connected with nature, they will get more knowledge on nature, they will better appreciate nature and they will be more motivated to contribute to monitoring, management and preservation of nature.

As a volunteer editor and writer I tracked down interesting scientific articles and news messages that fit the scope of Nature Today. I either wrote a short popular story myself or contact the relevant organisations and scientists for a press release. Unfortunately, after 1.5 years I had to stop. However, Nature Today is still going strong, so if you are a biologist, naturalist, conservationist or the like, and you have an interesting story to tell about what is happening in nature? Please send Nature Today an email.

Introduction to Animal Behaviour: A Free Online Course

You can explore the amazing range and complexity of wild animal behaviour with this new MOOC Introduction to Animal Behaviour, brought to you by the Behavioural Ecology Group of Wageningen University & Research (including me). Discover how animals learn, communicate, find food, avoid predators, and interact socially. Watch this welcome video to see if this course might be something for you. You can subscribe via the EdX platform.

The course ran the first time from  August to October 2016 and is now archieved on the EdX platform, so that the videos are still accessible. Over six weeks, learners explored the various behaviours animals adopt in order to meet the challenges of their daily lives. The course is aimed at anyone looking to broaden their understanding of animal behaviour beyond nature documentaries or a typical high school education. In February 2017 the course opened again as a self paced course.

At the moment, most of my science communication relates to the work I did during my PhD. One of the most fun things to do (I can recommend it to other PhD students!) was making a short popular science about my PhD project. Why did I study the role of personality in the social networks of a songbird? Seriously. And how did I do this? This video will (hopefully) give you a better idea of the why and how of the cool research I got to do.

For other popular science stories about my studies visit my Science page.

Following Content is only in Dutch