Sharing What We Know

It’s always a pleasure to share our knowledge and experience of the media through our media and communication training. But to share that knowledge with people who are in the early stages of a chosen career that can make such a difference, is a privilege. So when Soundview was invited to provide media and communication training as part of  an intensive 3-day course for PhD students from universities across the UK, we jumped at the chance.

The GeoNetZero Centre for Doctoral Training is a 6-year programme to address key areas in Geoscience and their role in the low carbon energy transition and challenge of net zero. And a crucial element of that is telling the story of the importance of the Geo Scientists’ contribution to a more sustainable future. Each student’s ability to communicate their research and findings to audiences, be it funders, employers or quite simply you and I is at the centre of that. Writing an academic paper is worlds apart from creating a 3-minute film – and that is where we come in.

The Teacher

The sessions were led by Iain Stewart, Professor of Geoscience Communication at the University of Plymouth. His geo-communication activities build on a 15-year partnership with BBC Science, making popular mainstream television documentaries about planet Earth. Over the past four years we have collaborated with Iain on a number of projects from a mini doc about the potential of offshore wind to a VR experience to take viewers sub surface to understand the science of geothermal energy.

Professor Iain Stuart delivering training in front of the class.

The Training

Our role on the course was to put the cohort of 11 Phd Students through their paces with our comms and media training. After a brief introduction they were thrown straight in at the the deep end. We asked them to present to camera the importance of their research in relation to a carbon net zero future. If that didn’t take them right out of their comfort zone, then watching their performance back and being critiqued in front of their peers certainly did. However, as always we did this in a safe and supportive environment. We  haven’t met anyone yet who is comfortable watching themselves on screen in front of an audience, but the experience never fails to help improve confidence in front of the camera.

Thank you to the students for fully immersing themselves in the training, stepping out of their usual safe space and ending the training with a newly developed skill which will stand them in good stead as they embark on their careers.

Managing Director Gareth Allen leading a session in front of the class.