Bilingual science communication: A call for a geoscience community of practice
Education and outreach bring science to the general public, engage families, and ignite a passion for science in youth to seek careers in STEM. However, engagement in science depends on access, and language can be a major barrier. To ensure a welcoming, inclusive, and diverse community in the geosciences, we are calling for a community of practice that focuses on Spanish–English bilingual geoscience communication within the United States and beyond. This commentary provides examples of a spectrum of existing bilingual outreach efforts as conducted by three geoscience facilities. We discuss ways in which the geoscience community can learn from these and other existing efforts, develop research-informed practice, and share ideas and approaches to increase access to a broad audience of Spanish speakers.
Citation: Medina Luna, L., Bartel, B., Hubenthal, M., and Haacker, R. (2019), Bilingual science communication: A call for a geoscience community of Practice, Journal of Geoscience Education, 67(4), 340–344, doi:10.1080/10899995.2019.1578580.
