Let’s move onto another amazing researcher and ECS, Öykü Koç, who is involved with ‘Skype a scientist’, an educational nonprofit with a focus on connecting people with science in fun and meaningful ways, making science education available and engaging for everyone.
Öykü Koç (she/they) is a PhD candidate at Politecnico di Milano (Italy), with her research focusing on the time-variable gravity field recovery from satellite data and temporal aliasing in the context of next-generation gravity missions. Apart from the mainstream research in her field, she is also actively involved in the activities of the EGU Geodesy division as an ECS representative, as well as maintaining the EGU Geogesy blog along with fellow ECSs! Here, we are learning about her experience in contributing to society through her involvement as a volunteer scientist in ‘Skype a Scientist’. Let’s get started!
Can you please tell us what Skype a Scientist is?
Of course! Skype a Scientist matches classrooms, families, libraries, and scout troops all over the world with scientists. So, it is basically creating an opportunity for students to meet and talk to a scientist. They open a cycle every semester for volunteer scientists and classrooms/families/libraries to sign up. During sign-up, they ask which languages you feel comfortable giving a talk/lecture in. In my case, these have been English and Turkish. Of course, for them to do the correct match-up, you need to first select the field you are in (or the closest one) and enter some keywords explaining what you do or what you can talk about. You can select which age group/grade you would like to engage with. Once you complete the sign-up, you get matched, and you have to contact the teacher. Skype a Scientist has a structured email if you don’t know what you need to tell the teacher, and the rest is basically up to you and the teacher.
That sounds wonderful! A great opportunity to spread scientific ideas without the hassle of actually organising an offline event. There must be quite a turnout audience when you are targeting classrooms and libraries! So, can anyone with a scientific background volunteer?
Yes, as long as you are in a graduate school (so MSc and PhD), postdoc, professor, lecturer, or have a scientist position outside of the university, or basically you were a scientist before. Right now, if I’m not wrong, you can still sign up for this semester. Here is the link if you want to check it out.
They also do live streams, trivia nights and so on. Except for late 2024, I have signed up to be a volunteer scientist every semester since 2021. I was just waiting for the thesis to be out of the way, and now I am finally back 🙂
Quite understandable. It’s great that you make time and take the initiative to engage with the audience about the things you are passionate about. How did you get involved in Skype a Scientist?
Ah, this is difficult to say. If I remember correctly, I was scrolling on once-upon-a-time-twitter and saw one of the geoscientists I follow joining a classroom online and talking about their experience. It really caught my attention because COVID was still around, and I wanted to do public outreach, especially talking about science to kids. I had some experience with kids around my social circle. It is just amazing what kind of questions they can come up with. But the main thing that encouraged me was the ‘Daniel & Jorge: Explain the Universe’ podcast episodes where they get audience questions as well, and there were so many kids asking brilliant questions. So, I made up my mind and signed up for my very first Skype a Scientist in 2021. A week or so later, I got an email about three classroom/teacher matches.
It’s amazing how you got inspired by other geoscientists and science themed podcasts! That’s precisely why we must be active in following other scientists and their work. We don’t know what or when inspiration strikes us. Can you take us through it? How does joining a classroom as a scientist look or feel?
Sometimes, the teacher asks you if you can talk about a specific topic or do a simple Q&A session with the classroom. In the case of Q&A, generally, the teacher collects the questions that students want to ask and passes them to you. Once you set up the meeting, you join the classroom, introduce yourself and start talking about what you have planned. Having visuals or presentations is great in this situation. I always include a comic or a meme to grab their attention, and then I ask a question, starting with a simple one to alleviate any anxiety about answering or asking questions. Once the talk/presentation/Q&A ends, if we have time, I like to ask more general stuff like “Do you know any scientists?”, “What does a scientist look like?” (before & after), “What do you want to be?”, “Do you want to hear something else?” etc etc.
How does it actually feel to join a classroom? Just amazing. I was very nervous during my first Skype a Scientist session. Yet, talking to kids brought me so much enjoyment and excitement about what I was doing. Every single time, it got easier, and I managed to adjust the level of information appropriately. Communicating well with the teacher also helps a lot to make those adjustments, check how you can increase engagement, and so on.
Indeed! Engaging with kids about something you love must feel so rewarding! Can I ask you about your favourite moments in such sessions?
I will never forget the 12th grade (~16-17 yo) I joined. I got emails from the students afterwards -their teacher first asked if it was okay to share my email, of course-, saying things like “Thank you, that was mind-blowing”, “I learned some very fascinating things”, “I didn’t know Earth is a potato and gravity can tell us so much about natural things”. I even got one about how they were inspired by this career path. Just wholesome really.
If I had to choose a favourite moment, I guess it would be the time I joined a classroom of 10-11-year-olds—Y6 in the UK. The kids were very excited to meet and talk to a scientist. They had some great questions, and almost everyone in the class had a turn. It was over, but they did not want to say goodbye, so we chatted a bit more during the break! It was great.
That sounds like time well spent! How do you decide on topics you discuss, which must relate to something they have already studied? You mentioned that one could select their target audience age groups. Which age groups are you comfortable with?
Once you are matched with a teacher, you can either contact them first, or they may reach out to you by sending an email. The match system allows you to see the grade level and the general topics the teacher selected when they signed up. When I contact the teacher, I always explain what my field of study is and what things I can talk about. Then I ask about the age group since in every country the grade system is a bit different. Finally, I ask about what they have been learning recently and so on. Generally, teachers are looking for an expert to discuss the topic they are currently covering in the classroom, so the arrangement is tailored to their needs. Often, these discussions are planned in advance, aligning with the ongoing curriculum. For example, in one of the classes, we ended up discussing light!
I think I’m more comfortable with anything above age 10, but I also have joined a classroom of 8 years olds. It is a bit more challenging as you really have to simplify some concepts.
Could you share any challenges you faced in your sessions or any tips for further volunteers?
Sometimes, I receive really interesting questions that I wouldn’t have thought of myself. This can be challenging. If a question is too far outside my expertise, I provide a general answer based on my knowledge of the topic, but I also say, “I don’t know more than this, as I’m not an expert.” I want to normalize the idea that it’s okay to admit when we don’t know something, both for myself and for others. There’s nothing to be ashamed of in that. ☺️
One of the biggest challenges I’ve faced is capturing students’ attention, particularly with high school students. I try to seek help from teachers before the session, which is useful in classes where students tend to be more distracted. However, most of the time, the experience is very smooth. Overall, it has been a great experience, and I definitely recommend it!
We thank Öykü for her time, answering our questions and enlightening us in ways we, as scientists, could contribute to our society to make lives better.
