Making Science Accessible for Everyone on Social Media
![Feature image Science for everyone Instagram posts](https://science.mcmaster.ca/app/uploads/2022/11/Science_for_everyone_instagram.jpg)
A team of Faculty of Science students and recent graduates aims to be a trusted source for easily understood science information on social media.
Former McMaster Science Society President and Integrated Science graduate Connor MacLean co-founded Science for Everyone in September 2020 with Kayla Benjamin, his best friend from high school and an Interdisciplinary Medical Sciences graduate from Western Ontario.
The team has grown with students and graduates from McMaster and other universities, including Harvard, Waterloo, McGill, Guelph and the University of Toronto. They create easily accessible and shareable Instagram posts based on what they’re seeing on social media and in the news and what they’re hearing from family and friends.
“We created Science for Everyone to advance science literacy, tackle misinformation and build trust in the scientific method through accessible education, inclusive engagement and by providing resources for learning,” says Connor. It’s been estimated that only four in 10 Canadians demonstrate a basic level of science literacy.
The Science for Everyone Instagram account features posts on topics ranging from COVID-19 to climate change and science literacy. In January alone, the team created 15 posts to address specific questions and misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines.
The team has plans to make Science for Everyone a registered non-profit that runs high school and university science literacy workshops, interviews scientists and expands its reach to other social media platforms.
McMaster Team Members:
Connor MacLean – Honours Integrated Science 2019
Sam Marchetti – Honours Integrated Science 2020
Chimira Andres – Honours Integrated Science 2018
Cassandra Masschelein – Honours Integrated Science 2018
Lilian Diaz – Honours Chemical Biology 2019
Sheryl Nguyen – Honours Chemical Biology 2020
Negar Asli – Honours Chemical Biology 2022 (Expected)
Nicole Wong – Honours Chemical Biology 2022 (Expected)
Nagashree Thovinakere – Honours Life Sciences 2019
Eric Shingleton-Smith – Honours Biology 2020
Max Manglal-Lan – Honours Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour 2019
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