Thursday Afternoon Breakouts & Workshops
University Student Center, 800 21st St NW
Register for Workshops Here!
Session A - 2:15-3:30pm
Networking | Creating a Career in a Changing Climate
Room 301
In this interactive session, students and others looking to change their career trajectory will be invited to participate in short informational discussions with professionals who combine communication skills and their commitment to planetary health in a variety of career paths. Using a speed-networking format, participants will move around the room, selecting the professionals with whom they want to speak. Participants will leave with at least three "takeaways" from each professional they meet and a bevy of new connections.
GW Alliance for a Sustainable Future
Workshop | What Data Alone Cannot Do: Heart Forward Storytelling
Room 311
The most powerful science stories are not always the ones with the most data. They are the ones that make someone feel something, see something differently, or act. What Data Alone Cannot Do: Heart Forward Storytelling is a 75-minute participatory workshop led by Professor Valerie Luzadis and students from her Heart Forward Science course. Through writing, conversation, and hands-on practice, we will explore how imagination, intuition, and intellect work together in science storytelling — and dig into what we leave out, why, and what changes when we bring it in. Come ready to write, share, and leave with something real.
Dr. Valerie Luzadis - Professor, SUNY Environmental Science & Forestry; Founder, Heart Forward Science
Peyton Briglin - Student, SUNY ESF
Juniper Buckles - Student, SUNY ESF
Moss Vilcina - Student, SUNY ESF
Demonstration | Students Share Science-in-Action Video Stories as Journeys of Discovery
Room 308
Come learn how students working in Rutgers University's Immersive Learning through Science Storytelling Research Lab are collaborating with world renowned scientists to make compelling science videos for broad, public audiences as part of an innovative science-in-action communication model.
Dena Seidel - Science-in-Action Film Storytelling mentor, Rutgers University
Dr. Xenia Morin - STEM Learning Researcher, Rutgers University
Rutgers Student Storytellers:
Amaya Baez
Bella Burnworth
Zolani Kizito
Lauren Koo
Colby Koutrakos
Ben Lerner
Mikayla Pires
Tessa Sandora
Alexandra Sinckler
Shaniya Utamidata
Session B - 3:45-5:00pm
Workshop | Beyond Doom: How to Tell Climate Stories that Inform and Empower
Room 307
Climate change affects every aspect of our lives—from politics and health to business and culture—so how do you focus on relevant climate stories that can seem complex and overwhelming? This session offers practical tools for cutting through the noise: finding the climate angle in any story, reporting on solutions without hype, and navigating misinformation and uncertainty with confidence. Grounded in "Hot Takes: Every Journalist's Guide to Covering Climate Change," this discussion will help you tell stories that inform, empower, and resonate in a crowded media landscape.
Sadie Babits - NPR climate editor and author
Workshop | Using Science to Elevate the Narrative and Draw a Crowd
Room 302
Science has data.
And data is often shared visually.
But data visuals can be difficult to understand without a close familiarity of the scientific topic and concepts.
Therefore designing visuals with an audiences-first approach can make the difference between presenting forgettable data and sharing a story that literally changes lives.
In this workshop, we will identify data points from you, the audience, and use Adobe design tools to create captivating science-informed visuals!
Darcy Gentleman - Education Lead, Planet Forward
Kirsten Nagel - Adobe
Breakout | The Cli-Fi Story: 20 Years After 'The Day After Tomorrow' and 'An Inconvenient Truth'
Room 311
How often do you encounter climate change in popular culture? Do these encounters result in climate action or climate confusion? We encourage you to "Take the Mic" at this breakout session, which revisits some of the classics of pop-cultural climate communication — like "The Day After Tomorrow," "An Inconvenient Truth," and "Expanse"— and assesses the state of pop-cultural climate communication today.
Together we will ask what our fictional depictions of climate change tell us about our real-world efforts to understand, mitigate, and adapt to a climate-changed world.
Participants will be invited to share their own experiences with cli-fi, to brainstorm ways to include climate change in pop cultural plots, and to envision future scenarios for climate communication.
Michael Svoboda - Assistant Professor of Writing, George Washington University
Workshop | Filmmaking Crashcourse: Everything You Need to Know to Get Started Making Your Own Films
Room 308
Priceless stories start with no budget - just an idea -so how do you engage, craft, and deliver value? Start with the basics!
To make a movie, all you need is a story, time, and then come the additional resources. In this workshop students will learn industry insights, how to process workflow, how to recognize what you really need, and the important steps to tackle any size project from 15 seconds to feature length. For inspiration, we will also look at real films that have delivered at scale!
The first half of the workshop will provide students with foundational knowledge for getting a project started. Then, we'll dive into learning how to record an interview on camera - and what decisions come next in the process of bringing a story onto the screen.
Ben Clark - Filmmaker
Aaron Dye - Senior Multimedia Editor, Planet Forward; Filmmaker