Continuing Natural Hazards Research Australia’s (the Centre) track record of embedding communications within research to facilitate translation and utilisation, Ainsley Burgess recently commenced as Communications Director.
With an impressive background in science communication and significant experience leveraging new and novel approaches to improve translation, dissemination and implementation of research findings, Ainsley brings a new and unique perspective to the Centre’s communications team and Participants.
We sat down with Ainsley to learn about her background, experience and passion for connecting people with research through storytelling.
What is your background in science communication and research translation?
AB: From the very beginning of my career right up to my current role with the Centre, I have worked collaboratively with researchers to communicate their science for purpose and impact. This has been a constant thread running through two decades of experience as a professional communicator. It has only been in the past decade that I have focused on the field of knowledge translation and science communication as a field of study that could inform practice.
The catalyst for this shift was two-fold. I started working in public health on wicked problems, those complex issues with no clear answers, such as the prevention of chronic disease. This required multidisciplinary collaboration and engagement to build trust with the researchers to allow us to communicate their science in different forms, timeframes and audiences.
And secondly, the rapid digital transformation and globalisation of mass media that was amplifying mis and disinformation. This was not a new phenomenon, however the volume of information generated meant that even with world-first discoveries, scientists were finding it difficult to cut through. We needed new and novel approaches to communicating the science and this led to my studies at the Alan Alda Centre for Communicating Science in New York and a Master of Strategic Communication, majoring in strategic, digital and risk communication at Charles Sturt University.
Although an emerging field from the previous 50 years, science communication provides a framework to harness our professional skills, media, activities and dialogue. It allows us to combine traditional and new media to help bridge the gap to improve translation, dissemination and implementation. I love that it is participatory, as more participatory conversations form trust and provide authenticity in the science that is vital for sharing knowledge in our polarised and politicised digital environment.
How do you think your skills and experience will support the Centre’s vision of safer, more resilient and sustainable Australian communities?
AB: The science communication literature is clear on the need for not just more science engagement but science engagement that affects the behaviour of our audience. A participatory model that promotes dialogue and engagement can help strengthen the capability of the Centre’s early- and mid-career emerging leaders. It can also help synthesise more than 20 years of natural hazards research in forms that are useful and used by the intended user.
This approach, with principles and methods from the social sciences and my own experience, aims to support The Centre’s focus to share the evidence and improve understanding, uptake and action for research findings and contribute to the vision for safer, more resilient and sustainable communities. Ultimately, I hope this way of thinking will help maintain and build on the existing robust communications infrastructure and further promote the Centre’s profile as the trusted and respected go-to place for natural hazards research.
What are you most looking forward to as Communications Director?
AB: I am most looking forward to working with and learning from a dynamic group of multidisciplinary experts and the opportunity to build communication capacity and capability to empower research and researchers. A well-resourced communications capacity is central to the very success of any research collaboration, and it is already clear the communications function at the Centre is highly respected.
I am keen to share the value of communication as a field as a complex and wholistic strategic practice to achieve the Centre’s objectives. We need individual communications; however, you cannot have systematised communications without an overarching strategy informed by principles and theories.
A phrase that reflects my ethos, values and motivation for sharing new knowledge is ‘Yindyamarra Winhanganha’. This is a Wiradjuri phrase borrowed from Indigenous Australian knowledge which means, the wisdom of respectfully knowing how to live well in a world worth living in.