Escape from the Ivory Tower: A Guide to Making Your Science Matter

According to Nancy Baron, scientists, journalists and policymakers represent three very different cultures. Speaking effectively to journalists and policymakers—the people who make scientists’ findings available to the general public—requires scientists to learn a new language. In this clear and understandable guide to “communicating science,” Baron explains to scientists how to engage an audience, how to tell why a particular finding matters, and how to describe research in an interesting way. She explains to journalists how to develop the same skills for explaining science. The book includes case studies from journalists and from some of the more than 4,000 scientists Baron has trained in communication workshops. Many of her trainees have gone on to become well-known spokespeople for science-related issues. The book is accompanied by an interactive website maintained by Baron herself.

Scientific Director of the Leopold Leadership Program

“No one understands scientists the way Nancy Baron does. This book helps connect the worlds of science, journalism, and policy in very entertaining and insightful ways. If you care about linking science with action, this is the book to read."

— Pat Matson

Nancy Baron is the outreach director of COMPASS, the Communications Partnership for Science and the Sea.  She designed and leads the communications trainings for the Aldo Leopold Leadership Program. She and her COMPASS team offer a wide range of workshops for academic scientists as well as scientists who work for the government, and non-governmental organizations in North America and abroad. Her experience as both a Canadian National Parks biologist, and well as a science writer inspired her to help bridge the gaps among scientists, journalists, and policymakers. An ardent naturalist, Baron has led natural history expeditions around the world. She wrote the popular introductory field guide, Birds of the Pacific Northwest, as a way to help people engage with the natural world. Her new book is Escape From the Ivory Tower, published by Island Press.