Going Beyond “Just Trust the Science”: Innovations in Science Communication

Although every year in the scholarly publishing ecosystem is a balancing act of innovation, optimization, and value creation, 2025 is shaping up to be particularly challenging as the pace and scale of change is accelerating more than we’ve ever seen before. There is increasing pressure to provide value to and to meet the incredibly diverse needs of the global research community while maintaining financial health for our own organizations, living our values, and continuing to protect the scholarly record. With AI, open access, integrity, and mistrust frequently dominating the conversation, we are in the midst of an unprecedented shift in both our industry and society as a whole. As always, the SSP community continues to focus on bringing together academics, funders, librarians, publishers, service providers, technologists, researchers and countless others with a communal interest and stake in disseminating scholarly information. We look to the 47th Annual Meeting as an opportunity to continue this tradition and welcome all colleagues and community stakeholders.

Dr. David Shiffman is a marine conservation biologist who studies endangered sharks and how to protect them. His more than 60 peer-reviewed scientific journal articles have been cited over 2,500 times, and his public-facing writing has appeared in National Geographic, Scientific American, the Washington Post, globally-syndicated op-eds, and a monthly column in SCUBA Diving Magazine. He's spoken to thousands of members of the interested public around the world, notably during a 70-city international book tour for his book "Why Sharks Matter" (published by Johns Hopkins University Press). And he is one of the most-followed scientists in the world on social media, where he invites you to follow him on all platforms @ WhySharksMatter.

Fanuel Muindi is a Professor of Practice in civic science journalism in the Department of Communication Studies at Northeastern University, where he leads the Civic Science Media Lab. His lab is journalistically mapping the civic nature of science to make it more accessible and actionable for scientists, communicators, educators, funders, entrepreneurs, and community leaders. A neuroscientist by training, Dr. Muindi earned his Bachelor’s in Biology from Morehouse College, his PhD in Organismal Biology from Stanford University, and completed postdoctoral work in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT. His career also includes roles at Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, and Research!America.

Laura Patton is the Head of Government Affairs, US at Springer Nature. She works to disseminate and promote research from Springer Nature publications to a Congressional audience and other key policymakers, as well as build understanding of the scholarly publishing ecosystem. Before joining Springer Nature in 2022, she worked in congressional relations at the RAND Corporation. Laura started her career in Congress where she served as an aide to Representative David Obey, Chair of the House Appropriations Committee. She has an M.A. from Johns Hopkins University.

Meagan is the Communications Director for the Science family of journals, where she oversees efforts to boost the visibility of all forthcoming Science family of journal content for reporters worldwide. Prior to joining AAAS in 2013, she served as a senior writer at AIR Worldwide, where she interacted with more than 65 Ph.D.-level scientists and engineers to communicate advances in wind engineering, seismology, climate science, and other fields. Previously, she was a senior writer and editor at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Meagan holds a Bachelor's degree in Biology and Spanish from Gettysburg College, and a Master's degree in Science Writing from The Johns Hopkins University. In 2008, Meagan received a Fulbright Scholarship to work with Dr. Juan Antonio Raga at the University of Valencia to help determine the cause of morbillivirus resurgence among small cetaceans in the Mediterranean. Meagan also completed science-reporting internships with Science as well as National Public Radio and has freelanced for various outlets including Anesthesiology News.