Science Communication & Education

Helping people understand, use, and participate in science.

Science communication isn’t simply about making complicated information simpler. It’s about connecting scientific knowledge with people: understanding what they need, what they care about, what decisions they’re making, and how science can help inform those decisions.

Featured work

See select publications →

Helping scientists communicate

Scientists develop enormous expertise in their fields. But communicating that expertise to people outside those fields requires another set of skills.

I’ve developed and delivered science communication training for scientists, students, educators, and scientific organizations on topics including understanding audiences, reducing jargon, explaining complex ideas clearly, communicating uncertainty and risk, storytelling, public engagement, working with media, and communicating through digital and social platforms.

The goal is to make complex science understandable without losing the nuance that makes it scientifically rigorous.

See select communication talks → · Virtual workshops · In-person workshops · Hazards communication talks

Taking science where people are

I began using social media to communicate science while working with EarthScope during graduate school. At the time, sharing science on social media platforms was still viewed skeptically by many scientists. But these platforms created opportunities to make science more accessible, engage directly with the public, and connect with audiences beyond traditional science communication channels.

Since then, I’ve used social media, short-form video, digital storytelling, and other emerging platforms to explain science, respond to earthquakes, challenge misconceptions, show how science works, and introduce audiences to the people who do it.

Explore my science videos and conversations on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.

Taking science where people are also means bringing it into (sometimes unexpected) spaces. At events like Comic-Con, Nerd Nite, and The Story Collider, science can become part of the conversation. These spaces offer ways to connect with people who might never attend a science lecture or seek out scientific information and to show how science connects with their interests, experiences, and everyday lives.

See select social media talks → · Public events and conversations

Helping more people see themselves in science

There isn’t one kind of person who becomes a scientist.

But many people grow up without seeing scientists who look like them, come from backgrounds like theirs, or took anything resembling their path.

Through programs including IF/THEN, 500 Women Scientists, school and youth engagement, mentoring, and other STEM initiatives, I’ve worked to broaden the picture of who participates in science and whose voices belong there.

Representation today helps shape who becomes part of science tomorrow. If you can see, you can be it.

See select inclusion talks → · Education and careers programs

Studying science communication

Science communication is an academic discipline as well as a field of practice. I’m interested in how people encounter scientific information, how scientists communicate in changing media environments, how audiences respond to different forms of communication, and how scientific culture adapts—or sometimes struggles to adapt—to new ways of engaging with audiences.

See select conference contributions → · Publications

Select Publications

Gürer, D., Hubbard, J. & Bohon, W. Science on social media. Nature Communications Earth and Environment 4, 148 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-00810-9

Zawacki, E., Bohon, W., Johnson, S., Charlevoix, D., Exploring TikTok as a promising platform for geoscience communication, Geoscience Communication, 5, 363-380, 2022. https://doi.org/10.5194/gc-5-363-2022

Hubenthal, M., Bohon, W. and Taber, J., A pandemic pivot in Earth science outreach and education, Eos, 101, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020EO152146.

Bartel, B., Bohon, W., Frank, L., Stovall, W., Poland, M., Communicating Geohazards: Delivering Information in Crisis and Calm, White paper, 2020.

Bartel, B., Bohon, W., Agopian, M., The unexpected benefits of science communication training, Eos, 2019.

Bartel, B, Bohon, W., The Hazards of Hazards Communication: Importance, rewards, and challenges of science in the public sphere, White paper, 2019.

Bohon, W., Robinson, S., Arrowsmith, JR., Semken, S., Building an effective social media strategy for science programs, Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union, v. 94, Issue 27, p 237-244, 2013. Doi: 10.1002/2013EO270001.

Select Talks, Workshops & Panels

Social Media & Digital Communication

• Effective Social Media, panelist, CAPIO / Cal OES Emergency Communications Academy, 2026.
• Science Communication for Educators: Harnessing the power of social media, Keynote at Earth Educators Rendezvous, 2023.
• Social Media for Scientists — UVA, 2023; IMPACT Workshop, 2022; THE Ohio State University School of Earth Sciences Faculty and Student Professional Development, 2020; GSA Workshop, 2016-2020.
• Using TikTok to Communicate Geoscience, Atlantic Geoscience Conference, 2023.
• Using Social Media to Communicate Science, NASA Goddard Storylab, 2022.

Earthquake Education & Geoscience Careers

• Earthquakes: World Shakers with Wendy! — Science by the Seat of Your Pants / STAR Net (2026); Exploring by the Seat of Your Pants (2025, 2024).
• Explore Your Future: Geoscience Career Panel, panelist, EarthScope / CRESCENT, 2026.
• Shaking Up Earthquake Science, keynote, Department of Energy National Science Bowl, 2023.
• Earthquakes and Careers in Geoscience — Ecologik Mentoring talk, 2025; Piedmont Valley College Geology Club, 2021; Northern Iowa University, 2021; Nepris, 2021, 2022; Ohio State University, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023; Passaic County Community College, 2020, 2021.
• A little bit of everything: career pivots and finding your path, Keynote speaker at Phi Beta Kappa induction, James Madison University, 2023.
• Earth Structure, Volcanoes and Careers in Geology, Skype a Scientist, 2022.
• Weathering and Erosion, Nepris, 2022.

Science Communication

• Trust me, I’m a Scientist! The Science of Science Communication — Colloquium speaker at the Applied Physics Lab at Johns Hopkins, 2023; Colloquium speaker at Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 2023; Heiland Lecture, Colorado School of Mines, 2022; Invited talk, Department of Conservation, 2022; STRIDE-CON, Keynote Address, 2021; Colloquium speaker, University of Miami, 2021; SEG Women’s Network invited talk, 2021; Colloquium speaker, University of South Carolina, 2020; Talk at Penn State, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022; Invited talk, University of Florida, 2020; Invited talk, Loma Linda University, 2020; Australian Earthquake Engineering Conference, workshop, Victoria, Australia (2022).
• How, when and why to talk about earthquakes, Keynote address at Australian Earthquake Engineering Conference, 2022.
• Science Communication and Earthquakes — Cafe Scientific (2022); University of Toronto, colloquium (2020).

Hazards, Risk & Uncertainty

• Speaker, North State Emergency Management Conference, 2026.
• 2026 Alquist–Priolo Earthquake Fault Zone Maps, presenter, Association of Bay Area Governments workshop for planners, engineers, and building officials, 2026.
• Seismic Hazards: What’s Shaking in Rio Dell, invited presentation, Rio Dell City Council, 2026.
• Myanmar Earthquake, invited presentation, California Seismic Safety Commission, 2025.
• Earthquake Hazards Across the US, ShakeOut, 2023.
• The Role of Uncertainty in Hazards Communication, featured speaker at Communicating Complexity Conference, 2023
• Understanding Geohazards, talk at Garrett High School, 2021, 2022
• Geohazards Communication — Michigan Tech (2021, 2022); Drexel University (2021).

Inclusion & Representation

• Inclusive SciComm, University of Milano-Bicocca, 2023.
• DEI in Social Media, talk to USGS Comms team, 2021
• Social Justice in Science, talk at William and Mary, 2021
• This is what a scientist looks like: transforming science to be more open, inclusive and accessible, Women in Science Invited speaker for Women’s History Month, Lincoln Memorial U, 2021
• JEDI in Geoscience, colloquium talk at Western Michigan U, 2021

Panels & Public Conversations

• Harnessing Massive Data Across Geophysical Domains and Applications, discussion moderator, National Academies Committee on Solid Earth Geophysics, 2026.
• The Science Behind Disaster Movies, panelist, Comic-Con International, 2025.
• The Science of Dune, Comic Con International, 2024.
• Careers in Science, Ecologik, 2023.
• Addressing Induced Seismicity, PIVOT, 2023.
• Careers in Geoscience, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, 2022.
• Earthquakes and Geoscience Careers, CSU Long Beach, 2022.
• Mission Unstoppable, Comic-Con San Diego, 2022.
• Representation Matters, Comic-Con San Diego, 2022.

Conference Contributions

Bohon, W. M. (2024). Communicating about earthquakes in crisis and calm. Oral presentation, SCEC Annual Meeting.

• Bohon, W., New faces in familiar spaces: Utilizing online technology to complement formal and informal teaching, AGU, 2021.
• Bohon, W., Johnson, J., Women in Geoscience Video Series, AGU, 2021.
• Bohon, W., Bartel, B, Callan, B., Lights, Camera, Action! Video content production and dissemination during distance learning, AGU, 2020.
• Bartel, B., Bohon, W., Going Virtual with Science Communication Training, AGU, 2020.
• Bartel, B., Bohon, W., Medina Luna, L., The Power of Words, Images, and Representation: Using Science Communication for Social Justice in STEM, AGU 2020.

Virtual Workshops

• How to Give a Good Conference Presentation — UCSD (2023); NASA Goddard (2022).
• Communicating Hazard, Risk and Uncertainty in Crisis and Calm, Scripps, UCSD, 2023.
• Scientific Storytelling, NASA Goddard, 2023
• How to Give a Lightning Talk, NASA Goddard, 2022.
• Trust and Power: building networks for change, OKA, 2022.

In-person Workshops

• Scicomm Workshop for Early Career Scientists, Office of Naval Research, 2023.
• Finding Your Mission, Vision and Values, NASA Goddard, 2023.
• Networking, Listening and Elevatory Speeches: how to go deeper, Critical Zone Observatory Workshop at Colorado School of Mines, 2022.
• Science Communication and Storytelling, Critical Zone Observatory Workshop at Colorado School of Mines, 2022.
• Meritocracy Monopoly, SAGE/GAGE, 2022.

View my CV for the fuller record of talks, workshops, and presentations →

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