News Article

The National Science Foundation (NSF) takes public communication seriously, frequently requiring grant-funded projects to find ways to bridge the gap between researchers and the public who helps fund their activities. Like many NSF-EPSCoR projects, CI-WATER has included video as one platform for making the science more accessible. To better understand the role video is playing in science communication, CI-WATER’s Jenn Gibbs and Utah EPSCoR’s Lauren Petty surveyed EPSCoRs throughout the nation.

Seventeen representatives from the nation’s 21 EPSCoR programs responded to questions about the types of videos their projects have produced and how they’ve been received. Based on these responses, the most impactful video is five minutes or shorter and explains a key concept related to the science as opposed to simply describing the project itself.

“That’s not to say there isn’t a need for other types of videos,” Jenn says. “Most of the respondents say they’re measuring impact by the number of views. That’s a useful marker to track, but it doesn’t tell the whole story. There may not be a large audience for an hour-long conference talk, but for the people who need that information, it’s great to have.

“The main point of the survey is to start a conversation about what works in using video to raise awareness of these NSF-funded projects.”