BIOL 203 Scientific Technical Writing and Communications

Effective communication is an essential skill for 21st Century professionals. Scientific fields in particular require practitioners to communicate and share knowledge across multiple sectors including donors (grant proposals), colleagues (peer-reviewed journals, scientific posters, professional presentations), key decision-makers (policy briefs), media (news articles) and the general public (blogs, fact sheets, social media). SGU students are entering a world in which they must be well-trained communicators. This course offers students fundamental skills in scientific writing and communications. Students will develop a portfolio of writing samples through individual and team-based writing assignments. Core instruction will focus on the writing process with weekly writing exercises. Students will develop both a research grant proposal as well as a scientific paper based on pre-existing datasets. Students will be exposed to the fundamentals of communication planning in the sciences with identification of key messages and short communication pieces for selected target audiences