Hello! I am Shakunthala, a new entrant into NGSF as an author. I would like to tell a few lines about myself and my thoughts on science communication in the ensuing lines.
About me
I am a tiny drop looking to come out of the huge engineering ocean in India. Yes, I am in my fourth year of the B.Tech Biotechnology program in Sri Venkateswara College of Engineering, Tamil Nadu. It was in the beginning of my undergraduate program when I was introduced to research papers and found them hard to comprehend. But, when I read about similar research in the form of lucid articles in blogs like NGSF, India Bioscience etc., I was able to understand them easily. That is when I realized the power of science communication and decided to engage in science communication activities. That’s why I am here to communicate science through my articles for the NGSF blog.
My thoughts on science communication
Science has largely been confined to laboratories and journals. “Science communication” activities are important to break the fetters chaining science to the lab walls alone and act as connecting links between the scientists, the happenings in the field and the common people.However, such communication activities are accompanied by a set of challenges. Simplification of scientific content is necessary to make the general public understand the information. But drawing a line between simplification of science and the generation of misinformation is a tricky affair. It is this challenging aspect of science communication which got me hooked to it. Hence, using this blog as a science communication medium, I would like to write articles on happenings in various frontiers of biology. I think of myself as a traveller in the exciting world of biology. Whenever something interesting catches my attention during my biology tour, you can expect to find an article on this interesting aspect. My articles will pertain to a wide variety of topics in biology ranging from ecology, agriculture to astrobiology. I hope you will find them interesting!
Posts by Shakunthala
The Tale of DMD – A Rare Genetic Disease
Essay submitted by Shakunthala Natarajan for the 2019 NxG Science Communicator
Voice from Norway!
Interviews of researchers involved in STEM can help one learn and know more about various aspects of research life. This can help one sculpt his/her scientific journey. So, here in this interesting interview, we have Anupam Gogoi, an Indian student pursuing his PhD from the Norwegian University of Life sciences (NMBU). In this engaging talk,…