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Anyone who peeked into a ninth floor room at the Photonics Center last Friday would have seen a curious sight: 14 staid scientists, standing in pairs, silently mirroring each other\u2019s movements, like well-dressed practitioners of rudimentary tai chi. Gloria Waters, BU vice president and associate provost for research, crossed and uncrossed her arms slowly above her head, as Tyler Perrachione<\/a>, a Sargent College assistant professor of speech, language, and hearing sciences, followed her motions, brow furrowed in concentration. Other distinguished scientists\u2014including Ronald Corley<\/a>, director of the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories<\/a> (NEIDL) and a School of Medicine professor and chair of microbiology, Michael Hasselmo<\/a>, a College of Arts & Sciences professor of psychological and brain sciences, and Elke M\u00fchlberger<\/a>, a MED associate professor of microbiology and NEIDL researcher\u2014waved arms, balanced on one leg, and twirled in circles, as their partners tried to duplicate their moves.<\/p>\n The improv exercise, called \u201cmirror,\u201d designed to teach scientists how to understand and interpret the needs of others, was part of a daylong science communication workshop presented by the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science<\/a>. The Alda Center, established by actor Alan Alda in 2009 at Stony Brook University, trains scientists and health professionals to communicate more effectively with the public, policy makers, and the media. The workshop, cosponsored by Waters and BU Marketing & Communications, invited 40 scientists from the Charles River and the Medical Campus to learn how to communicate research to a sometimes uninterested\u2014or even hostile\u2014public with clarity, passion, empathy, and enthusiasm.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really important for scientists to be able to communicate with laypeople, especially given the current funding climate. It\u2019s incumbent upon us to explain why our work is important,\u201d said Waters during a break between the \u201czip-zap-zop\u201d and \u201ctime traveler\u201d improv exercises. \u201cThese exercises are really interesting,\u201d she added. \u201cWe researchers are used to teaching in a really didactic way. It\u2019s surprising to learn skills this way.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI really need this,\u201d said Ian Sue Wing<\/a>, a CAS professor of earth and environment. \u201cI have a hard time making my work seem interesting to regular people.\u201d When prompted that his work\u2014which focuses on CO2 emissions and their relationship to global warming\u2014may actually be quite interesting to the general public, he sighed and said, \u201cI\u2019m not so sure.\u201d<\/p>\n The workshop, which included group discussions and pitch sessions as well as improv, began with presentations showing scientists how the public perceives their work. A sobering moment came when attendees watched a short video of man-on-the-street interviews. When asked questions like: \u201cWhat is physics?\u201d \u201cWhat is basic research?\u201d or \u201cWhat is nanotechnology?\u201d many people in the video could not answer. When the interviewer asked one young woman, \u201cWhere is DNA located?\u201d she answered, \u201cIn your hair?\u201d<\/p>\n The scientists\u2019 reactions ran from surprise to dismay.<\/p>\n \u201cThose poor people,\u201d said one scientist.<\/p>\n