Ann Merchant Goddard Engineering Colloquium Announcement

Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771

ENGINEERING COLLOQUIUM

Monday, March 4, 2013 / 3:30 PM, Building 3 Auditorium

Ann Merchant with friend in Hollywood.

Ann Merchant

"The Science & Entertainment Exchange: The National Academy of Sciences Goes to Hollywood"

ABSTRACT -- Americans claim to respect and be interested in science and technology but traditional science news coverage and science-related websites rarely capture wide public attention. Research has shown, however, that when science is incorporated into quality entertainment television and film portrayals, it can influence a much broader audience. It is entertainment’s power to convey messages and influence ideas that convinced the National Academy of Sciences to head to Hollywood where they launched Science & Entertainment Exchange in 2008.

The core work of The Exchange focuses on arranging expert consultations. Since the program opened its doors for business, it has responded to more than 600 inquiries from producers, directors, writers, set designers, and other entertainment industry professionals who have asked us to identify a scientist or group of scientists to provide the relevant expertise needed to address their questions. But The Exchange is more than simply a consulting service. The program also organizes special events to showcase how scientists and engineers can stimulate new ideas for realistic storylines or even entirely new movies or television shows. Small events, such as the intimate conversational salons or exclusive lab tours that we sponsor, also have the advantage of allowing entertainment industry professionals to interact in a more casual setting with scientists, thus subtly influencing the depiction of on-screen science characters.

Although the road from Constitution Avenue to Hollywood Boulevard was long and steep, the National Academy of Science’s program is by many measures thriving. Learn more about this science communications journey, and the lessons learned along the way, in this short history of the Science & Entertainment Exchange presented by the Deputy Executive Director for Communications at the National Academy of Sciences, Ann Merchant.

SPEAKER -- Ann Merchant has worked in marketing and communications for more than 20 years. She is currently the Deputy Executive Director for Communications at the National Academies in Washington, D.C., where she is responsible for a number of innovative outreach programs that contribute to an increased public understanding of science. With a special interest in promoting science, engineering, and medicine through non-traditional channels such as television, film, and video games, she was instrumental in launching the Science & Entertainment Exchange, a program of the National Academy of Sciences that seeks to connect entertainment industry professionals with top scientists and engineers. Merchant also served for many years as marketing director for the Academies’ publishing division where she and her staff promoted and marketed more than 175 new titles every year. These days, she happily spends a good bit of her time describing the work of The Exchange in hopes of adding to the ranks of the program’s growing army of highly effective science and engineering consultants. Free trips to Hollywood are available to those who qualify.

Engineering Colloquium home page: https://ecolloq.gsfc.nasa.gov