5 - Promoting Yourself and Optimizing Impact

Summary

Although perhaps not as humble as the famous twentieth-century Harvard paleontologist Al Romer, many scientists are content to make their research discoveries and disseminate these to their peers with little additional fanfare. We just are typically not the kinds of personalities who would strategically promote their careers to broader audiences. To be sure, there are exceptions to this rule. In the previous generation, Carl Sagan and Steve Gould were champions of science, as Neil deGrasse Tyson and Bill Nye “the science guy” are today. It is becoming increasingly clear that with the competitive environment in the research world, scientists need to promote what they do, not just to their peers, but also to funders and the general public. Clear strategies and obvious best practices are well known to many scientists; however, in the rapidly evolving world of cyberenabled technology, other strategies are emerging as well.