Shira D Gordon, PhD is a freelance science communicator. After over a decade of conducting research, in the summer of 2018, Shira decided to switch to another passion of hers, communicating science. She gets excited about distilling complex topics into formats that more people can understand. Therefore, Shira founded SheRockScience LLC with work that spans writing, illustration, and video production.
“Shira was a rare and welcome find for my project on the technology of collaboration. I needed a note-taker at our scientific workshop (mostly neuroscientists but also funders and technologists) who understands the language and context of our discussions. Shira knew both and also expertly helped to organize the salient points for our report on the workshop findings.”
Sarah, Rapid Science Founder & CEO
Research Background
Dr Gordon’s research was intentionally diverse with 20 peer reviewed publications and one book chapter. Her research broadly focused on animal communication and how elements from the environment influenced it. In particular, she studied sound and vibrational communication of insects and spiders. Her diverse range of experience includes: animal behavior, physiology, neurobiology, microscopy, cell biology, genetics, and more. In addition, she worked with engineers, spending 3.5 years as the biologist in an engineering department at Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland and continued collaborations with the team while a postdoc at Dartmouth and a researcher at the USDA. More information about her specific research areas can be found on her scientific website.
Freelance
As a freelancer, Shira has expanded the topics she works on by covering a variety of health research areas, as well as, working with think tank research companies. Her broad background leaves Shira comfortable in tackling topics beyond biology. Dr Gordon is a fast learner and uses this strength to help her understand new topics that she then communicates through writing, illustration, and video.
Coronavirus created an international pandemic. With people scared, unsure of what it means and who to trust Dr Gordon decided to help. As a science communicator, she felt a calling to share her understanding and to help people get information to remain calm. Please see the Coronavirus page for more information.
In My Mind was created with support of an award from Sigma Xi and Science talk ( funded by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund) to combine Science + Art. This video explores the science and emotions behind an MRI using dance.
On The Edge was the product of an award for The Big Tell to create a documentary. This video explores the support and friendship of two women who rock climb. The video was premiered on October 23, 2020 at the Big Tell Film Festival.
Science Communication
Staying relevant in the field of Science Communication, Dr Gordon is a member of various SciComm groups and societies. She participates in conferences (e.g., AAAS 2022, MSU SciComm 2021–leading a science/paint workshop, Science Talk 2020, Advancing Research Impact in Society, ARIS 2020, SciCommCon 2020), Science Engagement webinars (organized in part by the National Academy of Science), and is a member of the National Association Science of Writers (NASW).
Dr Gordon has experience teaching science communication. She has taught a workshop course to graduate students across several departments (“Writing for the Public”) University of Strathclyde, Spring 2012 & 2013) and a workshop for scientists to speak more fluidly about research using improvisation (Dartmouth 2014). In addition, she has lead numerous outreach events to school kids through adults while at the USDA (2014-2018).
In addition, she was recruited to develop and teach a course on Agricultural Entomology for Monterey Bay at California State University (CSU) and General Entomology for Fresno CSU (2020).
Furthermore, Dr Gordon has been invited to speak to broad audiences including industry (Polytec 2017), agriculture (California Department of Food and Agriculture 2016), for specialist groups (Environmental acoustics group 2018), and at various university seminars (e.g., Oxford, Berlin, Cambridge, Berkeley, & Dundee). In the course of her research, she presented over 20 conference presentations and posters to a variety of audiences.
Regardless of the audience, Dr Gordon is ready, willing and able to adapt materials to give them the best experience possible.
Contact Information Shira D Gordon, PhD
email: Shira at SheRockScience.com
#SheRockScience #SheRockScienceProduction #SciComm #SciArt #BroaderImpacts #ShiraGordon email: Shira at SheRockScience.com