‘IN CONVERSATION’ with Dr Lukmaan Bawazer – “Scientific Storytelling”

Scientific advances occur in part through a process of storytelling within scientific communities. The stories are grounded in hard data, emerge from logical thinking, and are couched in the jargon and concepts of experts in a field. They are stories nonetheless. Scientists, like all humans, are captivated and moved by compelling stories. This process of story telling is not necessarily apparent during early stages of scientific education, in which students are taught from textbooks and often presented information as if it is sampled from a fixed and unmoving body of knowledge. As a student progresses through graduate school and conducts original research, she or he becomes more aware of the importance of scientific storytelling for framing experiments, sharing results, and securing research funding. In this Master’s Tea I will discuss my own evolving relationship with scientific storytelling, highlighting its importance to teaching, publishing, and proposal writing. In doing so, I hope to present a “behind the scenes” glimpse of a research-focused career that may be of interest to undergraduates who are considering the future pursuit of research-based advanced degrees.