Inspired by UCMP’s dedication to science outreach, PhD candidate Sara ElShafie has been exploring new approaches to science communication while conducting her dissertation research in global change biology. Keen to learn how to engage broad audiences through stories, ElShafie started reaching out to filmmakers at Pixar and other studios to learn and adapt cinematic storytelling strategies for science communication. She created a workshop series, “Science Through Story,” offering story training to scientists and science educators.

Over the last four years, ElShafie has run over 50 workshops at over 40 venues internationally, including several workshops for UCMP, reaching over 2600 participants thus far. Her most recent collaboration is a series of webinars for the Leakey Foundation, which funds research on human origins. The first webinar, a 1-hour introduction to some storytelling basics, has been made publicly available on YouTube! You can also download the worksheet to use with it. The Leakey Foundation will be sponsoring another webinar by ElShafie on visual storytelling this summer. For more information, visit ElShafie’s website.