Welcome to the 3rd issue of SPARK !

This year’s special issue on Inclusive Science Communication is the result of a year-long training collaboration on Inclusive Science Communication and Engagement (ISCE). Bringing together the Community of Scholars Program (COSP), the Biomedical Graduate Research, Education, and Training Program (BGREAT), the Science Communication Lab, and the Community Outreach Retention and Engagement (CORE) Program, our collaborative aspired to explore Inclusive Science Communication and Engagement from a theory and practice-based perspective.

While the term Inclusive Science Communication (ISC) broadly refers to approaches, design, and research that brings the lens’ of inclusion, equity, and intersectionality to science communication, our collaborative was specifically interested in what ISC means for our graduate researchers in STEMM fields who identify as Black, Indigenous, and persons of color (BIPOC).

The contributions for this issue are created by COSP Scholars who either participated in the ISCE training program or whose research and/or creative work aligned with the goals of the collaborative or the mission of SPARK to amplify the experiences, research and voices of BIPOC graduate scholars. 

The contributions from our graduate scientists will also be shared at the Bell Museum in May with the CORE program families – CORE strives to ensure that historically excluded and marginalized students and their families know about the University of Minnesota STEMM programs and are supported in identifying, enrolling, and fully participating in them. We hope SPARK’s values of social justice, community building, innovation, creativity, and public scholarship inspire our BIPOC youth to see themselves as scientists, now and in the future, and the knowledge and research they bring as valuable to their communities both within higher education and beyond.