SciOut18

IntroductionIn October 2018, nearly 150 members of the science outreach professional community gathered in New York City to discuss current issues surrounding the practice and profession of science outreach. With scientific representation spanning multiple academic contexts, professional societies, independent practice, members of science writing and journalism communities, funding bodies, and government organizations, the outputs from our unconference-style gathering -- SciOut18: Models, Metrics, and Measures -- takes into consideration many perspectives regarding the science outreach field from individual practitioners across the US. The discussions from SciOut18 have prominently guided the content and context of this report, which primarily focuses on the practical aspects related to the continued professionalization and centralization of science outreach. While we specifically avoided defining “science outreach” at the meeting itself, the authors of this paper thought it is important to lay out how we are considering the phrase as it fits into the scientific enterprise, in order to discuss how this field can be sustained and scaled for the future. As such, we are defining science outreach as a framework that brings together scientific and non-scientific communities around a set of shared science outreach goals, which are met through the application of effective science communication, public engagement, and/or informal education best practices, and achieves outcomes characterized by mutual learning for all involved. This definition is offered in the context of stakeholders, both inward and outward, as well as laying out the minimum requirements to meet the science outreach framework criteria. In this list we emphasize a clear identification of all stakeholder groups, sharing explicit goals for each group, and ideally co-designing a scientific engagement strategy that best represents these stated goals. Furthermore, the expected outcome for all science outreach strategies is shared learning among all stakeholders. While no science outreach framework will look exactly the same, it is these fundamental points that distinguish science outreach from one-sided efforts to promote non-scientist appreciation of science. This paper also touches on the current expectations and realities related to science outreach metrics. The overwhelming consensus among SciOut18 attendees was that it is extremely difficult to both practice science outreach and develop clear rese