Our work with educators in formal classrooms has shown that our content produces significant changes in how students see themselves as scientists, how they picture who scientists are, and how they understand the way science works.
In two peer-reviewed studies with undergraduate biology students, watching our documentary short films measurably shifted students' self-identification as scientists, their perceptions of scientists, and their understanding of the nature of science, with no loss in content knowledge (Molder et al., 2025a, 2025b).
We have also measured behavioral change: in an independent pilot evaluation with multilingual middle schoolers at a Title I school, teachers documented increased participation, greater willingness to take intellectual risks, and stronger resilience, alongside gains in science identity and district-leading performance on standard assessments (Phillips & Associates, 2026).
In public settings, our studies show that our films lead to greater learning, interest, trust, and identification with science across demographically diverse audiences. In a study of a nationally representative U.S. sample, narrative engagement with our films predicted a wide range of outcomes including greater knowledge gain, more interest in learning, perceiving science as valuable, and identifying with science, regardless of viewers' background or prior exposure to science (Howell et al., 2025).
A companion study found that audiences' trust in and identification with the scientists on screen were driven by relational qualities such as curiosity, authenticity, and attentiveness rather than by credentials or demographic similarity, suggesting that our films can reach even those who feel most distant from science (Krause et al., 2026). Audiences are also motivated to take action, and these effects are long-lasting (Howell et al., 2026).
Taken together, this body of work confirms that authentic scientist stories do more than inform audiences; they change how people see science, who they believe can do it, and what they go on to do.
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Our Publications
Forming Relationships With Scientists Through Film: A Qualitative Study of Viewers’ Trust, Identification, and Value Alignment
Drawing on open-ended responses from a national U.S. survey (N = 630) of viewers of Observer, a documentary film featuring scientists engaged in practices of observation, we examine how audiences explained trust, identification, and perceived value alignment with the film’s characters, most of whom were
Use of personal storytelling in educational videos promotes student engagement and science identity in undergraduate biology courses
In this era of information abundance and digital connectivity, educational videos are a transformative and widely used resource in STEM higher education. Much of what is known about the effective use of educational videos comes from analyzing videos used for content delivery and the impacts
Engaging short film activity that supports learning, science identity, and nature of science comprehension
Improving perceptions of students' science identities and their understanding of the nature of science (NOS) are important learning goals for undergraduate biology students. Previous research has observed that students who reflect on personal histories and research narratives of diverse scientists experience positive changes in their
Storytelling in Science Film: Narrative Engagement Relates to Greater Knowledge, Interest, and Identification With Science
To explore narrative engagement’s impacts on science communication, we examine a representative sample of U.S. adults randomly assigned to watch one of the four short documentary science films. Our results indicate that narrative engagement—feeling connected to the story world and identifying with characters—predicts a wide
Examining how a documentary film can serve as an intervention to shift attitudes and behaviours around sexism in STEM
"Picture a Scientist," a documentary featuring stories and research about bias in STEM, reached a large international audience. Yet, the extent to which this type of engaging media can impact gender bias remains unclear. In a unique collaboration between film creators and researchers, the current
Build Your Research Community: Evaluation of an Online Course to Build Strong Mentoring Relationships and Networks
Build Your Research Community (BYRC) is an asynchronous, free online course that guides research students to build effective relationships with their primary research advisors as well as build mentoring networks that provide holistic support as they navigate their research training experiences and careers. Preliminary evaluation
An Evolving Need for Trusted Information
As Robert Groves, Mary T. Bassett, Emily P. Backes, and Malvern Chiweshe describe in their article, the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the value and importance of connecting social science to on-the-ground decisionmaking and solution-building processes, which require bridging societal sectors, academic fields, communities, and levels of
Science Communication Demands a Critical Approach That Centers Inclusion, Equity, and Intersectionality
We live in an era of abundant scientific information, yet access to information and to opportunities for substantive public engagement with the processes and outcomes of science are still inequitably distributed. Even with increasing interest in science communication and public engagement with science, historically marginalized
Insights and Practical Considerations for Communicating Basic Science
SciPEP. (2024). Insights and Practical Considerations for Communicating Basic Science. Report for the Department of Energy Office of Science and The Kavli Foundation as part of the Science Public Engagement Partnership. DOI: 10.17605/OSF.IO/4KGQF | Pg 30 Essay by Mónica Feliú Mójer
Science Communication in the Age of Misinformation
Behavioral medicine scientists, practitioners, and educators can engage in evidence-based science communication strategies to amplify the science and combat misinformation. Such efforts are critical to protect public health during crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic and to promote overall well-being.
What Journalists and Scientists Have in Common
We live in age of great challenges where truth and facts are under siege. This is inflicting real damage on many segments of our society. We must take heed and take action. We must find ways to unite in service of truth. One of us
Rethinking Civic Science Funding to Better Support Community Engagement
Civic science funders and grantmakers play a key role in supporting community engagement efforts. However, current funding policies are often misaligned with the realities of community engagement. Collaboration with community partners moves at the speed of trust, and trust requires time, relationship-building, and persistence. Yet,
Framework for advancing rigorous research
There is a pressing need to increase the rigor of research in the life and biomedical sciences. To address this issue, we propose that communities of 'rigor champions' be established to campaign for reforms of the research culture that has led to shortcomings in rigor.
Measuring Science Literacy in a Digital World: Development and Validation of a Multi-Dimensional Survey Scale
We present a new multilingual 14-item scale for measuring science literacy in survey and experimental research. The scale captures three essential dimensions of science literacy in a digital world: civic science literacy, science media literacy, and cognitive science literacy. We developed, tested, and validated the
Beyond Storytelling With Data: Guidelines for Designing Exploratory Visualizations
Visualizations are essential for telling the stories of science. Through visualized data we can be transported to far off nebulas or trace our genetic connections to all life. We can see larger patterns in our environment, watching our seas warm, viral cases rise and fall,
A Pilot Program to Engage, Retain, and Train Physicians as Scientists: Creating and Sustaining a Discovery-Driven Community
Over the past 100 years, physician-scientists have created important new knowledge across the entire spectrum of biomedical inquiry. Increasingly, successful development and application of novel therapies require the engagement of expert investigators from multiple disciplines.1,2 Creation of durable knowledge that enhances human health demands testing
Bridging gaps in traditional research training with iBiology Courses
Published: January 11, 2024 Academic research training relies on a combination of traditional and experiential education to instruct early career researchers in technical and professional skills. The depth, breadth, and quality of graduate education depends on the graduate program and a trainee’s individual mentoring relationships.
Broadening the impact of plant science through innovative, integrative, and inclusive outreach
Population growth and climate change will impact food security and potentially exacerbate the environmental toll that agriculture has taken on our planet. These existential concerns demand that a passionate, interdisciplinary, and diverse community of plant science professionals is trained during the 21st century. Furthermore, societal
Engaging students through online video homework assignments: A case study in a large-enrollment ecology and evolution course
Online educational videos have the potential to enhance undergraduate biology learning, for example by showcasing contemporary scientific research and providing content coverage. Here, we describe the integration of nine videos into a large-enrollment (n = 356) introductory evolution and ecology course via weekly homework assignments. We predicted
iBiology: communicating the process of science
The Internet hosts an abundance of science video resources aimed at communicating scientific knowledge, including webinars, massive open online courses, and TED talks. Although these videos are efficient at disseminating information for diverse types of users, they often do not demonstrate the process of doing
Creating risk know-how amongst marginalized communities in Puerto Rico during Covid-19
Community leaders provide important safety nets for vulnerable and marginalized populations in Puerto Rico. Confronted by colonialism, government and institutional failures, austerity, and natural phenomena, and political disasters, these individuals take outsized and often volunteer roles to support groups that are disproportionately impacted by these
Advancing inclusion through culturally relevant science communication: a perspective from Puerto Rico
The past 20 years of science communication have seen important progress towards inclusion, equity, and justice. In this commentary, I review some of those changes and discuss how culturally relevant science communication activities are part of a broad movement seeking to change the culture, research,
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Impact Report 2025
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OBSERVER Report
Full findings from our community screening research on OBSERVER
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