More than sci comm: the why and how (and skills) of public engagement.
Research scientists have big ideas for reaching the public, but few chances to build the skills or find the support to act on them. Our ENGAGE workshops help scientists become more ambitious and more effective in science communication and public and civic engagement, and turn their best ideas into pilot projects that make a real difference in their communities.
In 2025, our co-founder Liz Neeley of Liminal launched the first two-day, in-person ENGAGE workshops with institutions where faculty demand and support were strong. Our first hosts were the University of Washington, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Utah. Each session sparked new ideas and experiments that became projects of their own.
- A risk management program that helps participants build response plans, protocols and resources for handling crises.
- Recurring "hot topic" sessions for critical debriefs on research funding news, pooling our knowledge and analysis of real-world events.
- Information-sharing experiments like the weekly Meeting the Moment debrief and the Scientists in Solidarity Action Hours.
- PERC-UP: at our Penn workshop, faculty noticed there was nowhere on campus for people from different departments to run into each other. So they built a coffee-cart gathering spot that turns hallway traffic into cross-department conversation.
The idea didn't stay at Penn. A Penn faculty member teamed up with a group they met at our Utah workshop to build an ENGAGE spinoff for trainees, which piloted in Utah in May 2026. The model is now going into a playbook so any campus can run it.
Scientists bring the ideas. We bring the time, structure and support to make them real.
- University of Washington, Seattle · January 2025
- University of Pennsylvania · May 2025
- University of Utah · July 2025
- Asilomar · January 2026
- ENGAGE Trainees pilot, Utah · May 2026
- Boston (Cambridge) · ENGAGE workshop on Monday, October 19, and ENGAGE Trainees on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, with our first ENGAGE Project Slam
- UC San Diego · ENGAGE workshop on Tuesday, December 1, 2026
- Asilomar · January 2027
- Philadelphia · ENGAGE Trainees workshop, date to come
