The 2nd Annual STRIDE-Con and Visualization Contest

STRIDE-Con is a day-long event which showcases talks on science communication, data visualization, and policy. On Friday, September 14, the 2nd Annual STRIDE-Con took place at the Institute for Advanced Computational Science.

Dr. Christine O’Connell of the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science gave a talk on science communication, focusing on themes of empowerment and challenging stereotypes with diverse voices. Dr. Thomas Woodson from the Department of Technology & Society presented a talk on science policy, highlighting just how pertinent science policy is to science and how without science policy, much of the research done in science could not be done.

STRIDE-Con's keynote speaker was Dr. Brian Zikmund-Fisher of the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan. Dr. Zikmund-Fisher offered thoughtful insights towards aiding the decision-support process, particularly in regards to deciding which data to emphasize to a particular audience. Especially when communicating with people about their own health, it is best to give them easily digestible information rather than coming at them with numbers and statistics.  

At the close of the day, the STRIDE-Con annual visualization contest took place with guest judges; Klaus Mueller (Computer Science), Kathleen Flint Ehm (Graduate and Postdoctoral Professional Development), and Lauren Sheprow (University Media Relations) as well as the keynote speaker, Dr. Zikmund-Fisher. Of the seven visualizations submitted to the contest, the winning figure was submitted by Jessica Maghakian, a graduate student from Applied Mathematics and Statistics, entitled “Detecting Gerrymandering: A. Data-Driven Look at the US Congressional Districts from 2003-2013.” Winners of the visualization contest are given an opportunity to attend the renowned Edward Tufte one-day data visualization workshop on a date and location of their choosing, with expenses covered by STRIDE.