Salamander Biologists Rock at #SciComm: A Case Study of Successful Science Communication

There are a lot of different communities within Twitter. The wildlife field has plenty of its own little subdivisions; there’s bat Twitter, big cat Twitter, bird Twitter, marine invertebrate Twitter, and even genetics Twitter. They are all populated by science communicators and prominent scientists in the field, from PhD candidates to photographers.

But there is no Twitter quite like salamander Twitter.

Salamander Twitter is very unique, and seems very successful at science communication. You know you’ve reached salamander Twitter when you’ve not only discovered many scientists sharing facts and findings on their research subjects, but literally almost everyone has a cartoon-like illustration of themselves with their study animal alongside them as their profile picture. This all stems from one particular fellow, Ethan Kocak, A.K.A the Black Madpuppy. Ethan is not a scientist by training, but is a perfect example of the weird little quirks about salamander Twitter. His profile bio describes this wholesomely:

“Purveyor of fine science avatars. Also, like a comic or whatever. Illustrated that fart book.”

As an artist, Kocak has used Twitter as a platform to engage his followers in many ways. Ethan has a comic, The Black Mudpuppy, a comic about a Grizzly Bear sized salamander super hero which was his claim to fame some years ago. He’s also recently developed another comic, Punch Everyone, which follows the tales and stories of Punchy, a Mantis Shrimp (known for their incredibly hard punches) as he travels the world to punch the world’s most annoying people, including President Trump. Also, as his bio indicated, he illustrated a new science communication book, Does it Fart?, which explores which animals do or don’t experience flatulence. His communication is light-hearted and goofy, but it was his art that essentially pulled salamander Twitter out of thin air; when he offered his custom avatars for folks (essentially a caricature of yourself with your study animal), salamander biologists, as well as thousands of other biologists, suddenly found each other.

There’s something about that style of avatar that’s not only a badge of honor, but it draws in followers. The avatars have become a beacon for people looking to engage with scientists on Twitter; it’s essentially become a new version of Twitter’s “blue checkmark” that certifies that the user is a verified scientist who is not only a knowledgeable expert, but a fun follow. Take Jonathan Kolby (now a Nat Geo Explorer), Jen Lamb, Mark Mandica, Kirsten Hecht, and Imogene Cancellare as examples (Imogene now sports a different avatar) as examples. Each offer their own expertise and insights into their fun field adventures, and have amassed a large following since the advent of the illustrated avatar.

Aside from the “avatar-certified” piece of being an “official” voice in the community, folks within salamander Twitter have done a great job at introducing themselves. While some bios may be loaded with tags and hashtags, biologists have mastered the art of pinning tweets to their page. A pinned tweet allows a user to select one tweet that will remain at the top of their profile for as long as they wish, and biologists have utilized this to introduce who they are and what their work entails, illustrated by a selection of photos. This gives personality, character, and background to these voices, and can really intrigue someone to follow them (at least, this is the case for me). Take Jonathan Kolby’s profile for example.

Salamander Twitter is also a very interactive community; not only is it proficient in its use of hashtags and tagging folks, but there are often explicit opportunities to interact with the prominent folks in the community. For example, scientists often crowd-source opinions on the identification of larval salamanders (a very difficult task!), allowing folks to offer their professional opinions and perhaps gain some followers by doing so. In many cases, Twitter is used as a way to disseminate scientific findings quickly, such as in the discovery of new locations where deadly amphibian diseases have spread, rediscovery of thought-to-be-extinct species, and newly described behaviors.

A recent example of this crowd interaction is Ethan Kocak’s simple request, “Favorite salamander species, go”, tweeted on March 6th. As of March 7th, 121 salamander biologists have shared their favorite salamanders, giving exposure to a huge array of species that seemingly never reach the light of popular media. The majority of these I have never heard of and I’ve been researching salamanders for four years; this opportunity to give exposure to something scientists know so much about is such a unique and interesting way to disseminate information and bring attention to animals never seen. Not only is this a great way to learn something new, but a great way to bring attention to animals in huge conservation need, putting a face to the work and funding/conservation requests of amphibian scientists. Seriously, check it out; from salamanders likened to curious, grumpy old men to another with teeth not unlike Jurrasic Park’s Spinosaurus, there’s a beautiful diversity to discover for everyone that may re-inspire a long lost curiosity to roll over a log and see what’s under it.

While I’m not the only one to notice how great salamander Twitter is (Link: Salamander Twitter is a Light in the Darkness), I am very excited to see how this community grows and develops ways to reach the public. Salamanders, alongside frogs, turtles, and freshwater mussels, are among the most threatened groups on the planet, but face the difficulty of catching the public eye. While most of us learned to love amphibians through childhood experiences, it’s a real challenge to find something that the general public will bite onto and enjoy compared to taxa like birds and mammals. However, I see that changing as we refine our techniques as communicators and story tellers; I think now, more than ever, amphibians have a voice and stake in society and I don’t see that decreasing. With scientists and salamanthusiasts (salamander enthusiasts) behind the wheel of the salanami (salamander tsunami), I am confident that we’ll see conservation #scicomm develop in new and exciting ways as we intrigue the public, and that’s a cause for salamation (salamander celebration).