S.P.A.R.K. | 5 strategies for the visual communication of science (31 Mar 2026)

Tue, 31 Mar 2026 07:00:00 GMT

Learn to harness the power of pictures to engage and educate any audience!

In an age of increasingly complex science, pictures can be a key to communicating clearly. But few science communicators have had a chance to learn how to access the power of pictures to engage and educate their audiences.

This course is designed to empower anyone to do that — to create pictures that clearly convey science information, no matter how complex.

What you'll learn in this course

S.P.A.R.K. will change forever the way you think about pictures and use them to communicate about science.

You’ll learn core concepts of visual communication. This is not a course on how to draw. The S.P.A.R.K. strategies work with many ways of presenting information — diagrams, charts, posters, sketches, cartoons, even data visualizations. What you'll learn can be applied to pictures created by hand or with software you already know.

Each of the 24 videos is 10 minutes or less. You’ll learn:

A perfect way to jumpstart your visual thinking and transition from words to pictures
How to speak with the 8 elements of visual language
Ways to target your audience’s visual sweet spot
Tips for visually communicating to people who aren’t familiar with your top

Who should register?

Media producers, writers, journalists, educators, publishers, communications professionals, researchers, academics, students—anyone interested in making a greater impact with their science messages.

Join the ranks of science communicators who have already used S.P.A.R.K. to improve their outreach and communication skills, including at Yale, Harvard, the Innovative Genomics Institute, the University of Miami, Louisiana Tech University, and the University of Oregon, along with labs and individuals worldwide.

Instructors

Betsy Palay	Tami Tolpa

Betsy has over 30 years of experience creating visual communications for science researchers, educators, major biotech companies, and entrepreneurs. She is the founder and former president of a design firm that specialized in investor communications, assisting clients in raising a total of over half a billion dollars in Initial Public Offerings (IPO’s). Betsy has an MS in medical and biological illustration from the University of Michigan, is a Board-Certified Medical Illustrator, and is a Fellow and a past president of the Association of Medical Illustrators. Over 100 of her original scientific illustrations have been accepted into the permanent archives of the Vesalius Trust Collection of the Lloyd Library and Museum, Cincinnati, Ohio. See her work at www.betsypalay.com.	Tami has over 20 years of experience in scientific illustration and animation for clients including: Scientific American Magazine, The Scientist Magazine, Science News, MIT's Technology Review, Harvard University, and the University of Washington, as well as numerous physicians and biotechnology companies. Tami has an MFA in medical illustration from the Rochester Institute of Technology. She’s a past board member and current Fellow of the Association of Medical Illustrators. Tami has spoken about science communication using visuals at the University of Washington, Rochester Institute of Technology, the Association of Medical Illustrators, The Northwest Science Writer's Association, Science Talk '18, and ComSciCon-PNW. She's currently the Scientific Illustrator at Gladstone Institutes. Her professional website is www.tolpa.com.

ASC First Monthly Networking Event! (16 Apr 2026)

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 23:00:00 GMT

Be part of the launch of ASC’s Virtual Networking Series! This kickoff event is your chance to meet fellow science communicators, build new connections, and help design the future of ASC networking events. Come ready to connect, collaborate, and share what kinds of conversations and communities you want to see next.

Finding Your Strategy: Social Media for Science Communicators (5 May 2026)

Tue, 05 May 2026 18:00:00 GMT

ASC Speaker Series

Finding Your Strategy: Social Media for Science Communicators

Dr. Raven Baxter (Dr. Raven the Science Maven) provides a look at how science communicators can find a social media strategy that fits their goals, their content, and their audience. From how you source to how you publish to how you grow your voice, this webinar walks through what a science-first workflow looks like in practice, and includes a demo of Fervae, a new platform built by Dr. Baxter specifically for science communicators.

Association of Science Communicators upcoming events

S.P.A.R.K. | 5 strategies for the visual communication of science (31 Mar 2026)

ASC First Monthly Networking Event! (16 Apr 2026)

Finding Your Strategy: Social Media for Science Communicators (5 May 2026)