New giant dinosaurs. Mountain ranges on Pluto. Gravity waves from other galaxies. We live in a golden age for scientific discovery, and it’s hard not to wonder, as we pry ourselves away from Mars panoramas back into the earth-bound corporate things waiting in our other browser tabs, what it would be like if we’d gone into that science field we really like instead. Thea Boodhoo was a run-of-the-mill content strategist at an admittedly pretty great ad agency, who also found inspiration in the discoveries of science. She thought, “Surely scientists need content strategists. They must. Right?” And she set off on a journey that took her into the depths of time, the insides of a dead pigeon, and the far, exotic reaches of New Jersey, Utah, and academia. Now she’s ready to share what she learned about the reality of modern science, what it’s like working with scientists, how she overcame the hurdles of being an outsider, and how you, too, can apply your skills as a creative professional to science projects where they are, truly, needed. Without having to dissect a pigeon.

1. W H AT H A P P E N S W H E N Y O U
D O N AT E Y O U R C A R E E R T O S C I E N C E
High-Walkin by John Conway

2. H I I ’ M T H E A B O O D H O O
• Secret “h”
Thea
• FuturistNaturalist.com
• Art school dropout
• Copywriter since 2007
• Content Strategist since 2009
• Nike, Target, Visa, Verizon, Activision, Audi
• Science fan since 1987

3. D I S C L A I M E R :
M Y E X A M P L E O F A C A R E E R I S C O N T E N T
S T R AT E G Y, A N D M Y E X A M P L E O F A S C I E N C E I S
PA L E O N T O L O G Y.
C O N T E N T S T R AT E G Y A N D PA L E O N T O L O G Y D O
N O T N E C E S S A R I LY R E P R E S E N T A L L C A R E E R S
O R A L L S C I E N C E F I E L D S R E S P E C T I V E LY.
B U T F R O M M Y S P E C I F I C E X A M P L E S , S O M E
G E N E R A L I T I E S W I L L E M E R G E .

4. Raise your hand if you have a friend or family
member who’s a professional scientist.

5. H T T P S : / / G O O . G L / 5 E 2 Z 3 S

6. Quetzalcoatlus sp. by John Conway
“ S U R E LY S C I E N T I S T S N E E D
C O N T E N T S T R AT E G Y ”

7. Quetzalcoatlus sp. by John Conway
“ S U R E LY S C I E N T I S T S N E E D
C O N T E N T S T R AT E G Y ”
CHALLENGE
Find any job or project related to science that would
utilize my existing skills and experience
BARRIERS
Wasn’t focused on a particular science, didn’t know any
scientists, didn’t have a degree in science
SOLUTIONS
Paleontology, conference, school

8. T H E A N N U A L M E E T I N G O F T H E S O C I E T Y
O F V E R T E B R AT E PA L E O N T O L O G Y
All Yesterdays: Parasaurolophus by John Conway

10. a technical writer who volunteers as a fossil preparator
an open science advocate
a tetrapod zoologist
a grad student studying ornithischian jaw mechanics
a web developer
a writer who writes about dinosaurs
an invertebrate paleontologist

11. All Yesterdays: Parasaurolophus by John Conway
CHALLENGE
Meet actual paleontologists and decide which school I
should apply to for that bachelors degree
ACHIEVEMENTS
Made friends, joined web committee, learned more about
paleontology in one week than in previous 29 years
REVELATION
I belong with these people
T H E A N N U A L M E E T I N G O F T H E S O C I E T Y
O F V E R T E B R AT E PA L E O N T O L O G Y

12. D R E X E L U N I V E R S I T Y,
G E O S C I E N C E D E PA R T M E N T
Incubating Gallimimus by John Conway

16. a paleontologist who sometimes wishes he was a drummer
a coastal geologist who hates dinosaurs
a radiologist who scans fossils
a fine artist who made a taxidermy dinosaur
a character animator who reconstructed a crocodile
a vfx student building a virtual sauropod
a hockey player building robot dinosaur legs

17. Incubating Gallimimus by John Conway
SEEMINGLY POSSIBLE GOAL
Attain bachelor’s degree
DISCOVERIES
Financial aid system not designed for married, high-income
art school dropouts
LASTING IMPACT
$30k debt, tons of XP, ongoing relationship with professors,
discovery that paleontologists do need my skills
D R E X E L U N I V E R S I T Y, G E O S C I E N C E
D E PA R T M E N T

18. C R E TA C E O U S M A N T U A
Hesperornis regalis by John Conway

21. C R E TA C E O U S
M A N T U A
“It was the end of the age of
dinosaurs, and the waters of
a warmer, weirder Atlantic
Ocean covered a stretch of
green sand that would
someday be known as the
Hornerstown formation of
New Jersey.”
CretaceousMantua.com

22. P U B L I C O U T R E A C H

23. S C I E N C E P U B L I C
O U T R E A C H
Includes talks, exhibits,
websites, videos, etc.
• Recruits new scientists
• Informs public policy
• Improves scientific literacy
of general public
• Helps prevent stupid
decisions

24. – S T E P H A N I E PA P PA S , L I V E S C I E N C E , 2 0 1 2
“any researcher receiving a National Science
Foundation grant must explain how their research
will affect the public, including plans for outreach”

25. – J A I R A N G A N AT H A N , S C I E N T I F I C A M E R I C A N , 2 0 1 3
“Scientists, here's the bottom line. If you don't
convince the public that your science matters, your
funding will quickly vanish and so will your field.”

26. “The dinosaurs died in the world's fifth mass
extinction…Right now, our species is propagating
an environmental disaster of geological
proportions that is so broad and so severe, it can
rightly be called the sixth extinction. Only unlike
the dinosaurs, we can see it coming. And unlike
the dinosaurs, we can do something about it.”
– K E N N E T H L A C O VA R A : H U N T I N G F O R D I N O S A U R S
S H O W E D M E O U R P L A C E I N T H E U N I V E R S E , T E D , 2 0 1 6

27. T H E A N N U A L M E E T I N G
O F T H E G E O L O G I C A L
S O C I E T Y O F A M E R I C A
Troodon formosus by John Conway

30. Troodon formosus by John Conway
OPPORTUNITY
Gain publicity and recognition for Cretaceous Mantua,
maybe find a new project
TAKEAWAY
Scientists aren’t necessarily drawn in by the visual design
of a scientific poster - they skim for key words.
BONUS QUEST
GeoCorps America / Geoscientists-in-the-Parks program
T H E A N N U A L M E E T I N G O F T H E
G E O L O G I C A L S O C I E T Y O F A M E R I C A

31. D I N O S A U R N AT I O N A L
M O N U M E N T
Stegosaurus stenops by John Conway

32. 1 9 9 7 2 0 1 5

33. C A R N E G I E
Q U A R RY

34. T H E D I G I TA L Q U A R RY
P R O J E C T
Apatosaurus louisae by John Conway

37. D I G I TA L Q U A R RY
P R O J E C T
“Carnegie Quarry is the Jurassic
dinosaur fossil bed at Dinosaur
National Monument. Often called
‘the wall of bones,’ the quarry
includes roughly 1500 fossils that
are preserved in the Quarry Exhibit
Hall on the Utah side of the park.
For now, five hundred prominent
fossils from the wall of bones can
be explored in an interactive tool
we call the Digital Quarry.”
CarnegieQuarry.com

38. Apatosaurus louisae by John Conway
ORIGINAL OBJECTIVES FOR 12-WEEK PROGRAM
Digitally archive historical documents, prepare data for
eventual interactive quarry, inventory fossils
UNEXPECTED OUTCOME
Developed and launched scaled-down version of project
TAKEAWAY
Programs intended for junior scientists are sometimes used
to fund projects that actually need professional creative help
that junior scientists aren’t equipped for, and the depth of
experience needed won’t help their careers as researchers
T H E D I G I TA L Q U A R RY P R O J E C T

39. park rangers
a saurischian enthusiast
a paleontologist from Mongolia
three geology majors
a bus of French-Canadian geologists
the Weed Warriors
park volunteers
a cave girl

40. T H E F L A M I N G C L I F F S
Velociraptor mongoliensis by John Conway

42. T H E F L A M I N G
C L I F F S
“The Flaming Cliffs in the heart of
the Gobi Desert are home to the
fossils of ancient creatures from
the dog-sized herbivore
Protoceratops to the ferocious
predator Velociraptor. As an official
park protected by Umnugovi
Province, the Flaming Cliffs are
preserved for the benefit of
humanity’s global scientific
heritage as well as the posterity of
the Mongolian people.”
FlamingCliffs.org

44. Courtesy of Bolor Minjin

45. T H E F L A M I N G C L I F F S
Velociraptor mongoliensis by John Conway
PROJECT GOALS
Educate visitors and locals about the quarry, its fossils,
and the importance of preserving them against poaching
PROGRESS
Prototype website at 80%, first 4 dinosaur illustrations
commissioned
NEXT STEPS
Translation, Mobile Museum, digital archiving, crowdfunding

46. T H E S TAT E O F C R E AT I V E /
S C I E N C E C O L L A B O R AT I O N

47. W H Y S C I E N T I S T S A R E N ’ T W O R K I N G
W I T H P E O P L E L I K E U S M O R E O F T E N
• Scientists who put a lot into public outreach are sometimes looked down on by
their peers
• They may not realize they can and don’t know how to find us or who we are
• They haven’t quantified how much faster and more effective their outreach
could be if they collaborated with a professional
• They don’t realize that a project a science student could do in a year, we could
and would do in a month in our free time
• They may perceive the idea of professional web design as flashy and expensive
• They prefer their collaborators to have a degree in their field
• A shortage of science jobs motivates them to keep the work within their circle

48. W H Y S C I E N T I S T S A R E W O R K I N G W I T H
P E O P L E L I K E U S
• Most grants require public outreach, so there’s no shortage of
projects
• We do fantastic work quickly and in a professional manner
• We think of things they don’t
• We know how to make them feel listened to because we work with
clients all the time
• They eventually realize that we’re experts at learning new things fast,
so we don’t need a degree in their field in order to create something
for the public, any more than we need a business degree to create
“public outreach” for companies

49. C R E AT I V E S F O R S C I E N C E
Pteranodon sternbergi by John Conway

50. Science public outreach benefits enormously from
the help of creative professionals.
Tons of creative professionals think science is
awesome and want to help.

51. C R E AT I V E S F O R
S C I E N C E
“Creatives For Science is a
forum where scientists can find
creative professionals to deliver
on their most ambitious public
outreach goals.
And where creative
professionals can find
challenging, meaningful
projects in the fields they love
to read about.”
CreativesForScience.org

52. R E C E N T P R O J E C T S
• An interactive exhibit on ice age predators
• A video promoting an astronomy tool
• Vector illustrations of every known life form
• A logo for an astronomy app
• An open source interactive fossil quarry

53. VISION
Collaboration between scientists and creative professionals
to make science public outreach as effective as it can be.
PROGRESS
Seeking 501c3 status and slowly building tools and services.
Projects are posted on social media.
NEXT STEPS
Workshops, online tools, platform
C R E AT I V E S F O R S C I E N C E
Pteranodon sternbergi by John Conway

54. So should you donate your career to science?

55. F I R S T C O N S I D E R T H E D R A W B A C K S
• Even when they have grant money, science public
outreach projects don’t pay what you’re used to.
• You have to think of them like volunteer work, or do
them between higher-paying freelance jobs.
• If the project requires travel or full-time hours (like the
one at Dinosaur), your job or family may not support it.
• Maybe you’re just not that into science

56. But if you can, do it.
Science needs our skills right now.

57. Join Creatives for Science and I’ll (eventually) send
you a project.
CreativesForScience.org

58. T H A N K Y O U
Rick Wing
Denny Luan
@lets_experiment
Brooke Haiar
Ali Nabavizadeh
@Vert_Anatomist
Alane Fitzgerald
@abrashTX
Mike Keesey
@PhyloPic
Dave Marshall
@Palaeocast
Brian Switek
@Laelaps
Darren Naish
@TetZoo
Jon Tennant
@Protohedgehog
Ken Lacovara
@kenlacovara
Anna Jaworski
Krystin Vogele
Paul Ullman
Jennifer Hall
@artandevolution
Evan Boucher
Valentina Feldman
@vaIentina
Bob Bakker
Erin Dlabola
Dan Chure
@CarnegieQuarry
Elliott Smith
Trinity Sterling
Marie Jimenez
Brooks Britt
Joey Lee
@leejoeyk
Melissa Bruns
Kaitlin Thaney
@kaythaney
Bolor Minjin
Institute for the Study of Mongolian
Dinosaurs
Society of Vertebrate Paleontology
Geological Society of America
National Park Service
Dinosaur National Monument
Intermountain Natural History Association
GeoCorps America/Geoscientists-in-the-
Parks program
Mozilla Science Lab
WebVisions
Gary Boodhoo
@skinjester
And John Conway, for all the paleoart
@thejohnconway
Parasaurolophus walkeri and Troodon formosus by John Conway