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Molly Magid: Welcome to UC Science Radio, where we interview a range of postgrad students to tune into the fresh voices entering the world of science and learn what sparked their passion. I’m Molly Magid, a Master’s student in the School of Biological Sciences.
Today I’m talking with Dr Sriparna Saha, she’s a PhD student studying GeoEducation. Her research focuses on using storytelling to improve understanding of caldera eruption risk at Lake Taupo. She’s also involved in science communication activities at the university, and most recently her three minute thesis presentation was highly commended at the university level.
Kia ora Sriparna, welcome to UC Science Radio.
Sriparna Saha: Kia ora Molly, thank you for having me here.
So you’re studying GeoEducation, what does that mean?
SS: Geoeducation, basically, is about how we can teach geology better. There's this idea of what geology is, the study of Earth. But then in recent years, there has also been this idea of how we can teach geology better. So my research focuses on that idea of how we can make science, and more specifically geology, more accessible to students across all age groups. That's what geoeducation broadly is.
And your research has to do with communicating eruption risk. Could you talk a bit more about that and what your research projects specifically are about?
SS: What I'm doing is looking at the use of digital storytelling to improve people's understanding of the risks and hazards that are related to volcanic eruptions and unrest. And New Zealand, as we know, is geologically active, so it's important that people understand what are the hazards and risks associated so that they're better prepared, say in the face of a disaster, they know what approach to take or what to do.
Through my research, I'm trying to use these digital tools to improve what we call action-oriented competence - giving <people> the autonomy to understand certain situations. If they are actually placed in those situations, what would happen then? I'm looking at different storytelling tools, and it's broadly on the digital realm. And as we know in the 21st Century, this digital media is becoming so common and it's important that we use this tool and incorporate this into aspects of learning as well, and do it well.
I'm looking at three different digital tools, one of them is a bicultural virtual field trip. The second is a choose-your-own digital volcano adventure, and the third is a game called Magma Pop. Through them, I'm looking and focusing on different parts of the community, so that everyone finds a voice. It's through their voice that we are informing the design of these tools because overall the idea is - how do we make these tools more accessible, more engaging, and more authentic so that people actually can make use of them.
Right, and it sounds like you're not just coming in and saying: "Oh, this is what would be helpful." You're actually going and talking with communities and engaging them and figuring out what would actually be helpful.
SS: Exactly, exactly. For example, in 2019 there was this virtual field trip which was conducted by LEARNZ which has been in the education sector for several years. Then people from UC and geologists from GNS science, and they kind of came together to create this amazing resource, which is a digital tool. It talks about unrest and volcanoes but it gives two different worldviews for looking at geological unrest. It's giving that connection of how would scientists look at unrest, and compared to, as we know, Aotearoa has a Māori foundation, right? It's also understanding those perspectives, trying to understand those stories. So when we go out into the community and share this tool, people can see that it is acknowledging their voices, it's not just us coming forward and saying this is what you should do. It's also informed by this cultural knowledge, this scientific knowledge, and that is the way not only to ensure authentic engagement, but also active participation from people.
Yeah, completely, having their voices heard. And also, you know, you may be engaging communities but it might be more a secondary thing, but it sounds like they’re very much in conversation within the tools you’re creating.
SS: Yes, yes exactly. With the other tool that we are looking at school students, it's like a choose-your-own-volcano adventure. And everyone loves stories, everybody loves games. These avenues are existing and you can just tap onto them by acknowledging these voices. In the choose-your-own-volcano adventure module, we have art illustrated which is kind of based in Yellowstone National Park. We have this young kid named Ash, she's on her own adventure having fun in the national park and what she learns from her experiences there. What we plan to do is create a Māori version of that too and we are talking to people from the community, Māori leaders and we have cultural supervisors to help us through the process. Through that we are making sure, we try to make sure, how can that be best presented. Once that is done, we'll take this module to one of the schools and all the art elements in that module will be made available on a digital platform. So students will have the flexibility to choose what is the story that they want to tell, because one of the other things we want to get across is the idea that volcanic unrest, involves multiple outcome scenarios so it's not always that there's a specific pathway. Through these stories we want to clarify their perceptions and also acknowledge them and use them to develop further tools.
How do you balance communicating these risks or these different scenarios with being accurate about them but with not scaring people, especially children? How are you able to communicate them in a way that informs but doesn't scare?
SS: Yeah, I think that's a very good question because, like you said, the balance is kind of hard to manage. From the educational point of view, if you give them the power to explore situations, explore scenarios, without actually placing them at risk, it gives them the confidence to explore if they go with a particular scenario, this might happen. But we are also creating a space for collaboration and peer-review, and sometimes they end up learning more from each other. So I think the purpose of my research is trying to get that message across, but also us learning from their own understanding or their interactions as well. So yes we cannot miscommunicate or oversell the hazard situation, but being honest and open and transparent about what actually might occur or may not happen.
Yeah, it strikes me that you're taking in a very scientific space but with stories in a way that people can see themselves in these scenarios, it doesn't seem as abstract as, you know, reading a paper. It's in real life.
SS: Yes. I talked about Magma Pop briefly. So this game, it's a collaborative project between the School of Product Design, and School of Earth and Environment, and School of Teacher Education. We tested this prototype of this game which is basically like Candy Crush, so it's simulates like what is happening below Lake Taupo, which is a super volcano. If there is a magma chamber, what is happening within it. And you have all these elements and you have to match these elements to create some crystals.
As of now it's designed as a learning tool for one of the geology undergraduate classrooms but eventually the plan is to incorporate storylines and characters, so that it can be used as a broader engagement tool for people and focus on how specific scenarios, like you have to prevent an eruption within that game and how would you save your characters. So just incorporating that storyline takes it to another level where everybody who's playing is involved and engaged and thinking about the consequences before. That’s the kind of engagement we would want to have.
Could you talk a bit more about your path and what lead you to do this PhD after you already got one in the States?
SS: I think the path I have taken is not very conventional. Like I said, my purpose for doing science communication was because I was driven to put my work out there, and not just through academic articles, but in general. There were a few of my other interests like storytelling or writing or art which I was unable to bring to my own research and that kind of made me feel that I was not bringing my entire self to what I was doing. It was challenging because I just felt like I was leaving all the best parts of my interests outside my research, so when I started thinking about what next to do, I remember taking some workshops and classes on teaching methods, how to teach better. That opened my thoughts to this field of discipline-based education research and I was just blown away by the fact that you could do research on teaching.
I think it was something I always wanted to know, but I didn't know how to do it. Then as I was interviewing at different places I came across this project at UC and I got into contact with Dr. Ben Kennedy, who is one of my supervisors, and Dr. Sara Tolbert. Speaking to them, I just felt like this was it, this was my niche. And I didn't think twice about doing a second PhD, I just went with it. It's not very common, and people say that all the time - why? I just feel like it's been one year since I'm here and every day I'm amazed myself like how am I so excited about what I'm doing. But that’s what it is, if you are truly passionate about what you do, even if it's difficult, you'll just enjoy it.
What's the most fun or exciting thing about your work, if you can choose?
SS: I think as a geologist, it will always be field trips and there's no replacing that. Earlier this year, we went to the Tongariro Alpine Crossing. And it was a hard trek, but I loved it. It was so gorgeous, the place, and it makes you see the value of a lot of things. It might be a little philosophical, but you come across these hard points in your career like postgraduate research is not also that easy, but at the end you get to that point where it's worth it. So the trip was like that and it was just amazing, and yeah, I think field trips are the best part of my research.
Yeah, even though you're working in this very digital space, there's nothing that replaces actually being in nature?
SS: Yeah, but what if you can't be in the nature? Especially in the past few months, we have seen the transition we have all been going through - working from home, classes being shifted online. There has been a lot of uncertainty around that space. It also supports the teachers in their innovative, blended learning environments if they want to have it. This virtual field trip that I was talking about has a series of videos. The beauty is that you can just choose one video to showcase a point or you can base your entire module on that entire thing, so it depends on how you would want to use these resources. But it's about how do we do it well, so it engages people in a way that they feel a part of the community and they are making all of these science-based decisions, that really is important.
So my last question is, I know that you're just starting your PhD, but that means it's the time to dream big, so if you could see one big application of your research out in the world, what would it be?
SS: Ideally, it would be some storytelling tools, right? Or art book, something like that. Just a fun way to teach geology I think, and more specifically my research here is about communicating hazards and risks around super volcanoes but I don't know, maybe a comic book? Just innovative ways to bring your ideas to people and a general audience.
Thank you so much Sriparna, I really enjoyed our conversation.
SS: Thank you, Molly for having me here.
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