The researcher at Unicamp's Laboratory for Advanced Studies in Journalism (Labjor), Germana Barata, was elected to the Scientific Committee of the international network Public Communication of Science and Technology (PCST), which seeks to promote new ideas, methods, intellectual issues and perspectives on the communication of science and technology. Germana is a visiting professor at Simon Fraser University (SFU), in Canada, and ran for the committee for the first time.
According to the researcher, the committee members define the directions of the research network, establish directions for scientific dissemination, define upcoming conferences and evaluate submitted work. Elections to choose 14 members (4 from the Americas and Africa, 4 from Europe, 4 from Australasia and 2 members aged up to 35) take place every two years, when members associated with the PCST vote. Germana was the only new member in the Americas and Africa category, alongside Canadian Bernard Schiele (one of the founders of PCST), South African Marina Joubert and Brazilian Luisa Massarani, who were already members of the network and were re-elected.
“I was one of the organizers of the conference that took place in Salvador in 2014 and that certainly made the difference in my choice. I have participated in conferences since 2004, as a master's student and at the time I was a reporter for the ComCiência magazine at Labjor/Unicamp. In 2008, I won the PCST Junior Award, for the best work presented at the conference, along with another award that I won representing South Korea”, comments the researcher, explaining her connection with the network.
Germana states that she is mainly interested in contributing to “balance and further democratize the participation of developing countries - especially in Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa - in terms of programming and participation in PCST network conferences. Multiplicity enriches debate and academic practice.” According to her, the network also has a strong presence and operations in Europe and developed English-speaking countries.
