Assistant Professor Rebecca Calisi Rodríguez Named Faculty Assistant to the Dean for Science Communications
“Sharing discoveries with heart and humor.”
That’s the philosophy behind Assistant Professor Rebecca Calisi Rodríguez’s science communications work. For the past couple of years, Calisi Rodríguez has taken on the mantle of public outreach, sharing her love for science using culturally relevant storytelling in online videos. And now, she’ll bring that passion to the UC Davis College of Biological Sciences as the faculty assistant to the dean for science communications.
“I love this idea of creating actual positions for faculty-scholar communicators, who are able to identify not only as someone who does the science, who runs the lab, who writes the research grants, but who also is talented in science communication,” said Calisi Rodríguez. “We see more of these types of hybrid positions popping up at various universities to meet the need of bridging the disconnect between scientists and the public. I love that the College of Biological Sciences is willing to take a chance on me and my ideas to develop this role here.”
For her first formal project in the position, Calisi Rodríguez recently produced the College of Biological Sciences annual Give Day video. On top of filming and editing it, she helped brainstorm the idea and enlisted the help of her colleagues from the Department of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior.“For the past few years, I’ve learned so much working closely with the university’s professional communications staff, and now we’ve combined superpowers,” said Calisi Rodríguez. “Theirs is the art of strategic communications, mine in running a research lab, conducting experiments, analyzing data, and hey! Being a Latina mother-in-science! We trust and support each other in taking risks, because we have a common goal—to innovate how we communicate research discoveries to a broader audience.”
“Rebecca has been building a dossier of projects in which she seeks to humanize scientists and make them relatable with a particular attention to making the science accessible to those from groups traditionally underrepresented in science,” said College of Biological Sciences Dean Mark Winey. “I am delighted to have her bring her skills to telling the stories of the CBS faculty and students.”