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2025 Weary Symposium

2025 Weary Symposium

Advance the impact of your science.

More than ever, researchers want to share their work beyond academic journals. Funders prioritize public impact, universities encourage it, and misinformation spreads when experts stay on the sidelines. But reaching a broader audience—through social media, books, op-eds, Substack newsletters, or podcasts—requires new skills beyond most academic training.

The Science to Impact Symposium at Ohio State is a hands-on experience designed to help social scientists bridge the gap between their research and the real-world. How do you distill complex research into clear, compelling messages without losing accuracy? How do you break into mainstream media or develop a public platform that extends your influence? This event will offer practical guidance from experts who have successfully done just that.

Through interactive sessions, participants will learn how to translate their science into engaging narratives, workshop ideas with experienced communicators, and develop a concrete plan for expanding their reach. Whether you’re looking to start a Substack, pitch a book, build a social media presence, or connect with journalists, this conference will provide tools to make it happen. Speakers include bestselling authors, literary agents, popular Substack writers, award-winning podcasters and digital media experts who will discuss scientific research and how they have enhanced its impact.

Science to Impact is presented by The Ohio State University and co-sponsored by the Social Psychology graduate program (supported by a generous gift generous gift from Emeritus Professor Gifford Weary). This event reflects Ohio State’s commitment to helping scholars engage with the world beyond academia. 

The symposium is free to attend, but space is limited. Registration is required for all participants by the deadline of July 4, 2025. Register today →

Important Dates

July 4: Registration deadline

July 27: Evening reception

July 28: Symposium, Day 1
9 a.m. – 5 p.m.: Presentations by academic speakers and industry professionals

July 29: Symposium, Day 2
9 a.m. – 2 p.m.: Participant research impact workshops and plan development

Symposium Schedule

6:30 – 9:00 p.m.
Location TBA

9:00 a.m.: Breakfast and Opening Remarks


9:35 a.m.: Academic Speaker Series I: David DeSteno and Jay Van Bavel
Researchers will share their journeys adapting their scholarship for broader audiences. Each speaker offers insight into how they translated their work into accessible formats, such as books, public talks, podcasts and social media posts.


10:35 a.m.: Industry Presentation: Joseph Fridman, Eric Henney and Maren Hunsberger
Industry professionals offer a “crash course” in publishing, podcasting and science communication. Speakers will share strategies for creating compelling public-facing content, such as op-eds, newsletters and books. Participants will learn what works, what doesn’t, and how to leverage their research in public storytelling.


12:00 p.m.: Lunch


1:00 p.m.: Elevator Pitches
Participants begin developing a 90-second elevator pitch about their research for non-academic audiences (to be refined on the second day of the symposium).


2:05 p.m.: Academic Speaker Series II: Tessa West and Mary Murphy


3:00 p.m.: Coffee Break


3:30 p.m.: Academic Speaker Series III: Andy Luttrell


4:00 p.m.: Industry Panel
Industry professionals hold a moderated Q&A session to help participants think through their elevator pitches, media formats and outreach strategies.


4:45 p.m.: Closing Remarks

9:00 a.m.: Breakfast and Opening Remarks


9:30 a.m.: Media Interest Groups
Participants break into groups by preferred communication medium. Experts lead each group and help participants shape their elevator pitches into tangible media products, such as podcast pitches, book proposals and op-ed drafts.


10:35 a.m.: Peer Feedback
Pairs of participants share their drafts within their media groups and offer feedback to each other. This is an opportunity to revise and refine ideas.


11:30 a.m.: Feedback from Speakers
Participants receive tailored feedback on their media products. This is an opportunity to receive professional insight on message clarity, platform fit and audience engagement.


12:00 p.m.: Lunch 


1:05 p.m.: Feedback from Industry Professionals (continued)


1:50 p.m.: Closing Remarks

Speakers

Dave DeSteno

David DeSteno

Professor, Psychology
Northeastern University

David DeSteno is professor of psychology at Northeastern University. Studying honesty and compassion, altruism and punishment, cooperation and trust, and the impact of spiritual practices, his work continually reveals the forces that shape moral behavior. David is a fellow of the Association for Psychological Science and the American Psychological Association. His work has been repeatedly funded by the National Science Foundation and the John Templeton Foundation. He is a frequent essayist for major media outlets including The New York Times and The Washington Post. He hosts the award-winning PRX podcast How God Works: The Science Behind Spirituality, and is the bestselling author of multiple books.

Website ↗


Joseph Fridman

Joseph Fridman

Head of Communications
Convergent Research

Joseph is Convergent Research’s Head of Communications. He moved over from Ginkgo Bioworks, where he spent four-ish years leading PR, IR, internal comms, and special projects around worker-ownership and governance. Joseph has degrees in cognitive science/history of science, journalism, business, and is currently pursuing a JD in night-school. For the past eight years, Joseph has supported Beyond the Ivory Tower, a Templeton Foundation-funded initiative to teach researchers to write short pieces for wide audiences about big ideas. He’s helped hundreds of academics with hundreds of pieces of writing. 

Website ↗


Eric Henney

Eric Henney

Literary Agent
Brockman, Inc.

Eric Henney is a literary agent at Brockman Inc. He helps authors translate their (often scholarly) research and expertise into successful, commercial books that he licenses directly to publishers all over the world. Previously, Eric was an editor, first at Princeton University Press and then at Basic Books, and published across the sciences. He has worked with Kristin Andrews, Marcia Bjornerud, George Bonanno, Robin Carhart-Harris, Robbert Dijkgraaf, Susan Goldin-Meadow, Steven Gubser, C. Thi Nguyen, Scott Page, David Raichlen, Venki Ramakrishnan, Camilla Townsend, and Barbara Tversky, among many others.

Website ↗


Maren Hunsberger

Maren Hunsberger

Scientific Storyteller and Media Specialist
Scientifically Speaking Communications

Maren is a microbiologist and science communicator who specializes in the understanding of public trust as it pertains to the consumption of science media. She is a media producer who has created video and podcast science content for Seeker, Crash Course, SciShow, and PBS Digital Studios. She also serves as a consultant—both to institutions (such as research organizations and universities) and individual scientists—advising them on how to shape their science story so as to most effectively reach their target audiences.

Website ↗


Andy Luttrell

Andy Luttrell

Associate Professor, Social Psychology 
Ball State University

Dr. Luttrell studies persuasive communication and attitude processes. As a science communicator, he has produced more than 130 episodes of the podcast Opinion Science, which features scholars across the social sciences. He is an associate editor of the public-facing blog by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. He has also produced popular YouTube videos on social science that have been viewed more than 3.5 million times, designed online courses, and run an independent social science blog. In 2024, he received an Eric and Wendy Schmidt Award for Excellence in Science Communications from the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine.

Website ↗


Mary C. Murphy

Mary C. Murphy

Professor, Psychological and Brain Sciences
Indiana University Bloomington

Mary C. Murphy is the Herman B Wells Endowed Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Indiana University, Founding Director of the Summer Institute on Diversity at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, and Founder and CEO of the Equity Accelerator, a research and consulting organization that works with schools and companies to create more equitable learning and working environments through social and behavioral science. Murphy is the author of more than 100 publications and in 2019, was awarded the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. Her new book on organizational mindset, Cultures of Growth, is now available.


Jay Van Bavel

Jay Van Bavel

Professor, Psychology and Neural Science
New York University

Jay Van Bavel is a Professor of Psychology & Neural Science at New York University, an affiliate at the Stern School of Business in Management and Organizations, Coordinator of the NYU Social Psychology Program, Professor at the Norwegian School of Economics, and Director of the Center for Conflict & Cooperation. He is the co-author of The Power of Us: Harnessing Our Shared Identities to Improve Performance, Increase Cooperation, and Promote Social Harmony (winner of the 2022 APA William James Book Award). Jay completed his PhD at the University of Toronto and a Postdoctoral Fellowship at The Ohio State University.

Website ↗


Tessa West

Tessa West

Professor of Psychology
New York University

Tessa West is a Professor of Psychology at New York University and an expert in the science of interpersonal communication. Tessa is an Advisory Board Member of NYU Stern’s Initiative on Purpose and Flourishing and a content creator for LinkedIn Learning and CNBC Make It. Her work has been covered by Scientific American, The New York Times, ABC World News, TIME, the Financial Times, among others. She is the author of Jerks at Work: Toxic coworkers and what to do about them and Job Therapy: Finding work that works for you (Penguin Random House). Her TED talk, “The problem with being too nice at work,” was in the top 10 most watched talks of 2024. 

Website ↗


Symposium Coordinators

Kurt Gray


Kurt Gray

Professor, Social Psychology
The Ohio State University Department of Psychology

Duane Wegener


Duane Wegener

Professor and Chair
The Ohio State University Department of Psychology

Lauren Pond


Lauren Pond

Marketing and Communications Associate
The Ohio State University Department of Psychology

Location

Science to Impact will take place at the vibrant, eco-friendly Grange Insurance Audubon Center, which is located in Columbus' brewery district along the Scioto River. Part of Audubon Great Lakes, the center serves as both a vital part of regional conservation efforts and as an important environmental educational resource for the broader Columbus community.

Long, red-brown building reflected in the waters of a marsh against a background of blue sky


Contact Us

For questions or additional information, please contact Marketing and Communications Associate Lauren Pond at pond.71@osu.edu. We look forward to hearing from you and hope to see you at the symposium this summer!