“The (soft) propaganda value of lunar exploration,” Physics Today, February 8, 2021
“A Scientific Mallard,” The Sarnoff Collection, December 28, 2020
“Seeing is Believing,” The Sarnoff Collection, December 13, 2020
“Experiments in Creativity” Science, October 16, 2020
“Science on the Small Screen, Retro Style,” Scientific American, September 3, 2020
“Bradbury: Beyond Apollo,” Science, August 18 2020
“Willy Ley: Prophet of Space,” July 2020
“How Oral History Opens Up the Past,” Distillations, June 11, 2019
“The Case of Continental Classroom,” Distillations, March 29, 2019
“Private Lives in Public Places: TMI Online,” The Science and Entertainment Exchange, July 2018
“Playing with Technology,” Transmissions, written with Roger Turner, November 27, 2018
“Science Television in the Age of Sputnik,” Physics Today, September 22, 2017
Book Review: “Atomic Adventures,” Science, June 6, 2017
“The Atomic Awakening of Ava Helen Pauling,” The Pauling Blog, July 11, 2012
“Bridging the Nuclear Divide,” TERRA Magazine, Oregon State University, October 31, 2011
“Chasing the Canine Connection,” TERRA Magazine, Oregon State University, November 16, 2011
“From Concert Hall to Lecture Hall,” TERRA Magazine, Oregon State University, May 18, 2012
For Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory: Workforce Development and Education
“Intern alum soars to new heights at AISES conference,” October 2022
“Berkeley Lab Beginnings: Dr. Michelle Kuchera,” September 2022
“WD&E STEM Specialist shares insights during STEM Panel,” July 2022
“SULI Intern Featured in DOE Summer Science Series,” June 2022
“Sharing Knowledge: Recapping WD&E’s Spring 2022 Poster Session,” May 2022
“Celebrating the DOE’s Office of Science’s Office of Workforce Development for Teachers and Scientists (WDTS),” March 2022
“The real-world impacts of basic research,” January 2022
“SOARing to new heights,” September 2021
“Investigating a future in STEM: Recapping WD&E’s 2021 Summer Poster Session,” August 2021
“MLEF interns dig into geoscientific research,” August 2021
“2019 and 2020 Outstanding Mentor Award,” August 2021
“Communicating the Future: the 2021 SciPep Conference,” August 2021
“Sharing GEMS of wisdom,” August 2021
“Virtual GEM visit forges connections,” July 2021
“Mapping Galaxies of Possibility,” June 2021
“Solutions for Positive Change,” May 2021
Articles about my work
Reyhaneh Maktoufi, “From Sputnik to Twitter, The History of Science Communication,” Science Friday. July 2021
Emily Anthes, “A New Wave of Vibrant Science Programs,” Undark, January 2021
Ingrid Ockert, “Under the Glass,” Oregon State University Archives Flickr, September 28, 2011
How did television shape the popular perception of scientists in the 20th century? Did television actually make science ‘fun’? When does ‘science fiction’ converge with ‘science education’?
By understanding older methods of science communication, I suggest, science educators can learn new ways to connect to their audiences. My dissertation, “The Scientific Storytellers: How Educators, Scientists, and Actors Televised Science” is a close study of these professional creative collaborations. Long before educators dreamed up ‘STEAM,’ scientists worked with writers and artists to realize their vision of science on the small screen. I begin with the earliest programs of the late 1940s and trace the development of the genre through the 1970s. During the past five years, I have combed through the production materials of See It Now, The Johns Hopkins Science Review, Watch Mr. Wizard, Sesame Street, NOVA, 3-2-1 Contact, and Bill Nye the Science Guy. During my postdoctoral fellowship, I spent time exploring the connections between Star Trek: The Original Series and NASA.
Ingrid Ockert 