2026 09 25

Main ideas, concepts, and lessons

1) Using research-driven educational outreach materials (games, fact sheets, downloads)

• The program accompanies researchers to interviews, building content from children’s questions recorded across platforms.
• The organization publishes downloadable educational resources (e.g., fact sheets and classroom/home materials) designed for teachers and families.
• A core emphasis is that materials must be accurate and rigorous, created with council researchers/investigators and often paired with illustrators.

2) Science communication through co-created games

A methodology for building games includes:

• Partnering with a technical game-development training program.
• Using content from the institution’s research.
• Incorporating ideas from students’ degree programs.
• Having students produce game designs as part of their final thesis; some games are fully developed from these designs.
• Supporting multiple teams to generate prototypes, then selecting and developing some into complete, playable games.

Examples of games and what they teach

• Mission Dinos: a short dinosaur game based on researcher/illustrator content, such as:
  • dinosaur fact sheets (height, weight, diet, carnivore/herbivore, location in Argentina, dating/age)
  • poster/alphabet content
  • downloadable flashcards and supporting materials
• Who am I in science?: a “guess the character” game where participants identify opponents as different types of scientists (scholarship recipients, technicians, researchers) across disciplines—aiming to show that CONICET/our scientific community is everywhere.
• Expedition to the seabed: a “journey”/collection card game where cards include brief scientific information (depth, scientific/common name, location).

Guiding philosophy

• Games are meant to bring science closer to homes and schools, leaving space for curiosity rather than “invading” with information.

3) Building outreach through events, testing, and educational partnerships

• Outreach activities include:
  • workshops at venues like book fairs
  • inviting research groups to run activities
  • running board-game testing sessions to evaluate public impact and usability
• Additional support includes:
  • sponsorship/endorsements for workshops and teacher training (e.g., crystallography and astronomy-related coursework)
  • participation in science conferences and mentorship for project teams
• A continuous improvement loop:
  • the organization surveys stakeholders yearly (researchers, teachers, and sometimes the general public)
  • results are used to improve both games and in-person/virtual activities

4) Expanding reach with virtuality while maintaining in-person impact

Virtual formats are described as essential because they:

• enable coverage “all over the country” (and potentially globally)
• address limitations that would make in-person attendance difficult

The organization gathers feedback on:

• what audiences think games “look like”
• which topics audiences want next

The objective is a multiplier effect:

• teachers adopt the materials and further spread them inside classrooms and among other educators.

5) Example of science-to-policy communication: ecological flows and water management

A second speaker (Dr. Sergio Salinas Rodríguez) shifts to water science and dissemination.

Core scientific concept

• Ecohydrology connects ecological/biological processes with river flood/flow regimes.

Key teaching tools and concepts

• Flow regimes are described using hydrograph attributes:
  • magnitude
  • duration
  • timing/seasonality
  • rate of change (exchange)
  • climate variability context
• Connectivity in aquatic ecosystems is framed in four dimensions:
  • longitudinal, lateral, vertical, and time

Why communication matters

• Engineers and managers need ecological ideas translated into the “language” they use.

Policy/implementation idea

• “Environmental/ecological flows” are used to allocate water to maintain ecosystem functions and biodiversity.

Intended effects

• protecting biodiversity (especially species dependent on freshwater/wetlands)
• sustaining ecosystem services
• supporting resilience and adaptation to climate change

Recommended dissemination formats

• infographics/visual tools (e.g., traffic-light style alerts)
• podcasts, mini-documentaries, short explanatory videos
• press releases and newsletters

Challenge highlighted

• proving usefulness to decision-makers depends on delivering tools compatible with authorities’ capabilities, including:
  • data availability
  • timeliness
• digital systems can support this by storing monitoring data for historical analysis and projections.

6) Communicating conservation using charismatic umbrella species: the manatee story

A third speaker (Sofía Álvarez Castrejón) uses storytelling to communicate ecology.

Outreach framing

• Outreach links scientific knowledge to narratives to help people learn.

Main scientific content

• The manatee (Greater Caribbean manatee), including:
  • herbivorous diet
  • habitat needs (coastal areas, wetlands, river mouths, mangrove-associated fresh water dependence)
  • role as an “umbrella species” indicating ecosystem health

Conservation focus

• Threats include:
  • climate change
  • habitat degradation
  • pollution
  • overexploitation
  • dams/flow changes
  • invasive species
  • emerging contaminants
• Key mechanism:
  • protecting ecological flow variability so habitats expand/contract predictably, supporting reproduction, movement, and community integrity.

Outreach emphasis

• community involvement and children’s education
• interdisciplinary dialogue (e.g., with engineering/hydraulics students)
• links to a WWF-linked community of practice

7) Publishing and dissemination as an institutional practice: ARGE Academic magazine

Another segment features Alexander Porra and Ana Isabel Hernández González describing a journal experience.

Development story

• The magazine evolved from a newsletter dream into an indexed academic publication.

Core concept

• “Blurring borders”: science + art + dissemination as shared territories.

Operational structure

• editor/director roles (Porra as director; Hernández González as editor)
• editorial team with specialist functions (repositories, design, logistics)
• thematic “umbrella” areas aligned with the university, reducing the need for a separate journal per specialty

Editorial goals

• high academic quality and peer review
• strong visual/artistic design to increase reader engagement
• continuous publication with planned issues and a smooth editorial flow

“Break” and support method

• rejected manuscripts can be supported and revised through guidance/coaching so authors can improve and resubmit (structured accompaniment).

8) Preserving traditional knowledge and biocultural heritage through ethnobotany

Finally, Dr. Ibna Yolanda Trigueros Vázquez presents ethnobotanical conservation.

Focus

• medicinal plants and traditional knowledge among indigenous communities (e.g., Kaqchikel and Mochó groups in Chiapas).

Methodology (instruction-like workflow)

• Conduct ethnobotanical fieldwork with:
  • tours with local knowledge holders/producers of agroecosystems
  • collecting plant specimens
  • pressing and drying plants
  • taxonomic identification and mounting copies
• Use questionnaires structured around:
  • use, handling, and conservation of medicinal plants in agroecosystems/ecosystems
• Apply ethnographic/participatory techniques and tools:
  • field journal/notebook
  • camera and recorder
• Create herbaria and derive catalogs
• Photograph species on plots and document vernacular (local) names
• Perform descriptive/exploratory statistics, including similarity indices between ethnic groups/ecosystems/states

Major lessons

• Knowledge is threatened by:
  • agrochemicals contaminating medicinal plant quality and harming health outcomes
  • overuse/extraction and biodiversity loss
  • displacement of local knowledge via extraction without credit/royalties

Conservation strategies may include

• germplasm banks
• documentation and publication
• workshops and teaching to retain knowledge across generations
• community-led conservation responsibility

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Methodologies / instruction-style processes

A) Co-creating science games (process described)

• Partner with a technical degree/training program in game development.
• Start from existing research content.
• Add student creativity via final-thesis game design work.
• Support multiple teams to build different prototypes/ideas.
• Select and fully develop some prototypes into playable games.
• Create downloadable assets (fact sheets, flashcards, posters) from the same verified content base.
• Run testing sessions with the public to:
  • observe engagement time
  • check comprehension/confusion
  • capture what topics audiences want next
• Collect survey feedback and iterate the games.

B) Outreach improvement cycle (process described)

• Run outreach activities in schools and public events (e.g., book fairs, workshops).
• Plan testing and gather notes (internally and publicly).
• Administer surveys to:
  • researchers who participated
  • teachers who participated
  • the public when activities target general audiences
• Analyze results and improve:
  • games
  • in-person and virtual educational activities
• Maintain a yearly loop for continuous refinement.

C) Communicating ecological science to decision-makers (process implied)

• Translate ecohydrology concepts into accessible visuals:
  • hydrographs and flow-regime attributes
  • connectivity diagrams (4D framework)
  • scenario visuals incorporating climate variability
  • “traffic light” style summaries
• Focus on what authorities can actually use, including:
  • data storage/availability for historical analysis
  • tools aligned with monitoring and administrative capabilities
• Provide dissemination products such as:
  • peer-reviewed outputs
  • podcasts/mini-documentaries/explanatory videos
  • press releases/newsletters
• Pair scientific concepts with policy-relevant framing (ecological flows, environmental water allocations, monitoring and evaluation).

D) Ethnobotanical documentation workflow (explicit steps)

• Define target communities/ethnic groups and research goals.
• Use ethnographic methods:
  • tours with plant owners/producers
  • interviews and participatory workshops to collect local narratives
• Collect specimens and prepare them for scientific documentation:
  • press/dry specimens
  • taxonomically identify plants
  • mount herbarium copies
• Use questionnaires recording:
  • how plants are used
  • how they are handled
  • how they are conserved in agroecosystems/ecosystems
• Produce outputs:
  • herbaria and catalogs
  • plot-based species photographs
  • bilingual/multilingual naming (local vernacular + scientific names)
• Analyze results:
  • descriptive/exploratory statistics
  • similarity indices across groups/ecosystems/states
• Integrate conservation recommendations:
  • address agrochemical risks
  • identify threatened medicinal plants
  • propose conservation through germplasm banks and community training

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Speakers / sources featured (as mentioned in subtitles)

Speakers

• Dr. Bernadet Saunier
• Dr. Pilar (moderator/introducer; referenced as “Dr. Pilar”)
• Dr. Guadalupe Chicamacho Zúñiga
• Dr. Sergio Alberto Salinas Rodríguez
• Dr. Alexander Jesús Porras (also referred to as Dr. Porras)
• Ana Isabel Hernández González
• Sofía Álvarez Castrejón
• Dr. Ibna Yolanda Trigueros Vázquez
• Camila Molina (mentioned as part of team relationships with education system)
• Mariela Ríos (mentioned as part of team)
• Nael Díaz Barreda (assistant graphic designer mentioned)
• Florencia Berrastro (communicator/content development mentioned)
• Guadalupe (colleague mentioned; tied to journal/project support)
• Dr. Dagoberto Salas Rivera (asked a question in chat)
• Marlon García Rivera (psychologist mentioned; interview/testimony referenced)
• Various audience questioners (names not fully clear from subtitles)
• Juan Carlos Chavarría (artist referenced in the journal presentation)
• Sari (artist referenced)
• Dr. Daniel Áscar Smith (research leadership referenced in journal story)
• Dr. Natalie Castel Blanco (advisor referenced in manatee presentation Q&A)
• Augusto Rodríguez (mentioned as part of editorial support)
• Sonia Artavia Cruz (team member referenced)
• Nixy Miranda (team member referenced)
• Dagoberto Sala Rivera (referenced as part of support/workshop for the journal)

Institutions / sources referenced

• CONICET
• BoCA R (program website/portal; name appears distorted in subtitles)
• USGS (U.S. Geological Survey infographic about the hydrological cycle)
• WWF (World Wildlife Fund)
• Ramsar Convention (wetlands)
• IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature)
• Spotify (podcasts)
• YouTube (videos)
• Various local Argentine scientific/education and crystallography/astronomy networks (names partially garbled in subtitles)
• World Wildlife Fund and “community of practice for reservations water in Mesoamerica”
• Mexican agencies and standards referenced (e.g., civil protection institute; ecological flow standards)