Explaining why polar research matters – the art of communicating your science in 2025

Athena Dinar has spent 25 years communicating the research of the UK’s national polar institute the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). She is an expert in explaining the importance of polar research, storytelling, and has extensive experience in working with the media to keep polar research in the news (four media visits to Antarctica and one in the Arctic). Should you draft a media release or open an account on Instagram? Should you use X or move over to Bluesky? And how do you engage with policymakers? Athena will explain how BAS approaches communicating its research and operations, identifies who it’s trying to reach, introduce the ‘tool kit’ and explain what channels are used to reach different people.