Science: Tell It Like A Story

What do you mean, you do storytelling – and science?”

These two fields are not an oxymoron, like “genuine copy,” “giant shrimp,” or “child-proof.” I feel privileged to have pursued them both.

My two youngest brothers, who arrived when I was in middle school, trained me in storytelling as a survival skill and drove me to discover folktale collections. In college and grad school I relaxed from lab work by reading folktales (and science fiction) instead of mundane novels. As a post-doc and assistant professor, I sometimes told stories to grab students’ attention and sneak in biology facts. But I didn’t discover storytelling as a profession until we moved too far from labs or campuses where I might have worked as a biologist. I loved bringing traditional tales to schools and libraries, watching the power of story affect people who didn’t know they could listen so intently. With the research bug still biting, I wrote a scholarly article about the “storylistening trance” that is often cited.

SkyTeller Lynn Moroney was pairing Native American skylore with astronomy teachings. She urged me to expiate my guilt to the National Science Foundation by teaming up with her: as Earth & Sky Storytellers, we did school residencies to “Celebrate Science!” in student assemblies and teacher workshops. I became EarthTeller, covering geology, flora and fauna.

And as I reconnected storytelling to my science roots, I realized that just as our ancestors used story to make sense of what they observed in the natural world, so do scientists – especially when retelling our process for publication. I also recognized how classic story forms and styles enhance communication with non-specialists.

Are you an educator or storyteller who loves science and wants to share it more effectively? Come to my workshop!

Want to learn more about teaching science through story? Take Fran Stalling’s workshop.

Presenter: Fran Stallings

In the current social/political environment, it’s increasingly hard to TALK about science. Yet some important information needs to be shared, and important issues need to be faced. Stories provide an appealing way to slip ideas in under the radar of fact-deniers — as well as a time-tested way to teach. How do tales about nature hold attention, teach content, and inspire curiosity to know more? Learn to use the same story elements that work in time-tested folk tales to craft science information into “fact-tales” that make complicated ideas easy to remember, and help listeners see meaning in masses of facts.

Fran Stallings - 2019 STF Presenter

About Fran: Biologist Dr. Fran Stallings (“EarthTeller”) uses storytelling arts to impart modern science concepts and content while sharing timeless lessons of understanding and respect for our planet’s living things. She heads NSN’s Environmental Storytelling Discussion Group and writes on these topics. She performs and teaches worldwide. www.franstallings.com

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