Speaking Science

Join us on Thursday, April 16, for Speaking Science 2026: a full-day opportunity for faculty, staff, and graduate students to strengthen science communication skills and build connections across the University of Minnesota. This year we’ll welcome keynote speaker Caitlin Looby, PhD, Great Lakes reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and round out our day with faculty lightning talks; an array of new skills-based and topical breakout sessions; and an afternoon networking reception.

Biography

Caitlin Looby is the Great Lakes reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, where she covers environmental issues, climate change and history within the Great Lakes basin. 

She draws on more than a decade of scientific research, including fieldwork in tropical cloud forests, to make complex science accessible to readers. Before joining the Journal Sentinel in 2022, she taught science communication and trained scientists to engage the public at the University of Minnesota. Her work has appeared in university, local, national and international outlets, as well as on radio and in outdoor publications. In 2023, she delivered a TEDx talk on rebuilding public trust in science.

Caitlin holds a bachelor’s degree in molecular and cellular biology from the University of Connecticut, a master’s degree in biotechnology from Kean University and a doctorate degree in biology from the University of California, Irvine.

Purchase tickets to Speaking Science 2026

Departmental purchases/EFS transfers are available for orders of 5+ guests. Please email [email protected] for more information.