How to Work with the Biosciences Communications Team

The objectives of the Biosciences Communications team are to:

1. Promote the Berkeley Lab Biosciences Area’s identity as a leading scientific institution paving the way to groundbreaking discoveries and innovative solutions to address complex scientific and societal challenges, in the fields of energy, environment, health, and engineering biological systems for sustainable manufacturing.
2. Communicate the Area’s scientific discoveries and innovations, emphasizing their relevance and impact for external and internal audiences.
3. Monitor relevant Biosciences initiatives, themes, and news (not exclusive to the Area) and share externally and internally.
4. Create communications synergies within Berkeley Lab and with external partners.
5. Raise the profile of Biosciences to aid in the recruitment of diverse talent.

The Biosciences Communications team consists of:

• Lida Gifford, Lead Communications Coordinator;
• Greta Lorge, Science Writer/Editor;
• Maritte O’Gallagher, Part-time Communications Specialist;
• Sara Harmon, Communications & Outreach Manager, Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI); Emery Station Communications;
• Emily Nelson, Public Affairs Specialist, Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts Process Demonstration Unit (ABPDU) and Agile BioFoundry;
• Massie Ballon, Manager of Communications & Outreach, DOE Joint Genome Institute (JGI);
• Allison Joy, Communications & Outreach Specialist, JGI;
• Menaka Wilhelm, Communications & Outreach Specialist, JGI;
• Graham Rutherford, Part-time Outreach Specialist, JGI;
• Ashleigh Papp, Communications Specialist, Biosciences and JGI (on detail to DOE through 2024);
• Elisha Wood-Charlson, KBase User Engagement Lead;
• Ellen Dow, Community Education/Outreach Specialist, DOE Systems Biology Knowledgebase (KBase);
• Allison Lewis, Scientific Community Engagement Lead, Coastal Observations, Mechanisms, and Predictions Across Systems and Scales (COMPASS) and Integrated Coastal Modeling (ICoM).
• TBD, National Microbiome Data Collaborative Communications Specialist

With the approval of the Biosciences Executive Committee (ExComm), the Biosciences Communications team has assembled this set of guidelines to inform the Area’s staff about how they can collaborate with us to accomplish the aforementioned objectives.

Quick Links:

• Media Promotion Requests
• Social Media
• Media Relations
• Video Requests
• Website Updates
• BioSci Communiqué
• Crisis Communications

Media Promotion Requests

​If you have an achievement, such as an award or recognition from a professional society, or a paper that is influential in its field, please give the Biosciences Communications team as much advance notice as possible. If it is a forthcoming paper, ideally you should contact our team once it has been accepted for publication.

Please fill this media promotion request form or email bioscicomms@lbl.gov and provide the following:

1. 1. One paragraph of 3-5 sentences that explains in lay terms why this story deserves attention. Note that providing only a paper’s abstract is not sufficient. An explanatory paragraph is required in order for our team to understand the paper’s themes, significance to a broad audience, and emphasis. Please reflect on:
      • Why is this paper/achievement important?
      • What is the impact?
      • How does it help our mission?
      • Did you find anything surprising or enlightening in the course of this work?
      • What is it that we can do now that we couldn’t do before as a result of this?
   2. The date associated with the achievement or when the paper will be released (if unknown, please provide an estimated time frame).

Filling this form does not guarantee that a press release will be written for the reported achievement. After analyzing your response to this form, the communications team will propose a suitable course of action. Some possible vehicles are:

• Press release
  • These cover groundbreaking science in a timely manner. Incremental achievements may be covered as a Science Snapshot or Biosciences news article and will appear in Elements. Berkeley Lab Strategic Communications makes the determination of whether or not something will be a press release.
  • Press releases are typically written by a science writer in Strategic Communications.
  • They are longer articles that require approval by DOE. It takes a minimum of 48 hours to obtain approval.
  • Strategic Communications disseminates press releases via EurekAlert and Newswise.
  • Press releases are also published on the Berkeley Lab News Center website, announced in Elements, and summarized in a paragraph on the Biosciences news webpage that links to the press release.
  • Example press release

• Biosciences news article
  • These are written by the Biosciences Communications team with support of the PI or assigned scientist.
  • They are typically 500 words.
  • They are posted on the Biosciences news webpage and announced in Elements.
  • Example Biosciences news article

• Elements item
  • These are short announcements (80 character headline, 300 character summary, and image) written by the Biosciences Communications team that provide a link to a paragraph about your research on the Biosciences news webpage.
  • Items are published on the Elements platform and Biosciences website.
  • Example Elements item

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Social Media

Promotion of Stories and Biosciences-Related News

All press releases, Biosciences news articles, and Elements items are disseminated via Mastodon @LBNLBioSci and LinkedIn @LBNLBioSci.

Should you wish to contribute content, such as Biosciences or “lab life”-related news articles, photos, or videos, please email bioscicomms@lbl.gov. If you have a specific request to promote some of your research, please send us an email with the following information and a link to the paper:

• What is important about this work, or what did you find in the course of this work?
• What is the impact?
• Give us 1-3 keywords that describe this research or discipline.

Please note: All social media outreach at the Lab should adhere to the social media guidelines set by Strategic Communications.

Special Campaigns

In addition to scientific news, @LBNLBioSci covers themes such as scientific anniversaries, celebrations (e.g., Earth Day, Women’s History Month, Lab Science Day, etc.), conferences, human interest news, lab life, jobs, outreach, and diversity. If you would like to contribute content or alert our team, email bioscicomms@lbl.gov.

Check out our previous social media campaigns here.

Social Media Ambassador Program

If you would like to support us on social media, we invite you to become a Biosciences Social Media Ambassador. Our ambassadors amplify the Biosciences news. When an important news release is published, an email is sent to the Ambassadors requesting them to share the @LBNLBioSci posts, or to compose their own posts. Please email bioscicomms@lbl.gov to become an Ambassador.

Live Social Media

In collaboration with Berkeley Lab Strategic Communications, the Biosciences Communications team will periodically organize live social media events such as Twitter chats, AMA’s (Ask Me Anything) and Facebook live sessions. If you have suggestions for content, email bioscicomms@lbl.gov.

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Media Relations

The Biosciences Communications team is the first point of contact for media relations. Should you be contacted by the media, please consult with the Biosciences Communications team by emailing bioscicomms@lbl.gov before engaging in a conversation with a journalist.

If, during a conference, you spoke with a journalist who showed interest in your research, please let us know and we will follow up.

If you have been contacted by a reporter inquiring about matters related to public policy, please contact bioscicomms@lbl.gov to go over the proper protocols, covered in DOE’s scientific integrity document issued in January 2017. Briefly, when expressing opinions on policy matters to the public and media, personnel must make it clear that they are expressing personal views, rather than those of the Department, the U.S. Government, or their respective institutions. Anything further must be coordinated between Berkeley Lab Strategic Communications and DOE headquarters prior to the response.

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Video Requests

Please email bioscicomms@lbl.gov if you are approached by an outside entity to film at any of our facilities. In your email, provide the name of the requester, the purpose of the video, when they would like to videotape, and a script of the video or a document that describes the video overview and purpose.

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Website Updates

Should you discover out-of-date information, a broken link, or other problem on the website that requires attention, please email bioscicomms@lbl.gov. If you, as an individual researcher, would like a website for your lab or program, contact Biosciences Communications and provide the desired URL (http://yoururl.lbl.gov/) and name of the person who will administer the page. The communications team cannot provide content or IT support for this page.

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BioSci Communiqué

The BioSci Communiqué, a monthly internal Biosciences newsletter, is sent out on the second Wednesday of each month. Please send your contributions for consideration to bioscicomms@lbl.gov no later than close-of-business on the Friday before the Communiqué is released.

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Crisis Communications

In the event of a crisis the Biosciences Communications team will coordinate its communications with Berkeley Lab Strategic Communications. If an emergency affects Berkeley Lab and/or the surrounding communities, communications from Berkeley Lab are carefully controlled via the Emergency Operations Center. This prevents confusion and misleading information. Refrain from releasing information on emergencies via your social networks.

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