2.3 Evaluate and interpret data in scientific literature and other sources.
In my junior year, I enrolled in a seminar course for biology majors that was designed to help us develop our writing and professional skills. We focused heavily on interoperating previous scientific literature to draw our own conclusions and interpretations. In this course, I had three distinct experiences with this that have benefited me greatly. We each got to select a topic of our choosing and interpret and share the data in three separate formats: a literature review, an oral presentation, and a general audience paper.
In the literature review, I dove in deep to the specific details and found evidence to back up my argument. I focused on the argument regarding the safety of parabens in cosmetic products that can be bought in stores in the United States. I used many previous articles to structure my argument and drew conclusions from those data. I came to the personal conclusion that since parabens can weakly mimic estrogen, it would be the wiser choice to develop cosmetics with different chemical preservatives to eventually fully move away from the use of parabens.
The Dangers of Parabens and their Connection to Breast Cancer
In my next experience with sharing this topic, I presented a 10-minute talk about the subject. I had to change the way that I organized my data and also had to make it more understandable and concise for my audience. I started the talk in a broad form where I explained the basic components and key topics, then presented data from previous literature to support my argument. This gave me an experience converting my jargon-heavy paper into an interesting and understandable presentation.
Death by Deodorant: Hidden Carcinogens in Cosmetics?
Finally, I further changed my organization of this topic into a general audience paper. This was the most difficult transition because I had to make it fully understandable to a person who has little to no previous knowledge of biological or chemical concepts. I came up with a catchy title and had to make it gripping and interesting, while also providing important facts and information. I still got to share my personal conclusions and opinions, but this allowed me to practice sharing science with the public. This is a valuable skill because I will need to be able to do this with my own personal research to share with outsiders why research is important.