The ACCESS Webinar Series is a four-part program designed to open pathways to careers in research and exploration.
The ACCESS Workshops aims to remove barriers to participation by fostering an accessible exploration community. Each session features a panel discussion with experts from The Explorers Club.
This program is intended for high school students, undergraduate students, and post-grad students considering a career in exploration.
Thursday, March 19 at 4:00PM
Effective Communication
Preparing for and maximizing effective communication about the importance of your exploration to the public.
Communicating the importance of exploration is just as vital as the discoveries themselves. In this ACCESS webinar, accomplished communicators— Denali, Tina Lasisi, and Rachel Rudwall —will discuss how researchers can effectively share their work with public audiences. Drawing on their experiences across media, education, and outreach, they will explore strategies for translating complex scientific ideas into compelling stories that inspire curiosity and understanding. From social media and film to public speaking and journalism, the speakers will share practical approaches for engaging diverse audiences, building inclusive communities around science, and amplifying the impact of field research beyond academia.
This initiative was started by Erina Baci, TM’23, and Nanette Raczka, FN’22.
Denali
Denali is a geologist and volcanology PhD candidate in the United States. Their research focuses on volcanic activity at mid-ocean ridges such as the East Pacific Rise and Iceland, as well as the relationship between glacial melting and increases in volcanic activity. Through social media and in person outreach work, Denali shares their experiences pursuing a career in geology while building an inclusive community and increasing the visibility of LGBTQI+ scientists in STEM. This outreach has allowed them to create a short film on submarine volcanology for the BBC and to work as a science communicator for the American Geophysical Union, the Geological Society of America, and Woods-hole Oceanographic Institution.
Tina Lasisi
Tina Lasisi is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at the University of Michigan. She studies the evolution and genetic basis of human phenotypic variation, focusing on hair and skin traits. Her work has been featured in National Geographic, Smithsonian Magazine, and NPR Short Wave, and she has appeared on podcasts and TV, including Origin Stories, Ologies, The Nature of Things, and her own series, Why Am I Like This (Terra PBS). Through social media and science communication, she encourages public curiosity about human biological diversity and promotes inclusive approaches to studying human variation.
Rachel Rudwall
If you want to know what it’s like to climb Kilimanjaro, paraglide with a hawk (a.k.a. “parahawk”), ice climb while simultaneously acting as the Director of Photography on an EMMY-nominated TV show, or SCUBA dive cage-free with bull sharks, Rachel Rudwall‘s the woman to ask. As an EMMY-Nominated Producer, On-Camera Host, Camera Operator, Writer, and Award-Winning Photographer, Rachel has traveled all seven continents, lived in three countries and journeyed through 80+ nations – all in the name of storytelling. Her global audience spans over 250,000 adventurous souls, and clients include Google, TIME, Nat Geo, AFAR, Discovery, TEDx, and more.
