While there is a dearth of science communication in Canada, there are many people working to change that. Canada’s science writers are getting to ready to gather at their 39th annual conference, At A Crossroads: Science Communication in the Digital Age, June 5 – 8, 2010 in Ottawa at the Canada Science and Technology Museum. I’ve excerpted part of the opening day’s programme (the group’s official name is the Canadian Science Writers’ Association [CSWA]),

1:15 pm – 2:15 pm

Conference welcoming remarks from CSWA President Kathryn O’Hara

Workshop: Using Canada’s new Science Media Centre

Penny Park, director Canada Science Media Centre

2:20 pm – 3:20 pm

Plenary panel: Social media, privacy issues and other public institution challenges in the digital age

Representatives from government new media teams discuss the perils, roadblocks and opportunities of promoting their science agendas online

– Christian Riel, new media, Canadian Institutes of Health Research

– Michael White, Senior Research Analyst, New Media, Parks Canada

– Dariusz Burzynski, Manager, Science and Technology Cluster, Strategic Science-Technology

3:25 pm – 4:25 pm

Kick-off event: “Outbreak!” interactive news simulation

A fictional emergency hits the capital, and its up to YOU and a panel of experts to assess and responsibly get the word out via digital media

This session will be followed by a moderated post-mortem discussion

The rest of the programme ranges from using a Twitter account to rouse more interest in your work to communicating with tomorrow’s science writers (teenagers) to reporting climate change to covering art/science projects.