The Order of the Science Scouts of Exemplary Repute and Above Average Physique has provided a mechanism to do just that. I've earned a number of these badges, but share a few anecdotes on my favorites here.
The "talking science badge" goes hand-in hand with the blogging science badge for me. A favorite story about explaining science to non-scientists comes from the 2003 Drosophila Annual Meeting that was held in Chicago. As thousands of Drosophila biologists descended upon the hotel, two business types sat in the hotel bar looking slightly bewildered. Being the friendly gal that I am, I said "Hello" giving them the opportunity to ask just what the heck these badly dressed people were doing wandering around the hotel wearing badges decorated with flies? I explained that the flies were Drosophila melanogaster and that they were one of the oldest and most effective model organisms around. I explain that scientists at this meeting were studying everything from Diabetes to Neuron Regeneration to Cancer. They nodded, looking around with a new appreciation for the crowd surrounding them (because if Drosophila biologists know how to do anything, it's congregate at a bar!). I like to think that informal conversations like that one are just as helpful as Scientific American or Nova.
The "I may look like a scientist but I'm actually also a ninja" badge is one that every scientist should aspire to hold, particularly since it is purported to be lethal in combination with the "destroyer of quackery" badge. While the badge is aimed at those who manage to seek out and dispel junk science masquerading as real science, I've actually been recruited to be a ninja... a science policy ninja! The details are unimportant and too closely tied to my identity, which I try to keep well-separated from this blog, but the basic story was this: when I was working in a federal agency in Washington, DC, the deputy director of a neighboring office complained about his neighbor who kept taking the trash out at ungodly hours and banging around in the alley that their houses shared. So the deputy director proposed that we make like ninjas and steal his neighbor's garbage cans. We never did, but the ninja joke was a running one between us. Does that count? I think so!
Finally, kudos to David Ng, creator of the OSSERAAP and author of the hilarious and (in my mind) unoffensive (others disagree) Jeans Versus Genes: the Ultimate Scientific Discourse.
