We chatted with MaKenna Cealie, a neuroscience PhD candidate, about her career, how she uses figures and illustrations in her research, and where visual communication is going. Here’s her take on scientific communication.  

What do you hope to achieve in your scientific career, short term and long term?

I was drawn to neuroscience because there’s so much that we don’t know about the brain. I’m currently wrapping up the final semester of my PhD – I recently published two papers which will be included in my thesis and then I’ll have my defense. 

After eight years in research, I realized I want to move away from benchwork. I still believe in the importance of science and research so I’m looking for roles where I can support scientists and help student and postdoctoral trainees achieve their goals.

Why is effective science communication important in your career?

During my PhD, I used BioRender for the figures and graphical abstracts in my publications. Being able to show my work in a nice, clear, and visual way was very helpful, especially during the review process.

I was fortunate to have a university-level course on science communication for diverse audiences. Conveying your research to scientists at conferences can inspire them to explore the topic more, whereas explaining your work to the general public through social media makes scientific discoveries widely accessible. 

Our lab has meetings to practice presentations, where we give each other feedback on how to say things better or improve the look of our work. Our PI appreciates the clarity of the visuals I make in BioRender and has given me positive feedback. I’ve also given my colleagues advice on how to design effective posters and figures.

What are your thoughts on the current landscape of visual science communication?

There’s a growing emphasis on visual science communication. Journals and conference organizers are encouraging the use of visuals and graphical abstracts. Plus, it seems that figures in recent publications are more effective than before. I especially see an increased use of schematics with thoughtfully chosen colors and labels — compare this to older papers, sometimes with only black and white images or no graphical abstracts or schematics.

Whether you have opportunities to learn about science communication and visual design at your institution or take the initiative to find online tips and video tutorials, the training is so valuable.

If you aren’t as confident about scientific design, looking at BioRender’s available templates can be extremely helpful. For example, you can search the template library and then adapt an existing template to your particular topic.

What about ineffective scientific figures? What are the hallmarks and are there any consequences with using them?

Overcrowding or excessive use of features is a common mistake. Sometimes there are a lot of unnecessary colors, shapes, texts, and fonts. 

When educational slide decks are unclear or text-heavy, it’s difficult for trainees to grasp the important concepts — and that’s unfortunate. Grad students and scientists are always busy, so if something takes two hours to understand, I might be less willing to read it, skip over parts, or be tempted to find another paper altogether. 

Using graphical abstracts can help draw attention to a paper, so your audience can quickly determine if it will be useful, or they can help clarify concepts — especially during thesis writing. I’ve read so many studies at this point that it’s difficult to remember everything. Pulling up a study and checking the graphical abstract saves me so much time.

Tell us about your experience using BioRender.

I was introduced to BioRender by a lab mate at the beginning of grad school. BioRender definitely helped me boost my science communication skills and merge my interests of visual design and science.

When you present a poster at a conference with thousands of people, you want your poster to stand out and attract interest. Before I used BioRender’s poster builder, I spent hours adjusting the spacing and size of my poster sections in PowerPoint. I also tried Adobe Illustrator for poster layouts, but it was complicated to learn. 

BioRender made it easy to drag and drop images while keeping all the information spatially organized within the templates.

How have you used the figures you created to communicate your research?

I’ve made posters for a couple neuroscience conferences using BioRender, graphical abstracts and figure compilations for my publications, and in-depth protocols to share with trainees. 

I’m hoping to incorporate some BioRender images in the introduction and future perspective sections of my thesis.

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 I’m a visual learner, so I’ve also compiled a thesis study guide in BioRender that I can use to prepare for my defense and train junior lab members.

What scientific figure are you most proud of?

My ethanol dosing protocol helped me share my methods with over 7,540 users! Personally, I’ve used it as a cheat sheet and for training purposes.

‍What advice would you give to fellow scientists about effective visual communication of their research?

Visual communication used to be an afterthought but can now effectively spread awareness of your research to the public and funding agencies. An effective and simple design could be worth 1,000 words.

BioRender templates are a great starting point, even if they are not related to your specific field. You can always adapt or modify it for your work! 

When I begin creating an illustration, I drop all the relevant icons onto the canvas and consult existing templates to get inspired and ensure I’m creating something original.

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Try BioRender free to start communicating more clearly today.

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About the SciComm Champion

MaKenna Cealie is a neuroscience PhD candidate and graduate student leader. Her research focuses on the effects of alcohol intake during pregnancy. She uses a mouse model of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs) and analyzes microglia, the immune cells of the central nervous system, and Purkinje cells, which are the sole output of the cerebellar cortex.

Outside of the lab, MaKenna likes crocheting to relieve stress. She even recently used BioRender to map out different color patterns for a blanket she’s working on.