A full-day free e-conference on the science of science communication, happening May 3 2026. This event will give you a cross section of the important topics to consider for good scicomm, according to the growing research behind it.
Who is this event for? Anyone! While this conference series is aimed at the cosmetics space, if you are someone wanting to learn more about the science of scicomm, you should attend. This event would be especially helpful for scientists wanting to communicate their science, science communicators wanting to do better scicomm, companies wanting to implement better scicomm, and anyone wanting to support good scicomm.
What you receive with registration:
Live access to the summit, including real-time Q&A with our summit speakers
On-demand replays to your inbox
A comprehensive e-book summary, distilling every presentation into practical chapters you can return to as a go-to sci-comm guide
If you’re interested, and it’s accessible to you, in donating a few dollars with your registration to help support our free e-conference series, you can do that here! We also are on Patreon at www.patreon.com/theecowell. Thank you to all our Patreon supporters who helps us keep these events freely available and accessible!
This event is part of The Eco Well’s free e-conference initiative, created to address accessibility gaps in the beauty conference and information landscape. High-quality industry conferences are often prohibitively expensive due to registration and travel costs, yet they remain essential spaces for knowledge sharing. These barriers limit student access, leave smaller brands under-resourced, allow misinformation to persist, and slow collective industry progress. Our free e-summit series is an effort to help close these gaps.
As you can imagine, producing events like this requires significant effort, from coordination to expert participation. If you’d like to continue seeing free, high-quality education like this, please share! The impact, and sustainability, of this initiative depends on reach, and that’s where you can help.
Interested in partnering with us as a summit sponsor? Please reach out directly at info@theecowell.com
Agenda
The Independent Sci-Commer Experience. Presented by Roxi S (@hydroxide.foodscience), Rohin Francis MD (Medlife Crisis), Esther Olu (@themelaninchemist) and Mo Kanadil PharmD (@moskinlab).
The Science of a Prebunk. Presented by Jess Stokes-Parish PhD
The Science of a Debunk. Presented by Stephan Lewandowsky PhD
Finding and Communicating Truth in Science. Presented by Jonathan Jarry
Social Identities, Beliefs and Trusted Messengers. Presented by Matthew Facciani PhD
Sci-Comm on Social Media and the Attention Economy. Presented by Stephanie Castillo PhD and Reyhaneh Maktoufi PhD
Women in Sci-Comm. Presented by Emily Graslie, Jen Gunter MD, Michelle Wong PhD
Sycophantic AI Increases Attitude Extremity and Overconfidence. Presented by Jay Van Bavel PhD
Why Sci-Comm Training is Essential. Presented by Kirsten Sanford PhD
Corporate Support for Sci-Comms: An Open Discussion + AMA. Presented by Jeni Thomas PhD from P&G Beauty, sponsored session
The Issue of Snowballing Misinformation in Beauty. Presented by Jen Novakovich
Stay tuned for more!
About our summit speakers!
Dr. Reyhaneh (Rey) Maktoufi PhD is an Iranian-American National Geographic Explorer, researcher, and science communication trainer and strategist focused on storytelling and popularizing the science of SciComm. She combines evidence-based communication principles with engaging formats, co-producing and illustrating PBS|NOVA’s Sciencing Out, co-creating the SciComm Hotline podcast, and making explainers and comics on Instagram. She is also a delegate to the US-Japan Leadership Program (USJLP, 2025)
Dr. Stephanie Castillo PhD is an award-winning multimedia producer with a Ph.D. in science communication from Vanderbilt University. Her work focuses on how science and scientists are perceived in media, and how storytelling shapes audience trust, relatability, and belonging. With a background in chemistry, teaching, and science media production, she works at the intersection of research and practice producing science stories, training scientists in evidence-based communication, and creating engaging multimedia content for audiences aged 13 and up.
Dr. Kiki (Kirsten Sanford, PhD) is dedicated to making science accessible. Dr. Kiki holds a doctorate in Molecular, Cellular and Integrative Physiology (emphasis in Neurobiology) and a Bachelors degree in Wildlife, Fisheries, and Conservation Biology from the University of California, Davis, and is a specialist in learning and memory. She is the founder and host of the popular This Week in Science podcast and radio show. Working to promote engaging science education materials beyond the internet, Dr. Kiki was the creative director, writer, and host for an international collaboration about coral reefs: Climate Change and Coral Reefs: Comprehensive Classroom Resource and Exploring Coral Reefs: Reproduction and Survival. In 2005, Dr. Kiki was awarded the American Association for the Advancement of Science Mass Media Science & Engineering Fellowship. Following the fellowship, she worked as a television news producer at WNBC in New York City with noted health and science reporter Dr. Max Gomez. She worked as reporter-at-large for the Science Channel and as a contributor to their show, Brink, and has appeared on CBS's The Doctors. You may also have seen her on Dr. Kiki's Science Hour, Green Tech Today, Food Science, PopSiren, Systm, or MacBreak.
Mo Kanadil PharmD is a toxicologist, cosmetics safety assessor and science communicator @moskinlab. Mo historically worked as a pharmacist and medical lab technician. After getting his masters in safety assessment and toxicology, he shifted his career path towards EU regulatory toxicology. Mo’s passion is skincare and science communication. On social media, he breaks down the science behind product safety, with a special focus on skincare.
Esther Oluwaseun is an R&D formulation scientist and an instructor at UC Riverside where she teaches Surfactant and Emulsion Technology. With a robust background as a licensed esthetician and a dedicated science communicator, as The Melanin Chemist, Esther is passionately committed to dispelling misinformation within the beauty industry. Her career has been marked by significant contributions to the development and commercialization of innovative cosmetic products, guiding brands, and contract manufacturers from concepts to retail shelves. Esther's expertise lies in formulation design, with a research emphasis on understanding pigmentary disorders and the mechanisms to treat them. Her work focuses on exploring and developing effective treatment strategies for conditions such as hyperpigmentation, aiming to improve the quality of life for individuals affected by these disorders. Esther's expertise has been showcased to numerous consumer-facing brands and highlighted in various publications around the world, underscoring her impact on enhancing skin health and education in the beauty industry. She is particularly focused on deciphering marketing and raising awareness about common issues, especially those faced by individuals with darker skin tones, striving to make a meaningful difference in their lives through informed and effective solutions.
Dr. Rohin Francis MD is a cardiologist, writer, comedian, vlogger, and YouTube creator known for his YouTube channel, Medlife Crisis, which covers various science topics. Rohin earned his MBBS from St George's Hospital Medical School and trained at the Cambridge Deanery, specializing in coronary intervention. He is currently pursuing a PhD at University College London, focusing on imaging techniques for acute myocardial infarction. As a consultant cardiologist and doctoral researcher at University College London, Rohin has taught at Cambridge University, Imperial College, and St George's, University of London. He launched Medlife Crisis in 2015 to explore offbeat medical and biological science topics. He uses social media to share educational material for medical professionals and science enthusiasts.
Hydroxide (Roxi S) is a food scientist with a B.S. in Food Science and Technology and over 7+ years of experience in the food industry. She has worked in all kinds of environments: meat processing plants, chocolate factories, fermentation rooms, and so much more. She has gained over 500k+ social media followers across platforms, and is on a mission to prove that the words "food" and "science", when together, are not to be feared
Dr. Stephan Lewandowsky PhD is a cognitive scientist interested in the pressure points between the architecture of online information technologies and human cognition, and the consequences for democracy that arise from those pressure points. This has led him to examine the persistence of misinformation and spread of “fake news” in society, including conspiracy theories, and how platform algorithms may contribute to the prevalence of misinformation. Prof Lewandowsky is also interested in the variables that determine whether or not people accept scientific evidence, for example surrounding vaccinations or climate science. Because his research speaks to important contemporary issues, Prof Lewandowsky works with policy makers, mainly at the European level, to make democracy more resilient to toxicity online. He also contributes to public debate through opinion pieces in the media and public engagements. In 2022, 2023, 2024, and again in 2025 Prof Lewandowsky was identified as a highly cited researcher by Clarivate. He was elected to the German National Academy of Sciences (Leopoldina) in 2022.
Jonathan Jarry is a science communicator with McGill University’s Office for Science and Society (OSS), dedicated to separating sense from nonsense on the scientific stage. He has a Master’s degree in molecular biology and he brings his experience in cancer research, human genetics, rehabilitation research, and forensic biology to the work he does for the public. For ten years, he was also the co-creator and co-host of the award-winning podcast, The Body of Evidence. He is a guest lecturer in multiple university courses, including classes in science communication, and gives talks to both general and professional audiences. You will find him most Fridays explaining science on CTV Montreal News. He is regularly interviewed in both English- and French-language media, such as The New York Times, CBC, and La Presse.
Dr. Matthew Facciani PhD is an interdisciplinary social scientist with a background in neuroscience and psychology who holds a PhD in sociology. He has worked as a researcher at the University of Notre Dame, Vanderbilt University, and Georgetown University. His research focuses on media literacy, misinformation, and artificial intelligence. His recent book, Misguided, explores the social psychology behind why people believe false information.
Dr. Jay Van Bavel PhD is a Professor of Psychology & Neural Science at New York University, an affiliate at the Stern School of Business in Management and Organizations, Professor at the Norwegian School of Economics, and Director of the Center for Conflict & Cooperation. He is also an Associate Editor of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Nexus. Jay completed his PhD at the University of Toronto and a Postdoctoral Fellowship at The Ohio State University. He studies how shared identities and beliefs can unite people—or drive them apart—and what this reveals about the human mind and society. Specifically, his research examines intergroup conflict and polarization, cooperation and collective intelligence, moral judgment and decision-making, belief formation and misinformation, and the impact of social media and artificial intelligence. Jay has published over 150 academic papers (including in Science, Nature, PNAS) and is a Clarivate highly cited researcher (in the top 1% of researchers worldwide). Jay is also an active science communicator with over 100,000 social media followers. He writes the Power of Us newsletter and has written for several external media publications, and is an active public speaker at global events He has received several awards, including the Young Investigator Award for distinguished contributions in social neuroscience from the Society for Social Neuroscience, the Young Scholars Award for outstanding achievements in social and personality psychology from the Foundation for Personality and Social Psychology, the Janet T. Spence Award for Transformative Early Career Contributions from the Association for Psychological Science, the F.J. McGuigan Early Career Investigator Prize from the American Psychological Foundation, the Gordon Allport Intergroup Relations Prize, and the SPSP Wegner Theoretical Innovation Prize and Cialdini Prize.
Dr. Jess Stokes-Parish PhD is Associate Dean - Student Affairs & Service Quality in the Faculty of Health Sciences & Medicine at Bond University. Jess is a registered Nurse with a PhD in Medical Education. Her research explores impacts of workforce policy, health practitioner preparedness and development, and science communication. She loves storytelling and reimagining evidence in ways that are easy to understand and access, which she does through her social media @j_stokesparish. Jess is the creator of the CRABS framework, a tool to analyze the credibility of information sources
Dr. Michelle Wong PhD is a science educator and cosmetic chemist with a PhD in Chemistry. In 2011 she started the website Lab Muffin Beauty Science, where she explains the science behind beauty products for a general audience, and has expanded to YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. Her book The Science of Beauty was released in June 2024, and she is the co-founder of BeautySciComm. Through her science communication work, Michelle has worked with many brands on campaigns, and delivered invited talks at international conferences. Her work has been featured in Wired, The New York Times, ABC News, and Chemistry & Engineering News.
Emily Graslie is an artist, science communicator and writer, video host, and educational media producer. In her senior year in uni she began an internship on campus in the Philip L. Wright Zoological Museum, and shortly after graduation launched the educational YouTube channel The Brain Scoop to share the behind-the-scenes research and collections of the museum with a wider audience. In 2013, the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago hired Graslie to become their first ‘Chief Curiosity Correspondent,’ and until 2020 she and a small team created more than 200 episodes for The Brain Scoop that have been viewed tens of millions of times. In 2020, Emily made her broadcast television debut on PBS in Prehistoric Road Trip, an original three-part series exploring the paleontology and natural history of the Dakotas, Montana and Wyoming – and in PBS Digital Studios’ limited program In Our Nature the following year. Today, she continues to create videos for The Brain Scoop as an independent producer in partnership with scientists, nature centers, and museums around the country. Graslie has received numerous accolades for her work, including the American Alliance of Museum’s Nancy Hanks Award for Professional Excellence. She’s a six-time Webby Award nominee and honoree in the ‘Online Science/Education Channel’ and ‘Web Personality/Host’ categories; a member of the 2018 Forbes 30 under 30 list in Education; and was named as one of the Chicagoans of the Year in the Arts in 2017 by the Chicago Tribune. She holds an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Allegheny College, and in 2018 researchers at the Universities of Florida and Paraná named a new species of butterfly in recognition of her outreach efforts: Wahydra graslieae.
Dr. Jen Gunter MD is renowned for her impactful work in the realms of sex, science, & social media. As Twitter's celebrated gynecologist & passionate advocate for women's health, her journey to excellence was fueled by the quest to create a better medical internet. Dr. Gunter’s profound dedication was ignited by the birth of his prematurely born children, where she grappled with separating truth and online fiction from lost & misleading information. Dr. Gunter wrote for The New York Times, The Cut, USA Today, The Hill, and Self. Notable achievements include uncovering controversies, debunking misinformation, and authoring acclaimed books such as "The Vagina Bible" &"The Menopause Manifesto," both gracing the New York Times Best Seller list. With multiple board certifications in OB/GYN and pain medicine, her extensive credentials mirror her unwavering commitment to elevating women's health.
Dr. Jeni Thomas, Ph.D. is the Senior Director & Principal Scientist at P&G Hair. Jeni has been studying hair and scalp science for more than 17 years. Her fascination with hair began at age 13 when her once straight hair mysteriously turned curly. More than a decade later and after completing her Ph.D. studies in Analytical Chemistry, she turned her scientific curiosity to the world of hair. She learned that her teenage hair mystery could be explained, yet many other unanswered hair and scalp questions remained. Jeni’s work at P&G Beauty has included research and partnerships with experts around the world to deepen our scientific and consumer understanding across all topics related to hair and scalp health. Throughout her career, Jeni has designed studies to answer common hair & scalp questions (e.g. does rinsing your hair in cold water really give you better shine?), published research on a range of hair & scalp topics, and co-founded a new brand focused on improving scalp condition to improve hair retention. She now leads P&G Hair’s Global Scientific Communication and Education programs to provide women and men with the information they are seeking for their best hair and scalp results.
Jen Novakovich is a science communicator, cosmetic scientist, and founder of The Eco Well, a scicomm social enterprise in the beauty space. Through The Eco Well, she hosts a regular cosmetic science podcast and free conference series. She also mentors prospective science communicators through a sci-comm mentorship cohort program that runs alongside The Eco Well’s free conference series. In 2023, Jen received the BeautyMatter Impact Facilitator award for her e-summit series. Since 2022, Jen has also worked closely with Independent Beauty Association to support their social media and in-person scicomm and education advocacy. In 2023, Jen co-founded BeautySciComm, a social enterprise dedicated to fostering better scicomm in beauty. Here, she has been responsible for creating briefing notes that feature relevant subject matter expert reactions to viral headlines. Outside her scicomm work, Jen is a PhD candidate at the University of Ottawa. Her research explores the relationship between misinformation and environmental outcomes, broadly and within the cosmetics industry.
Media Partner
