Why can’t a flight jacket be pink or purple? That was the question a 6-year-old girl asked her mother, Kellie Gerardi, an astronaut, researcher and science communicator. When Gerardi later appeared on a TV interview wearing a bright pink flight jacket, her daughter pointed to her mom on the TV screen, smiling with delight. This exchange — which appeared in a post on Gerardi’s Instagram account — was a personal moment, skillfully presented through the language and visuals of social media. But it also conveys a clear message: femininity and scientific credibility are not mutually exclusive.
The video is one of 194 posts analysed in a new study published in the Journal of Science Communication (JCOM), which examined the Instagram activity of three women astronauts and science influencers: Kellie Gerardi, Shawna Pandya and Norah Patten. The research was conducted by Karen Shalev and Shannon Pappas, both graduate students, and Jocelyn Steinke, professor of communication at the University of Connecticut. It shows that science communication on social media involves more than explaining facts and concepts. Personal experiences, the communicator’s identity and platform-specific tools — from music and hashtags to humour and references to popular culture — all contribute to shaping the message.
“Our major finding was that these three science influencers were strategic in the way they framed messages on Instagram, not only to communicate scientific information, and hopefully to foster public interest and engagement in STEMM, but also to build their own personal brands and expand their audiences on Instagram,” Steinke explains.
What to look at, how to interpret it and where to focus
The study examined posts published on the influencers’ three Instagram accounts between 24 June and 24 November 2024, following the announcement of an upcoming Virgin Galactic research mission featuring Gerardi, Pandya, and Patten as an all-women, international crew. The researchers analysed all components of the posts, including photographs, videos, written text, audio, hashtags and emojis.
Their aim was to investigate three aspects of communication: what topics the influencers selected, how they framed them, and which communication tactics they used to attract attention. In other words, the researchers considered what influencers’ encouraged audiences to think about, how they guided audiences to interpret them, and where they directed audiences’ attention.
The analysis identified six broad topics, seven message frames and five types of communication tactics. Some of the topics the women selected focused on their research and training, explained scientific phenomena, and showed experiments conducted in microgravity. At the same time, they shared the personal journeys that had led them to STEMM — science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine — and spoke about the people who had encouraged them, the challenges they had faced and aspects of their everyday lives.
Gerardi, for example, has spoken publicly about motherhood, infertility and her experiences with in vitro fertilisation. Patten shared photographs from her first visit to the Kennedy Space Center with her father and brother when she was 15, while Pandya recalled experiences and mentors who contributed to her path to becoming an astronaut. These posts allow audiences to see not only the scientific work, but also the people carrying out this work and the rarely linear paths that brought them there.
“We can see that there’s definitely a strategic attempt here not only to share knowledge about STEMM and STEMM careers, but also to provide that insider perspective and to connect with audiences more personally, trying to foster authenticity, connection and engagement with very broad and diverse audiences,” Steinke says. “By sharing their experiences with their audiences, they can indeed serve as influential role models for future generations and inspire girls to consider potentially being an astronaut in the future.”
Science on in the language of Instagram
The posts analysed in the study adopt the forms and conventions of social media: short videos, photo carousels, text overlaid on images, hashtags, emojis, trending music and references to popular culture.
Taylor Swift, David Bowie and Charli xcx all are featured in some of the posts. Gerardi jokingly refers to herself as a “bratstronaut,” while footage of parabolic flights is accompanied by songs about space or weightlessness. The women also use humour, wordplay and immediately recognisable visual elements, including flight suits, models, clothes decorated with stars and planets, and footage recorded during training.
According to the authors, these elements are more than decorative additions. They help adapt the content to the platform, attract attention and connect science with forms of expression that are already familiar to Instagram users.
The personal dimension can also help challenge traditional ideas about the people who work in science. In their posts, the three women present themselves simultaneously as astronauts, researchers, doctors, mothers, daughters and women interested in fashion or music. By making these different identities visible, they show that there is no single way to look or behave in order to be credible in STEMM.
Useful insights
This is a qualitative analysis of messages shared by three highly visible STEMM figures on a single platform and over a limited period.The study did not establish whether every communication choice was consciously planned by the women, nor whether they manage their accounts with professional assistance. It also did not examine how audiences interpreted the posts or which content attracted the most attention and engagement.
Although future research should address these important issues, the influencers’ combined following of more than 1.5 million Instagram users at the time the study was conducted, highlights the potential reach of their content. The study findings about the science communication practices of three popular science influencers on Instagram also offer useful insights for the training of scientists and science communicators. Communicating strategically means considering not only what information to convey, but also how to present it, which parts of one’s experience to share, and how to adapt a message to the context in which audiences will encounter it.
“Women in STEMM are using social media as a way of gaining visibility and voice, advancing their goals as science communicators, changing perspectives on the role and contributions of women in STEMM, and inspiring younger generations to consider STEMM careers as a future option,” Steinke concludes.
Journal of Science Communication
Case study
Framing science on social media: strategic science communication practices of women astronaut science influencers on Instagram
1-Oct-2026