Dr. Joanne O’Meara, a physics professor in the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences, discussed why she teaches her students improv with CBC Fresh Air. 

Improv can teach students non-verbal communication, attentive listening, team building and creativity, all of which can help them better explain their work to non-technical audiences, O’Meara said.  

“No matter what [students] do with their degree, they’re going to have to be able to communicate with people who don’t necessarily have an undergraduate degree in physics,” she said. 

A professor in the Department of Physics, O’Meara researches science communication and outreach as well as x-ray fluorescence systems to measure elemental body composition.