Dear colleagues and SAWBO friends, we are excited to share our monthly newsletter with you! In this newsletter we highlight some of the places around the world where SAWBO is making a difference, and also some of our upcoming animations.  As always, please feel free to share your suggestions with us at animations@illinois.edu.

New Publication

The Case for a Two-Step Approach to Agricultural Campaign Design

This past June an article for the Journal of Agricultural & Food Information was published online. The Co-Directors of SAWBO, Drs. Julia Bello-Bravo and Barry Pittendrigh, were two of the authors of this article. Please click here to read the article.

Article Abstract

Development campaigns designed to scale up effective agricultural solutions often rely on media. Information and communication technologies for development (ICT4D) proponents argue that increased media penetration is necessary for such campaigns to succeed. Interviews of 63 extension agents and 200 farmers in Burkina Faso about their disparities in media ownership, access, skills, and preferences suggest that agricultural development campaigns should account for the different media environments and preferences of target populations within countries. This research presents such an alternative approach, a two-step campaign design intended to address digital divides within countries and target population preferences.

SAWBO NEWS

Making a Significant and Visible Societal Impact

On July 13th, SAWBO team member Laura Steele gave a presentation about how Scientific Animations Without Borders is an example of the Illinois Strategic Plan's Goal #3, "making a significant and visible societal impact," at an Advancement meeting on campus. After the presentation there was a short Q&A where SAWBO team members Susan Balfe and Ben Blalock helped answer questions about SAWBO. We were honored to have been invited to share our work at the meeting. We showed examples of the impact our work has through multiple animations including our Cholera Prevention and Ebola Prevention animations.

SAWBO released two animations earlier this month.  One on Colorectal Cancer Screening created in collaboration with UIC's Hospital System.  The other animation is about Postharvest Loss, describing proper bean storage using jerrycans.  You can find both of these animations in our video library.

We Are Working On It

These are some of the projects we are working on that will be available soon in our Video Library. Please help us work faster and reach our goals. A donation of any size is greatly appreciated, and goes a long way towards ensuring the completion of these and other projects.

Financial Scams

The best way to protect yourself from financial scams is by being informed about the common strategies that a scammer might use. This 2D animation will give you some tips to help you protect your money.

Postharvest Loss: Salt Testing for Grain Moisture Levels 3D

In this animation, we show the process of testing your grain's moisture levels.  We use a technique that only requires a glass bottle and salt.  This is the 3D version of our animation Postharvest Loss: Salt Testing for Grain Moisture Levels 2D.  

Links of Interest