Sharing the Wonder of Gravitational Waves

To share as widely as possible the excitement of the new discovery of gravitational waves, LIGO scientists prepared communication tools for worldwide traditional and social media outlets. Those efforts were wildly successful, indicating that the public is eager to engage with frontier science. The LIGO outreach efforts hold lessons for broad STEM outreach including examples of citizen science initiatives and art+science collaboration as a way to inspire and engage a wide range of audiences.