Origins Social Media Toolkit

In July 2017, a team of three from University Communications traveled nearly 9000 miles to South Africa to document the work of UW–Madison researchers studying the greatest mysteries of science: our origins. In three chapters, we unravel the mysteries of the beginnings of the universe, life on Earth, and humankind.

This project launches on Monday, April 23, and we encourage you to share this Origins story with your audiences. Explore the stories at http://origins.wisc.edu/

Sample Tweets

• ORIGINS PROJECT

  • How did it all begin? From the universe to life on Earth to the dawn of humankind, these are the stories of our Origins. Join #UWMadison as we help share them. http://origins.wisc.edu/

• CHAPTER ONE

  • Meet the @SALT_Astro and @uwastro researchers using the Southern African Large Telescope to peer into the vast expanses of the universe. https://origins.wisc.edu/chapter-1-the-universe/

• CHAPTER TWO

  • South Africa’s ancient rocks have a story to tell about the earliest days on Earth. @uwgeoscience and @go2uj geologists are uncovering it. https://origins.wisc.edu/chapter-2-the-earth/

• CHAPTER THREE

  • Visit the field school in South Africa where @WitsUniversity and #UWMadison students search for traces of our earliest ancestors. https://origins.wisc.edu/chapter-3-humankind/

SAMPLE FACEBOOK POSTS

• ORIGINS PROJECT

  • South Africa is at the heart of our beginnings – of the universe, life on Earth and humankind. UW–Madison researchers have forged partnerships with colleagues there, and now, you can explore the stories of our Origins. https://origins.wisc.edu/
  • Travel with UW–Madison scientists to one of the world’s largest telescopes, to mountains holding secrets billions-of-years old, and to the Cradle of Humankind. https://origins.wisc.edu/

• CHAPTER ONE

  • Scientists from UW-Madison and South Africa use a giant eye in the southern sky to unravel how galaxies are born. It’s the origin story of our universe, and of our own Milky Way. https://origins.wisc.edu/chapter-1-the-universe/

• CHAPTER TWO

  • Rocks are geologic timekeepers. South Africa’s Barberton Greenstone Belt are among the oldest mountains in the world—locked in these rocks are the recipes for the complexity of life we know today. https://origins.wisc.edu/chapter-2-the-earth/

• CHAPTER THREE

  • Africa is the birthplace of all humanity and its story lies buried in South Africa’s Cradle of Humankind. Scientists and students from UW–Madison and South Africa are diving deep underground here to connect with our evolutionary past. https://origins.wisc.edu/chapter-3-humankind/

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