ED41B:
The Role of Scientists as Communicators: Practice, Research, and Reflection I


Session ID#: 8226

Session Description:
Do you consider yourself a science communicator? Does your research group or institution participate in public engagement activities? Have you ever evaluated or published your education and outreach efforts?

Scientists communicate to non-peer audiences through numerous pathways including websites, blogs, public lectures, media interviews, and educational collaborations. A considerable amount of time and money is invested in this public engagement and these efforts are to a large extent responsible for the public perception of science. However, few incentives exist for researchers to optimize their communication practices to ensure effective outreach. This session encourages critical reflection on science communication practices and provides an opportunity for science communicators to share best practice and experiences with evaluation and research in this field.

Primary Convener:  Heidi A Roop, University of Minnesota, St Paul, United States; Victoria University of Wellington, Science in Society, Wellington, New Zealand
Conveners:  Samuel Michael Illingworth, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, United Kingdom, Sarah DeWitt, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC, United States and Saskia M van Manen, Open University, Milton Keynes, MK7, United Kingdom; The Netherlands Red Cross, Resilience Advisory Unit, The Hague, Netherlands
Chairs:  Heidi A Roop, Victoria University of Wellington, Science in Society, Wellington, New Zealand; University of Minnesota, St Paul, United States, Sarah DeWitt, NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC, United States and Saskia M van Manen, Open University, Milton Keynes, MK7, United Kingdom
OSPA Liaison:  Heidi A Roop, Victoria University of Wellington, Science in Society, Wellington, New Zealand; University of Minnesota, St Paul, United States

Cross-Listed:
  • C - Cryosphere
  • GC - Global Environmental Change
  • H - Hydrology
  • SI - Societal Impacts and Policy Sciences
Index Terms:

Abstracts Submitted to this Session:

Jeanne Braha, American Association for the Advancement of Science Washington DC, Washington, DC, United States
Jeremy S Hoffman, Oregon State University, College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Corvallis, United States and Douglas S Lownsbery, Oregon State University, College of Education, Corvallis, United States
Sara McBride, Joint Centre for Disaster Research, Palmerston North, New Zealand and Dacia Herbulock, Science Media Centre, Wellington, New Zealand
Chris G Rapley, University College London, Earth Sciences, London, United Kingdom
Josh K Willis, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States and Rani O'Brien, Self Employed, Los Angeles, United States
Abraham J Padilla1,2, Ryan J Haupt2,3, Patrick Wheatley2 and Charles J Barnhart2,4, (1)Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States, (2)Science... sort of, Lorton, VA, United States, (3)University of Wyoming, Geology and Geophysics, Laramie, WY, United States, (4)Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, United States
Timothy M Dittrich, Wayne State University, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Detroit, MI, United States
Kevin Ward, Michael J Carlowicz, Jesse Allen, Adam Voiland, Paul Przyborski, Kathryn Hansen and Joshua Stevens, Science Systems and Applications, Inc., Lanham, MD, United States

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