ED13B:
Initiating Climate Change Conversations: A Starter Pack for Research Scientists


Submit an Abstract to this Session


Session ID#: 63619

Session Description:
The rapidly advancing field of climate change communication reveals that while the majority of Americans consider themselves interested in or personally affected by climate change, they rarely/never discuss the topic. This “spiral of silence” begets itself, and even those Americans that are gravely concerned shy away from discussing the topic because they themselves do not hear it. It is possible to reverse this trend by simply initiating a climate change conversation. Earth scientists are uniquely capable of engaging in such dialogue – and are increasingly motivated to do so – but are often untrained in the “how-to.” This session will feature dynamic formal and informal educators, each of whom will share a single, proven tactic to help research scientists jump-start their own meaningful climate change conversations. Short talks (8-10 min) will be followed by a culminating discussion on best practices.
Primary Convener:  Rachel D Valletta, The Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Convener:  Margie Turrin, LDEO of Columbia University, Marine & Polar Geophysics, Palisades, United States
Primary Liaison:  Rachel D Valletta, The Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Chairs:  Rachel D Valletta, The Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, PA, United States and Margie Turrin, LDEO of Columbia University, Marine & Polar Geophysics, Palisades, United States
OSPA Liaison:  Rachel D Valletta, The Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, PA, United States
Index Terms:

0810 Post-secondary education [EDUCATION]
0815 Informal education [EDUCATION]
0845 Instructional tools [EDUCATION]
0855 Diversity [EDUCATION]

Abstracts Submitted to this Session:

A Good Question is the Answer: Dialogue and How it Can Improve Your Communication Skills (347471)
Jenna Giddens, Science Systems and Applications, Inc., at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Lanham, MD, United States
ClimateConversations: a web-based app for fostering discussion about climate based events (457812)
Rachel H White, University of Washington, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Seattle, United States, Judy R Twedt, University of Washington Seattle Campus, Atmospheric Sciences, Seattle, WA, United States, Michelle Tigchelaar, University of Washington, Atmospheric Sciences, Seattle, WA, United States, Katie Doroschak, University of Washington Seattle Campus, Computer Science, Seattle, WA, United States, Riah Buchanan, University of Washington Seattle Campus, Digital and Experimental Arts, Seattle, WA, United States and Dustin Lundquist, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States
Give Numbers Narrative: Leveraging Social Science to Communicate Climate Data (364671)
Rose Hendricks, Washington, DC, United States and Julie Sweetland
Divestment from ideological strongholds in communication: when and where to do it? (Invited) (401219)
Sarah E Myhre, University of Washington Seattle, Seattle, WA, UNITED STATES
Choosing between Intuitive-first versus Rational-first Climate Messaging: Examples, Experiences, and Trade-offs. (371061)
P. Zion Klos, Marist College, Department of Environmental Science and Policy, Poughkeepsie, NY, United States
It’s a heavy topic so keep the medium light and lively (455139)
Margie Turrin, LDEO of Columbia University, Marine & Polar Geophysics, Palisades, United States, Stephanie L Pfirman, Barnard College and Columbia University - Earth Institute, New York, NY, United States, Carolyn Keen, Columbia University of New York, Earth Institute, New York, NY, United States and Laurel Zaima, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, NY, United States
Like Living Inside Someone Else's Mouth: using incongruity theory (comedy) to communicate climate science while easing your and your audience’s nerves (Invited) (351366)
Jeremy S Hoffman, PhD, The Science Museum of Virginia, Richmond, United States
An Absurdly Brief History of Fuel (462379)
Don Haas1, Alexandra Moore2, Robert M Ross1 and Ingrid H.H. Zabel1, (1)Paleontological Research Institution, Ithaca, NY, United States, (2)Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, United States

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