Science and Action

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Science and Action

David Breecker
I'd like to add (at least) one more thing to the provocative thread  
of the past few days:  for those interested in how science  
communicates with other sectors and affects practical outcomes, the  
Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies convened a  
conference at the Aspen Institute a few years ago, entitled  
"Americans and Climate Change: Closing the Gap between Science and  
Action."

You can download the PDF of the conference report at http://
environment.yale.edu/climate/americans_and_climate_change.pdf

One of the key findings was that the way scientists tend to discuss  
issues like certainty, and their dialectical method of taking  
exception to perceived flaws in one another's work, has hampered our  
ability to convey the urgency of the climate change situation and the  
preponderance of (scientific) opinion and findings to the general  
public and policy makers.

db

dba | David Breecker Associates, Inc.
Santa Fe: 505-690-2335
Abiquiu:   505-685-4891
www.BreeckerAssociates.com



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Science and Action

Marcus G. Daniels
David Breecker wrote:
> One of the key findings was that the way scientists tend to discuss
> issues like certainty, and their dialectical method of taking
> exception to perceived flaws in one another's work, has hampered our
> ability to convey the urgency of the climate change situation and the
> preponderance of (scientific) opinion and findings to the general
> public and policy makers.
p57 and vicinity on incentives ring true.   But you know, there are a
lot of tenured university professors that will have their jobs pretty
much no matter what they do.   Some of them may not be even engaged in
research, but still well aware of the issues from their teaching
obligations.   It seems to me University leadership could do more to
draw these people out for local television news and newspapers.   E.g.
by giving big raises for public outreach and by giving them influence at
the university.

The public won't know and won't care whether or not such professors are
leaders their fields or not.    To the public, they are experts and
authorities or else they wouldn't be professors.

A lot of the other supposedly immutable `academic traditions' (cough)
could be fixed with a wider range of funding opportunities.   Of course
if a researcher's career depends on the whims of just a few colleagues,
they will become extremely cautious in keeping those colleagues happy.  
So give more people more options.  Perhaps nothing will change at the
tippy top of the ivory tower for elite researchers, but it doesn't have to.

Marcus