GEOSCIENCE IN THE EYE OF SOCIETAL STORMS: LESSONS LEARNED

As technology continues to improve and we find more and better ways to deliver information to larger audiences faster it would seem to be a natural corollary that communications would improve, but sadly that is not necessarily the case, particularly when the subject is science. While the relevance of science in each of our daily lives has increased significantly in the last decade, the importance of our product has not translated into improved delivery of information. Part of the blame lies with us, the scientists and part with modern society which demands immediate answers. Our challenge is to reconcile the scientific culture of seeking greater certainty before communicating results with our society's insatiable appetite for information on demand. Often times these competing cultures result in scientific insights and findings either being ignored, misused or possibly worse, not even in play, as policymakers are debating and making critical decisions.

Recent global events such as the Sumatran tsunami, the threat of a human pandemic related to avian influenza, restoration in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and the public debate about energy development in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), all provide valuable lessons as we seek to insure that our science information and our science products have a seat at the policy table. A review of communications approaches used in these cases, some successful and others not, is instructive. Several common themes in each of these events include: all are making or have made headlines; all are fraught with emotion; all have implications for public policy and all of them can and should be influenced by science. Only if we learn from these lessons and work to encourage and train our scientists in the effective and safe art of communicating scientific discoveries and scientific uncertainty, can we ensure that science is truly in play as state and local officials, politicians, planners and others make decisions that will affect all of our lives. Society can ill afford the alternative.