THE CLIMATE SCIENCE RAPID RESPONSE TEAM – A MODEL FOR SCIENCE COMMUNICATION

In the past few years, there have been many independent efforts to improve communication channels between scientists and the larger public. Some of these efforts have been led by well-known science institutions while others have developed more organically. It is difficult to measure the success of these initiatives because there is a lack of uniform metrics that can be applied.

One recent and seemingly successful initiative was developed by individual scientists during the fall of 2011. That effort is encapsulated by the formation of the Climate Science Rapid Response Team (CSRRT). This Team is a collection of approximately 140 climate scientists whose expertise covers the major sub-disciplines of climate science. The members are selected to be scientists who are capable and willing to engage the public on climate-science issues. During the past year, the Team has fielded inquiries from well-known entities such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Guardian, LA Times, CNN, CBS, AP, NPR, and others.

Members of media outlets are able to use the CSRRT website to submit inquiries directly to the managers of the Team. Inquiries are then sent to appropriate scientists within the CSRRT and a connection is made between a scientist and the inquirer. In many instances, the inquiries can be dealt with by email communication but other times, the scientist is interviewed for print or radio broadcast.

In addition to fielding inquiries, the CSRRT has worked with other organizations to provide media training to their members. The media training includes preparing scientists to handle print, radio and television appearances.

The response from interactions with the media sources has been overwhelmingly affirmative. The CSRRT has become recognized as a high-quality service that provides accurate science information in a very rapid manner.