IMPROVING ACCESSIBILITY OF CAVE AND KARST SCIENCE: COMMUNICATION AND OUTREACH ACTIVITIES AIMED AT REDUCING JARGON AND SUPPORTING PUBLIC STAKEHOLDERS

The National Cave and Karst Research Institute (NCKRI) is a research institute of New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology that was created by the US Congress in 1998 in partnership with the National Park Service, the State of New Mexico, and the City of Carlsbad. Part of the mission of NCKRI is to promote public education by acting as a nexus for education and outreach projects between various entities, providing resources to educators and academic institutions, and having multiple ways in which to interact with the public. Cave and karst is a multidisciplinary field where scientists with different backgrounds come together to study the intricacies of these subterranean environments. Communication and understanding between people with different linguistic backgrounds is an important factor for research as well as transmission of that information between scientists, policymakers, and the public. Jargon communicates complex concepts only to those who share a common background. Cave science is particularly jargon rich, and the overuse of jargon hinders the ability to effectively transmit information to these stakeholders. This has been the motive for current and recent outreach projects that NCKRI has developed with its partners. Some of the educational and outreach initiatives include a weekly cave and karst word definition shared through social media, the development of scaled down resource management materials, and undergraduate and graduate-focused science communication activities including a science communication internship program and classroom-based science communication activities with Sciworthy (http://sciworthy.com). The purpose of the cave and karst word of the week is to make karst jargon more accessible, explain terms that are important for the understanding of caves and karst as sensitive resources, and recognize caves and karst as an interdisciplinary subject matter. Outreach materials are also a great way to communicate science to the public. In the development of these materials, the process of scaling down information is an effective way to not only transmit relevant information but also capture the public’s interest. These resource management materials were created with the intention of using concise, accessible language, in a way that is visually appealing and relevant.