BALTIMORE - Scientists this week announced an innovative new program to train "scientist communicators" for the future and hopefully improve the flow of accurate, credible scientific information to policy makers and the general public on critical issues of the environment.
Under this concept, some of the nation's leading environmental scientists will become "Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellows" and more actively share their expertise in water and air quality, diseases, fisheries, agriculture, contaminants, global climate change, endangered species and other critical issues with local communities, the news media, political leaders and local, state and federal policy makers.
The program is named for Aldo Leopold, a famous environmental scientist known for effectively communicating his scientific knowledge.
Oregon State University will operate the new program on behalf of the Ecological Society of America, supported by a $1.5 million, five-year grant from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.
"The current rate of ecological change is unprecedented in the history of the Earth," said Judith Vergun of OSU, the project director.
For instance, on the issue of global warming, many people may be confused by complicated studies and pseudo-scientific critics who argue the phenomenon is an unproven theory of no particular importance, Vergun said.
But the vast majority of credible scientists say global warming is now a reality, that the time for action is here and that the looming crisis is very real, with implications for everything from severe weather events, to the spread of disease, disruptions of agriculture and forestry, rising sea levels and habitat loss.
That gap between common perceptions and scientific reality has to be bridged, experts say. The new program is designed to make professional communicators out of researchers who usually think more in terms of professional journals than newspapers or legislative committees.
"We envision a leadership and communication training program designed to help environmental scientists become more effective communicators of science to the public and policy makers," said Jane Lubchenco, an OSU distinguished professor of zoology. "The need for clearly presented, scientifically credible information on environmental issues is greater now than ever before. We're very grateful that the David and Lucile Packard Foundation shares the vision and is making this program possible."
A past president of both the Ecological Society of America and the American Association for the Advancement of Science and chair of the steering committtee for the Leopold Leadership Program, Lubchenco outlined the new program at the ESA's annual meeting in Baltimore.
Twenty tenured, academic scientists from a range of environmental fields of study will be chosen during each of the next three years to attend one-week workshops for intensive study in five areas:
- Providing leadership within the scientific community;
- Providing scientific input to the policy process;
- Communicating with the news media;
- Interacting with the corporate sector;
- Working with non-governmental organizations.
Members of the steering committee or advisory board for the Aldo Leopold Leadership Program include representatives from leading universities, governmental and private agencies, and the news media. They include OSU, Stanford University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, Time Magazine, National Public Radio, the Environmental Defense Fund, the Smithsonian Institution, National Science Foundation, and a former member of the U.S. Senate.
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