UW scientists aim to improve skills in talking to public

Dennis Hartmann in the Atmospheric Sciences Department and Robert J. Naiman in the School of Fisheries will be in the first group of scientists to go through the Aldo Leopold Leadership Program. The five-year program, affiliated with the Ecological Society of America and financed with a $1.5 million grant from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, will be administered through Oregon State University at Corvallis. It is named for noted environmentalist Aldo Leopold.

First-year participants will attend training sessions June 15-21 at the Warm Springs Indian Reservation in Oregon and Sept. 9-14 in Washington, D.C.

Naiman and Hartmann say the training will help them to better communicate their work to non-scientific audiences, particularly the general public and government and corporate leaders. It also will prepare them for leadership roles in helping the larger scientific community convey the importance of research findings.

“I think humans are increasingly a threat to our fellow species and our global environment, and it is imperative to get objective scientific facts before the public in a way that will be understood,” Hartmann said.

“Because of our industrial capacities and sheer numbers, we are having a global impact on the Earth’s ability to sustain life,” he said.

Naiman sees an opportunity to “step forward and communicate where we as scientists need to go.”

Naiman has headed international science committees and led a national strategy group on water, but he said he initially felt uncomfortable in those leadership roles.

“If I had had a little bit of training and guidance, I feel I could have been more effective,” he said.

There are clear obstacles to communicating science to the public and even society leaders, the UW scientists agree. One is a relatively low level of scientific literacy, even among decision makers. Another is that many people have beliefs and perceptions — for instance, that individual actions have no direct bearing on the environment — that run counter to scientific fact, and they often feel threatened if those beliefs and perceptions are challenged.

“One of the things I would hope we would learn is that as we challenge their beliefs, we find ways to put people at ease and make them not feel as vulnerable,” Naiman said.

Hartmann believes the training will help give the scientists the tools to handle their communications clearly but diplomatically and to train other scientists to do the same.

“My idea is that science really has a lot to offer, and we have to find ways to communicate what we know for the maximum public good,” he said. “I think we’re at a point in our civilization where it’s really important to do that, particularly when it comes to the environment.” ¶

Vince Stricherz, News & Information