scholarly journals Invertebrates in Science Communication: Confronting Scientists’ Practices and the Public’s Expectations

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodrigo B. Salvador ◽  
Barbara M. Tomotani ◽  
Katrin L. O’Donnell ◽  
Daniel C. Cavallari ◽  
João V. Tomotani ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nature Conservation ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Pop Culture ◽  
Good Science ◽  
Invertebrate Conservation ◽  
The Public ◽  
Informed Decisions ◽  
Invertebrate Animals

Good science communication should give the public the tools to make informed decisions and take action, which can be particularly important for nature conservation. The crisis in invertebrate conservation might be rooted in public prejudices against invertebrate animals, which are perceived as the unpopular 97% of Earth’s animal biodiversity. As such, how we approach science communication regarding those animals might yet play a critical role in their conservation. Given how specialized a topic invertebrate biology is, a large part of its communication fall to scientists. Here, we surveyed both scientists and members of the public about the former’s approaches and assumptions and the latter’s interest and expectations regarding invertebrate science communication, confronting the results of each survey. Our findings show that scientists and the public are only tangentially aligned; there is plenty of ground scientists and communicators need to pay attention to and explore better in order to achieve more meaningful and balanced science communication. Among other findings, topics and approaches that could be used to greater effect include (depending on age groups of the audience) history, folklore, pop culture, and pathology. Our results have unveiled some issues in science communication of invertebrates and are thus a good first approach to start defining the way forward.

scholarly journals What Framework Promotes Saliency of Climate Change Issues on Online Public Agenda: A Quantitative Study of Online Knowledge Community Quora

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1619 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wen Shi ◽  
Changfeng Chen ◽  
Jie Xiong ◽  
Haohuan Fu
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Communication ◽  
Knowledge Community ◽  
The Public ◽  
Change Communication ◽  
Public Agenda

Though scientists have achieved consensus on the severity and urgency of climate change years ago, the public still considers this issue not that important, as the influence of climate change is widely thought to be geographically and temporally bounded. The discrepancy between scientific consensus and public’s misperception calls for more dedicated public communication strategies to get climate change issues back on the front line of the public agenda. Based on the large-scale data acquired from the online knowledge community Quora, we conduct a computational linguistic analysis followed by the regression model to address the climate change communication from the agenda setting perspective. To be specific, our results find that certain narrative strategies may make climate change issues more salient by engaging public into discussion or evoking their long-term interest. Though scientific communicators have long been blaming lack of scientific literacy for low saliency of climate change issues, cognitive framework is proved to be least effective in raising public concern. Affective framework is relatively more influential in motivating people to participate in climate change discussion: the stronger the affective intensity is, the more prominent the issue is, but the affective polarity is not important. Perceptual framework is most powerful in promoting public discussion and the only variable that can significantly motivate the public’s long-term desire to track issues, among which feeling plays the most critical role compared with seeing and hearing. This study extends existing science communication literature by shedding light on the role of previously ignored affective and perceptual frameworks in making issues salient and the conclusions may provide theoretical and practical implications for future climate change communication.

scholarly journals Selling the Earth: re-purposing geoscience communications

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iain Stewart
Keyword(s):  
Science Communication ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Energy Transition ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Business World ◽  
Communication Practice ◽  
The Public ◽  
Sense And Respond ◽  
Research Organisations

Earth scientists have a critical role to play in communicating to the public and policy makers what we know about looming societal threats including climate change, extreme natural events, resource conflicts and the energy transition. But whilst geoscientists are being encouraged - and, increasingly, trained - to ‘go public’ with our science, what is less clear is to what extent our current geo-communications are effectively addressing the long-term planetary concerns that confront society.In this paper we argue that scientists are the interface between the research organisations that produce knowledge and the wider public who could use that knowledge, and, in that regard, are akin to marketers in the business world. Drawing from the dominant paradigms that shape business marketing, we re-consider the prevailing models of science communication and their consequent sense of purpose. We identify three dominant approaches of marketing-led science communication: ‘make-and-sell’; ‘sense-and-respond’; and ‘guide-and-co-create’. We judge the first two to be incompatible with delivering long-term sustainability, in contrast to the emergent guide-and-co-create mode - purpose-driven, interdisciplinary, participatory, and reflexive - which we contend is best placed to tackle long-term geo-environmental concerns through having a clear wellbeing- focused objective whilst co-creating the path to achieving it.We conclude with the contention that adopting a guide-and-co-create approach to science communications will require not only rethinking communication practice within universities but also radical institutional regime change towards universities becoming purpose-driven organisations.

An Expert Ranked List of Pro-nature Conservation Behaviours for Public Use

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lea Barbett ◽  
Edward Stupple ◽  
Michael Sweet ◽  
Miles Richardson
Keyword(s):  
Nature Conservation ◽  
General Population ◽  
Mass Extinction ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Ecological Impact ◽  
Human Action ◽  
Short Paper ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Ranked List

The planet is facing an anthropogenic mass extinction of wildlife, which will have a grave impact on the environment and humans. Widespread human action is needed to minimize the negative impact of humans on biodiversity and support the restoration of wildlife. In order to find effective ways to promote pro-nature conservation behaviours to the general population, there is a need to provide a list of behaviours which will have worthwhile ecological impact and are worth encouraging. In a novel collaboration between psychologists and ecologists, 70 experts from practical and academic conservation backgrounds were asked to review and rate 48 conservation related behaviours. According to their judgement, this short paper presents a ranked list of pro-nature conservation behaviours for the public in the UK and similar landscapes. This includes behaviours people can engage in in their homes, their gardens, on their land, and in their roles as citizens.

scholarly journals Chinese views on nuclear weapons: Evidence from an online survey

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 205316802110328
Author(s):  
Naomi Egel ◽  
R. Lincoln Hines
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Weapons ◽  
Text Analysis ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
The Public ◽  
Self Defense ◽  
Public Views ◽  
Chinese Public

What are Chinese public attitudes regarding nuclear weapons? Although scholars have studied Chinese elites’ views on nuclear weapons, surprisingly little is known about the views of China’s public. To understand Chinese public views on nuclear weapons, we conduct an online survey ( N = 1066) of Chinese respondents. This is, to our knowledge, the first survey of Chinese public attitudes towards nuclear weapons. We find that although Chinese citizens view the possession of nuclear weapons as important for their country’s security, they strongly oppose the use of nuclear weapons under any circumstances. We also provide respondents an opportunity to describe their views on nuclear weapons in their own words. Using computer-assisted text analysis, we assess patterns in these open-ended responses and compare across age groups. We find that younger respondents emphasize non-material factors such as having a greater voice internationally, whereas older respondents emphasize self-defense. Overall, this analysis sheds light on the public attitudes that may shape China’s evolving approach to nuclear weapons.

Implementation of a Dual-Frequency GLONASS and GPS L1 C/A Software Receiver

2010 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 269-287 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Abbasian Nik ◽  
M. G. Petovello
Keyword(s):  
Global Navigation Satellite System ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Satellite System ◽  
Navigation Satellite ◽  
Dual Frequency ◽  
Software Receiver ◽  
The Public ◽  
Global Navigation ◽  
Global Navigation Satellite

These days, Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) technology plays a critical role in positioning and navigation applications. Use of GNSS is becoming more of a need to the public. Therefore, much effort is needed to make the civilian part of the system more accurate, reliable and available, especially for the safety-of-life purposes. With the recent revitalization of Russian Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), with a constellation of 20 satellites in August 2009 and the promise of 24 satellites by 2010, it is worthwhile concentrating on the GLONASS system as a method of GPS augmentation to achieve more reliable and accurate navigation solutions.

scholarly journals Scientists: Engage the Public!

mBio ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Erika C. Shugart ◽  
Vincent R. Racaniello
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Science Communication ◽  
Social Stigma ◽  
Public Communication ◽  
The Public ◽  
Advanced Society ◽  
The Social

ABSTRACT Scientists must communicate about science with public audiences to promote an understanding of complex issues that we face in our technologically advanced society. Some scientists may be concerned about a social stigma or “Sagan effect” associated with participating in public communication. Recent research in the social sciences indicates that public communication by scientists is not a niche activity but is widely done and can be beneficial to a scientist's career. There are a variety of approaches that scientists can take to become active in science communication.

Beyond the Grey Zone: Organization Research Publishing and Bibliodiversity in the Research Communication System

2021 ◽  
Vol 03 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda Lawrence
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Grey Literature ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Academic Publishing ◽  
Grey Zone ◽  
Research Knowledge ◽  
Non Profit ◽  
The Public ◽  
Research Communication ◽  
Industry Sectors

Research publishing involves the production, use and management of research in a variety of genres and formats by commercial and non-profit academic publishers, and by organizations in government, civil society, university and industry sectors. However discussion of research publishing mainly tends to focus on the production and circulation of peer-reviewed academic journals and to a lesser extent books produced by commercial academic publishers. Research reports and papers produced by organizations outside the formal publishing system play a critical role in the research and development (R&D) system, yet they are often overlooked in studies on open scholarship and research communication. This is partly due to a lack of terminology to adequately describe the diverse publishing practices of organizations which operate across a spectrum from formal to informal economic activity. In this article I define and contextualise research publishing by organizations in relation to other forms of academic publishing and recent calls for greater bibliodiversity in scholarly communication. Commonly used terms such as ‘grey literature’ or ‘unpublished literature’ are inadequate to describe and account for the proliferation and importance of diverse research genres and formats able to be produced, published and disseminated in print and online by think tanks, government agencies, industry bodies and research centres. By taking a more holistic, systems-oriented approach to research publishing we can begin to understand the diverse actors, institutions and practices involved in knowledge production and develop appropriate policies, infrastructure and management practices to support an effective, efficient, equitable, credible and sustainable research knowledge commons in the public interest.

Abstract P75: Dissemination of CPR Skills to the Public - Can Schoolchildren Ensure Success?

Circulation ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 118 (suppl_18) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tonje Lorem ◽  
Aud Palm ◽  
Lars Wik
Keyword(s):  
Cardiac Arrest ◽  
Large Fraction ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Health Benefit ◽  
School Students ◽  
The Public ◽  
Group 3 ◽  
Second Tier ◽  
Group 2 ◽  
Hospital Cardiac Arrest

Training a large fraction of the general population in CPR could have major public health benefit if those most likely to witness cardiac arrest are trained. Mass distribution of self-training manikins as a two-tiered strategy with school children as first tier has been described as successful, but without information on second tier age or information strategy to second tier. We studied three different attempts at reaching older second tier persons. In groups 1 and 2 first tier consisted of 7 th graders and in group 3 high school and medical school students. Information about the desirable second tier age group was given in writing prior to the distribution. In groups 1 and 3 information was only directed towards first tier. In group 2 both first tier, their parents and teachers were informed. The first tier participants reported the number of second tier trained for age-groups 12–25 years, 25–50 years, and >50 years. Approximately 64000 (group 1), 63000 (group 2) and 81 (group 3) self-education kits were provided with 2.7, 1.9, and 3.7 lay-rescuers trained per kit respectively (p<0.05) (Table 1 ). Informing also the parents of the first tier prior to the distribution did not positively impact the number of second tier trained lay-rescuers, but higher age of first tier did. We speculate that 7 th graders are too young to successfully disseminate CPR to those most likely to witness out of hospital cardiac arrest. Table 1. Percentage reported trained in first and second tier divided into age-groups.

scholarly journals Staphylococcus aureuscoagulases are exploitable yet stable public goods in clinically relevant conditions

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (50) ◽  
pp. E11771-E11779 ◽  
Author(s):  
Urvish Trivedi ◽  
Jonas S. Madsen ◽  
Jake Everett ◽  
Cody Fell ◽  
Jakob Russel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Goods ◽  
Social Evolution ◽  
Defense Mechanism ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Coagulation Cascade ◽  
The Public ◽  
Innate Defense ◽  
The Commons

Coagulation is an innate defense mechanism intended to limit blood loss and trap invading pathogens during infection. However,Staphylococcus aureushas the ability to hijack the coagulation cascade and generate clots via secretion of coagulases. Although manyS. aureushave this characteristic, some do not. The population dynamics regarding this defining trait have yet to be explored. We report here that coagulases are public goods that confer protection against antimicrobials and immune factors within a local population or community, thus promoting growth and virulence. By utilizing variants of a methicillin-resistantS. aureuswe infer that the secretion of coagulases is a cooperative trait, which is subject to exploitation by invading mutants that do not produce the public goods themselves. However, overexploitation, “tragedy of the commons,” does not occur at clinically relevant conditions. Our micrographs indicate this is due to spatial segregation and population viscosity. These findings emphasize the critical role of coagulases in a social evolution context and provide a possible explanation as to why the secretion of these public goods is maintained in mixedS. aureuscommunities.

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