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Public policy is, in the end, often politically determined. As such, the views, sentiments and awareness of the general public about environmental issues often play a crucial role in the formulation and implementation of conservation policy. Furthermore, since much of the information the public receives on watershed and other scientific issues comes from the media, journalists also play a critical, if indirect, role in the formulation of policy.
Yet, the interaction between the scientific community and journalists is often uneven and uneasy. These professionals often operate under totally different assumptions. For example, scientists try to maintain a posture of doubt; journalists usually seek closure, if not certainty. Scientists phrase questions so they can be falsified; journalists phrase them so they can be answered. Scientists understand the importance of sample size; journalists often seek dramatic individuals cases. (David H. Smith, Ph.D., personal communication.)
We propose offering to SPACE participants, as well as to the larger Tampa Bay scientific community, an intensive one-day scientific communications workshop designed to help them communicate their ideas, research and knowledge clearly and forcefully to the public. All PI’s and major co-investigators of the SPACE project will be encouraged to attend. We will also invite scientists from the larger Tampa Bay region to participate in the workshop.
These goals will be achieved through an intensive workshop for scientists that would include speakers, reference materials, seminar-type discussion, and practical hands-on science communication exercises (written and oral). For example, each participant will be asked to bring once piece of Tampa Bay scientific research in the form of an abstract, manuscript, published paper or poster. Each will then learn a process and specific techniques for reframing and translating the research into material appropriate for a larger public audience. This process will occur within several different contexts (an interview by a journalist, for example) and geared toward producing different journalistic and public education products such as a press releases, news articles or magazine briefs.
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