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In Cold Pursuit :

In Cold Pursuit :. the devious design of W-218-M. Communicating science to the public is not a simple task. My job is to help the public comprehend:. What science is…and isn’t How and why science is important to them How they are involved with science… As consumers

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In Cold Pursuit :

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  1. In Cold Pursuit: the devious design of W-218-M

  2. Communicating science to the public is not a simple task

  3. My job is to help the public comprehend: • What science is…and isn’t • How and why science is important to them • How they are involved with science… As consumers As beneficiaries

  4. What’s at stake if the public doesn’t understand? • Funding • Success of projects • Progress of knowledge • Human understanding

  5. But most people: • Find it difficult to learn science by readingtechnical texts • Lack background in scientificprinciplesandconcepts • Do not understandtechnical jargon • Don’t think in4dimensions

  6. Problems in communicating science: A certain tendency toward equivocation

  7. Problems in communicating science: Stating findings but not the significance thereof

  8. Problems in communicating science: Failing to get the message where it needs to go

  9. Pitfalls in communicating science: Trying to be PC with the religious right “Scientists believe…”

  10. Sneaky tricks to get science across the public: “Grab them by their imaginations, their hearts and minds will follow.” • Use the narrative voice (everybody can follow a plot) • Feature a hero (everybody roots for the hero)

  11. A hero has: Mystical Encounters Photo by Stuart Klipper, five-time NSF-AAWP Grantee

  12. A hero is: Invincible in hostile environments

  13. An unfortunate cultural stereotype: Google images for “scientists” and you get… More respectable, but still emotionally remote…

  14. Popular culture reflects the collective unconscious

  15. I personally prefer… Scientists The public Ignorance

  16. When the scientist is recast as hero: The story of scientific exploration becomes the hero’s journey The hero’s actions align with cultural longings The hero’s learning becomes the reader’s learning The audience looks up to science and scientists We communicate the value of science

  17. Everybody likes a good story (and science is under the gun).

  18. The narrative voice can be science’s Trojan horse

  19. My solution: Geology with a plot In Cold Pursuit Stay tuned!

  20. Stories persist in human memory

  21. Please tell me your story Photo by 5 time NSF AAWP grantee Stuart Klipper

  22. visit me at: www.sarahandrews.net

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