Twenty Years of Evolving Models of Science Communication
Carl Sagan and Neil deGrasse Tyson have come to symbolize the dominant “popularization” approach to science communication, a model that has been embraced with renewed enthusiasm among young scientists as they have experimented with and developed a variety of digital and social media tools. Yet this dominant approach to science communication is not without several...
At New Scientist Magazine, Assessing the UK Government’s Goal to Change the Conversation About Food Biotech
At the New Scientist magazine last week, I was asked to provide an analysis of UK environment minister Owen Paterson’s announcement that his government would seek to change the conversation about food biotech in Europe. Here’s how the article opens. Read the rest…. How to win people’s hearts and minds for GM farming Shifting opinions...
New Study Examines Scientists’ Participation in Public Life
In a new co-authored study with John Besley and Sang Wa Oh at the journal Public Understanding of Science, we expand on our recent work examining how scientists as a group perceive and understand public opinion, the media, and the policy process. In this most recent analysis, we focus specifically on the motivations, beliefs, and conditions...
What Carl Sagan, Brian Greene, and E.O. Wilson Understand About Communication
In 2008, I discussed with Big Think why popularizers like Brian Greene, E.O. Wilson, and Carl Sagan are so effective at engaging the public on complex science subjects. I also described how research can inform science organizations and others institutions in doing systematically what these great popularizers have learned to do intuitively. Below is video...