Canceled: Making Environmental Science Heard in an Information-Saturated World

This event has been canceled.

In this era of information saturation and rapidly evolving means of communication, scientists struggle to engage and communicate with the public in meaningful ways. The academic nature of science communication makes this struggle even more difficult. In the environmental sciences in particular, there is an untapped audience beyond the usual suspects of policymakers and other scientists.

This untapped audience includes those who simply enjoy nature and express that enjoyment in many different ways. They photograph it. They write songs about it. They journal about it. They make documentaries about it. They paint it. They write poems about it. But if they want to know what scientists have to say about an environmental issue, the main sources available to them are dense academic articles and presentations. An underutilized tool for environmental science communication is the same medium that many members of the public themselves use to express their enjoyment of nature: the arts.

At our next New Tools seminar, Kiki Jenkins will explore the utility of science arts, especially dance, for environmental science communication, education and social change. She will offer the audience a sensory comparison of traditional science communication versus environmental science art, while noting participant changes in questions, thoughts, idea, opinions and emotions. She will also discuss the science of science art, reviewing four research studies that explore how environmental science art might lead to action and tangible, beneficial changes in the environment.