HR: 15:25h
AN: ED33C-08    [Abstracts]
TI: Defining New Roles for Scientific Professional Organizations in Society?
AU: * Robock, A
EM: robock@envsci.rutgers.edu
AF: Department of Environmental Sciences, Rutgers University, 14 College Farm Road, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, United States
AU: Byrne, J
EM: byrne@uleth.ca
AF: University of Lethbridge, Department of Geography, Edmonton, AB T1K 3M4, Canada
AB: The obfuscation of authentic science information in North America has reached epidemic proportions. The global warming debate is a classic example – there are a virtual unanimity and overwhelming evidence from scientific community that the Earth is warming rapidly and humans are an important cause, but there is confusion in the media and the public, partly as a result of disinformation campaigns by greenhouse gas polluters. Should the role of scientists in informing the public change in response to this? What should be the role of scientific societies, such as the American Geophysical Union, the American Meteorological Society, or the American Association for the Advancement of Science? Should we continue doing what we are doing, or be more proactive in using new technology to educate the public on important scientific issues? Should we devote resources to television advertisements? Should we support ads in the print media? This talk will discuss the pros and cons of individual and group actions in making the case in public for science, and suggest some new directions.
DE: 0800 EDUCATION
DE: 0850 Geoscience education research
DE: 1800 HYDROLOGY
DE: 6620 Science policy (0485)
SC: Education and Human Resources [ED]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting