Science in a Post-Truth World @JaneLubchenco Alan Alda the curse - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Science in a Post-Truth World @JaneLubchenco

Jane Lubchenco

Oregon State University

the curse of knowledge

Alan Alda

My perspectives: academic, government servant, science diplomat

Vice President Joe Biden

“ Hey, I thought you were a scientist ” “ But…I just understood everything you said! ”

NOAA Environmental Satellites

DSCOVR GOES 16 Suomi NPP

NOAA Environmental Satellites

GOES 16 Suomi NPP

Over 95% of the data that go into weather forecasts come from satellites “Doctor, I don’t need your weather satellites, I have the Weather Channel !”

Communication trainings

National Academies report & Sackler Colloquia

Perception of scientists

White (95%) males (90%) with wild hair (71%) in lab coats (71%) wearing glasses (81%)

Before After

Miele 2014 ed.fnal.gov

Doom and Gloom!

Environmental Scientists: Chicken Little Molecular Biologists: Play God

For some issues, there is a gap between scientific consensus and people’s beliefs

Tom Dunne

Climate Change Vaccines Evolution

Public credibility is driven by perception of trustworthy- ness, friendliness, expertise, and competence

Perception of scientists

Fiske & Dupree 2014 National Science Board 2016

competent but cold

Science-Society Paradox

At the time when science is more relevant and useful to society than ever before, there is a widening gap between the public and science.

ISTOCKPHOTO/HEATHER HOPP-BRUCE/GLOBE STAFF

Boston Globe 2012

“ relating to or denoting circumstances in which

• bjective facts are less influential in shaping public
• pinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief ”

Oxford English Dictionary - 2016

Climate March Apr 29 2017

Jose Luis Magana – AFP-Getty Images

Science March Apr 22 2017

Hilary Swift NY Times

Responses?

Marches Contact - Congress Donations Running for office Op-eds, LTEs Talking to journalists Social media

Defense & Resistance

Climate March Apr 29 2017

Jose Luis Magana – AFP-Getty Images

Can we resolve the Science-Society Paradox and Address the Post-Truth Mentality?

Offense not just defense!

I believe we can rise to this occasion with the boldness, energy and creativity it demands.

How can we resolve the Science-Society Paradox and Address the Post-Truth Mentality?

We must listen, then address the reasons why a post-truth world has emerged. We cannot do so from lofty perches above society; we must be more integrated into society. In short: We must engage more and more effectively with society.

Lubchenco 2017 Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment

How?

• 1. Demonstrate (not just assert) value of science.
• Science needs to be trusted, not seen as wasteful,

imperious, threatening, or doom-and-gloom.

• Shed entitlement rhetoric. Show merits of science.

Make science accessible. Co-generate knowledge with citizens.

• Create trust through shared values & experiences.
• Show your warm, caring side in engaging.

Lubchenco 2017 Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment

How?

• 2. Provide hope.
• Identify & share successes.
• Figure out how to replicate and scale them.
• Focus on incentives: economic & social
• Create more solutions.
• Team up with policy-savvy, science-respecting

NGOS and businesses with complementary skills and goals

Lubchenco 2017 Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment

Beyond pushing back: Push Forward

April 22, 2017

Over 250 scientists From 24 countries #EarthOptimism Share successes Find solutions Beyond Doom and Gloom: Hope for People and the Planet “Hope is rising like a phoenix from the ashes.”

Nancy Knowlton

The Grand Challenge

Can we use the ocean equitably to meet people’s basic needs in an equitable fashion today without using it up?

Photos (clockwise): Nila Tanzil, Jose Cabezas/AFP, Gregg/Wikimedia Commons

Photo:Enric Sala, Pristine Seas, NGS

Because of engagement Hopeful news is bubbling up around the world.

2 examples: fisheries and marine reserves

• # Overfished stocks

92 38

• # Rebuilt stocks

39

U.S. Federal Fisheries

2000 2015

Since 2008, fish caught domestically has risen by 23%, value has risen by 32% and commercial & rec fishing jobs have increased by 35%

Scientists + Politicians + NGOs + Fishermen engaged to Reform Fisheries and Implement Reforms

Photo: Corey Arnold

Chris Brown, RI Jason DeLa Cruz, FL Brad Pettinger, OR

White House: Fishermen as Champions of Change for Sustainable Seafood

Right-based fisheries + marine reserves in the Philippines

• New pilot program to create TURF-reserves in two

communities in the Philippines

• Result of partnerships between communities, NGOs and

academic scientists

To Replicate & Scale Successes, Pay Attention to Incentives Behavior

Stuart Price

Economic Social

• Personal values
• Social norms

Potential Impact of Reforms & Secure Fishing Rights

Ocean Prosperity Roadmap, 2016 & Costello et al., 2016, PNAS

8 companies in Soneva Dialogue

U.S. Latin America & Caribbean International

THE SCIENCE OF MARINE RESERVES SCIENTIFIC SYNTHESES & BOOKLETS

Europe Mediterranean

In the last decade: from 0.1% to 1.9% of

• cean strongly

protected

3.7 1.9

Updated from Lubchenco, Grorud-Colvert 2015 Science

Douglas Peebles Jochem D. Wijnands

2015 & 2016: large marine reserves announced Palau (83% EEZ), Chile (24.3% EEZ), UK (21.9% EEZ), New Zealand (15.2% EEZ), Seychelles (15%) , US (23.2%)

Photo: James Watt NOAA

President Obama expanded the fraction of the U.S. EEZ that is strongly protected from ~5% in 2008 to ~23% in 2016 (Antiquities Act 1906)

Photo: James Watt NOAA

Source: CCAMLR

1st on High Seas: Ross Sea - 2016

MPA = 1.55 m km2

largest protected area in world

75% is Marine Reserve (1.17 m km2)

#2 after Papahānaumokuākea

25 governments

In the ocean: a wealth of scientific advances PLUS engagement of scientists with society is triggering a new era

• f awareness & action

Scientists have risen to the challenge of proposing solutions, not just identifying problems Natural & social scientists are collaborating with each other & with civil society, government & industry to pursue innovative solutions

How do we address the Post-Truth Mentality and Engage Meaningfully with Society ?

• 1. Demonstrate (not just assert) the value of

science.

• 2. Provide hope. Share successes. Scale them up.

Create more solutions to big problems.

• 3. Modify scientific reward structures and training

to achieve these goals.

Lubchenco 2017 Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment

How?

• 3. Modify scientific reward structures and training to

achieve these goals.

• Academics should be rewarded, not punished, for
• engaging. Engagement: a core responsibility.
• Students should be encouraged, enabled, and

trained to engage effectively

• Recognize that engaging takes time, resources and
• skills. Not all should do it; but all should support it.

Lubchenco 2017 Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment

It’s time to take back the narrative

Photo: aussiedestinationtours.com

It’s time to write a new chapter in the relationship between science and society, one based on service with humility, transparency, honesty, and genuine respect . It’s time for a quantum leap in relevance.

Ralph J. Cicerone

Humility Transparency Honesty Respect

Engage with:

To achieve that promise we must both communicate and engage more effectively

https://sites.google.com/site/complexadaptivesystems2011/

Science = Hope

We owe it to our children and grandchildren as well as the rest of life on our planet.

Thanks!

Photo: aussiedestinationtours.com

Jenna Sullivan, Vanessa Constant, Jessie Reimer, Allison K. Barner, Steve Gaines, Chris Costello, Amanda Leland, NOAA, UN FAO, Environmental Defense Fund, Sustainable Fisheries Group at UCSB, Rare, The Nature Conservancy, WWF, Pew Charitable Trusts, Catapult Applications, David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, The Sea Around Us Project at UBC, SkyTruth, Oceana, Google, Oregon State University, NSF