Scientific institutions must create--and sustain--new kinds of roles so that researchers can provide the deep public engagement necessary to respond effectively to the escalating impacts of #climate change. The status quo isn't working. nature.com/articles/d41... - ThreadSky

weatherwest.bsky.social • 14 hours ago

Scientific institutions must create--and sustain--new kinds of roles so that researchers can provide the deep public engagement necessary to respond effectively to the escalating impacts of #climate change. The status quo isn't working. https://nature.com/articles/d41586-023-03436-1

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joannacoleman.bsky.social•6 hours ago

Great piece ! So true and well articulated.

And not just climate scientists. Also those of us who do bioD conservation research and outreach, no ?

weatherwest.bsky.social•14 hours ago

My own role as a climate scientist-communicator is highly unusual in the academic world: I'm a practicing scientist who spends a large fraction (now over half) of my time engaging the public, and the rest of my time actually conducting research and writing papers. [2]

weatherwest.bsky.social•14 hours ago

That engagement takes many forms. Today, I give hundreds of news interviews year year & work extensively with outlets behind the scenes to develop their coverage. I also work with state/federal agencies, brief members of state/national legislatures, and more. [3]

weatherwest.bsky.social•14 hours ago

Increasingly, all of this requires a high degree of both personal and institutional flexibility: I'm constantly realigning my schedule in response world events, weather/climate disasters, and unpredictable but important requests from all over the world. [4]

weatherwest.bsky.social•14 hours ago

The focus of this Nature World View piece is not intended to be about me! Instead, the goal is to draw attention to a much broader problem: The reality that deep public engagement by domain experts is not really supported *anywhere*--and that desperately needs to change. [5]

weatherwest.bsky.social•14 hours ago

This is not just a problem in climate, either--it's a much deeper issue not unrelated to the (ongoing) collapse of many journalistic outlets and the general loss of places offering nuanced and meaningfully contextualized discussions on any number of complex issues. [6]

weatherwest.bsky.social•14 hours ago

Another reality: it's even harder for scientists from marginalized groups. Taking on poorly supported roles that actively invite public scrutiny and can even incite harassment is tall order for those who already face barriers to even more traditional science careers. [7]

eco-manzanita.bsky.social•11 hours ago

YES! So urgent to get university+ support for these roles given the US Federal Government programs are being gutted.

comradeasveitz.bsky.social•14 hours ago

Thank you for your continued commentary on this people need to realize this is not the end but the beginning to people saying f the status quo.

climatewateraction.bsky.social•12 hours ago

Agreed! Thanks for sharing!
Rather than asking researchers to become experts on comms, institutions can and should hire skilled communicators that are eager to support the mission.

Goal should be to promote the research and understanding, not just the institution (easy trap to fall into).

weatherwest.bsky.social•11 hours ago

My point here is that sometimes you really do need deep domain expertise in a specific area to offer the needed nuance. That's not to devalue comms-specific expertise, but what I'm articulating here is a different need that can't really be filled without "embedded experts" in specific disciplines.

weatherwest.bsky.social•11 hours ago

I'm not speaking just about researchers discussing their own work--I'm talking about the need for domain experts who have both very specific (but narrower) deep knowledge as well as very broad (and still pretty deep) field knowledge, and to become public-facing sources for that entire field.

weatherwest.bsky.social•11 hours ago

Being a "scientist-communicator" is not the same thing as being a "science communicator." Both are very important! But they are distinctly different roles, often with different aims & audiences, yet are often conflated. And the kinds of institutions that would support them are also likely different.

alaskawx.bsky.social•11 hours ago

Biased opinion: I wound up with ACCAP at University of Alaska Fairbanks because of a concerted effort in the late 2010s to hire later career folks with extensive experience in state/federal agencies and leverage that expertise to help research be more impacts focused and provide unique skill-sets.

danisue.bsky.social•6 hours ago

We have science communicators bc not all scientists are good communicators. Daniel is an exceptional scientist communicator.

dhumph.bsky.social•11 hours ago

You're a extremely good scientist-communicator and science communicator. You choose your words thoughtfully. Hubs and I both listen to your briefings regularly and you def have a gift.

stevedudley.bsky.social•14 hours ago

#scicomm #sciencecommunication

climatenews.bsky.social•14 hours ago

And perhaps European institutions can hire American scientists where the current U.S. administration (and quietly obeying private institutions) will remain hostile for a few years.

jgilligan.org•6 hours ago

Except that European institutions are in the middle of mass layoffs of their own personel.

https://www.dutchnews.nl/2025/02/dutch-universities-start-sacking-staff-as-spending-cuts-bite/

jgilligan.org•6 hours ago

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/feb/01/quarter-of-leading-uk-universities-cutting-staff-due-to-budget-shortfalls

jgilligan.org•6 hours ago

https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/protests-and-alarm-as-european-research-sector-braces-for-cuts/4021027.article

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