Taking Climate Science to Broad Audiences Via Broadcast Television and Internet

Friday, February 12, 2016: 1:00 PM-2:30 PM
Hoover (Marriott Wardman Park)
Marshall Shepherd, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
Scientists are trained to communicate primarily through journals, conferences, and other scholarly formats. The public or policymakers do not consume these formats. Yet, significant science issues face society. If scientists are not comfortable getting out of the ivory tower, people skilled in messaging will fill the “void” with misinformation on topics such as climate change.  Broader traditional and social media offer opportunities if scientists are willing to embrace them. Using the lens of weather and climate, I will address six challenges that I have identified over the past 25 years and offer some pathways forward to address them.