Communicating with the public: opportunities and rewards for individual ecologists
Communicating with the public: opportunities and rewards for individual ecologists
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DOI：
10.1890/090168
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发表时间：
2010-08-01
影响因子：
10.3
通讯作者：
Strayer, David L.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Pace, Michael L.;Hampton, Stephanie E.;Strayer, David L.
许多生态学家对向公众传播科学和解决社会对环境问题的关切感兴趣。个别生态学家需要考虑是否、何时以及如何做到这一点。我们认为，公众推广活动对生态学家职业生涯的各个阶段都是有益的。这种参与的机会多种多样，而且在所需的时间和专业知识方面可以有很大的不同。生态学中的趋势，特别是侧重于社会生态系统的研究，可能会促进与利益攸关方和政策制定者之间的更多互动。为了在这些互动中发挥作用，生态学家应该考虑新的交流方法，并意识到科学家可以在公共政策辩论中发挥的潜在作用。专业生态学家需要与非科学受众接触；在考虑晋升、表彰和奖励时，应包括对此类活动的审查，同时也应承认科学家个人的倾向和能力的差异。然而，关于生态学家应该致力于公共宣传的时间、时间分配在职业生涯中可能发生的变化，或者如何评估此类活动的质量，目前几乎没有标准。我们要求生态学家考虑如何评估与公众互动的质量，以及如何适当地奖励这些努力。
Many ecologists are interested in communicating science to the public and addressing societal concerns about environmental issues. Individual ecologists need to consider whether, when, and how this should be done. We propose that public outreach activities can be beneficial for ecologists at all stages of their career. There are diverse opportunities for such involvement, and these can vary enormously in terms of time and expertise required. Trends within the science of ecology, especially research focused on social-ecological systems, are likely to promote increased interactions with stakeholders and policy makers. To be effective in these interactions, ecologists should consider new approaches to communication and be aware of the potential roles scientists can play in public policy debates. Professional ecologists need to engage with non-scientific audiences; a review of such activities should be included in considerations for promotion, recognition, and awards, while also acknowledging variations in the inclinations and abilities of individual scientists. There are, however, few current standards for how much time ecologists should commit to public outreach, how time allocation might change over a career, or how to evaluate the quality of such activities. We ask ecologists to consider ways to evaluate the quality of interactions with the public and how to reward these efforts appropriately.