Education and public outreach concerning freshwater harmful algal blooms in Southern Louisiana
Education and public outreach concerning freshwater harmful algal blooms in Southern Louisiana
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DOI：
10.1016/j.hal.2014.03.008
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发表时间：
2014-05-01
期刊：
影响因子：
6.6
通讯作者：
Bargu, Sibel
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Smith, Emily A.;Blanchard, Pamela B.;Bargu, Sibel
与其他发达国家相比，美国的科学素养非常低。公众对基本科学原理的理解不足（28%的人被认为具有科学素养），解决这一问题的外联工作有限。在研究淡水系统中有害藻类大量繁殖等具体问题时，几乎没有任何积极的外联方案。这项研究的基础是帮助公众了解有害藻华是什么，以及存在什么视觉指标来警告它们的存在。进行了初步调查，以了解渔民对藻类和有害藻华的了解。参与者（11-70岁）听说过藻类（100%），但很少有人听说过有害藻华（40%），当参与者被问及这个问题时，很少有人能定义藻类。根据从公众收集的数据编制了一本教育小册子，并分发给这些捕鱼区。对这些地区的后续采访表明，这些小册子正在被人们拿走，但事实证明很难找到那些真正的人。一旦小册子被浏览，许多人能够指出一些新的东西，他们了解藻类，如藻类产生氧气。科学家需要发挥更积极的作用，向公众传播他们的研究成果，以增加科学知识。(C)2014爱思唯尔有限公司版权所有。
Scientific Literacy in America is very low compared to other developed countries. The public has a poor understanding of basic scientific principles (28% are considered scientifically literate) and outreach efforts to address this problem are limited. When looking at specific issues such as harmful algal blooms in freshwater systems there is hardly any active outreach programs. The basis for this study was to help the public understand what harmful algal blooms are and what visual indicators exist to warn of their presence. Initial surveys were conducted to find out what fishermen knew about algae and harmful algal blooms. The participants (age 11-70) had heard of algae (100%), but very few had heard of a harmful algal bloom (40%) and when the participants were pressed on the subject, few could define algae. An educational brochure was created from the baseline of data collected from the public and was distributed to the same fishing areas. A follow-up interview of these areas showed that the brochures were being taken by people, but finding those actual people proved difficult. Once brochures were viewed, many people were able to indicate something new they learned about algae such as algae produces oxygen. Scientists need to take a more active role in conveying their research to the public in order to increase scientific knowledge. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.