Workshop: Weather, Climate and Communication: More than just Talking about the Weather; 2011 American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting; Seattle, Washington; 23-27 January 2011

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This grant provides funds for the American Meteorological Society (AMS) Policy Program to support 18 communication faculty, post-docs and students to attend their week long Annual Meeting and a companion weekend workshop on communicating weather and climate in order to create and nurture an interdisciplinary collaboration that would cross invisible boundaries that may or may not exist between research disciplines and practitioners. Although hazards researchers and practitioners, including meteorologists and climatologists, have made great strides in physical science, humans still choose how they will react to weather and climate information. Communication scholars, journalists, psychologists and sociologists, to name a few, have also made great strides in their research, focusing on message creation and societal response to risk or environmental issues. However, only a small portion of the overall field is dedicated to the weather and climate context; even less is being used in practice. Although both disciplines have much to offer each other, research disciplines and practice often create invisible boundaries that may or may not nurture multi-disciplinary collaboration. To build true partnerships, scholars need to attend, participate, and actively listen to each other beyond a fifteen-minute presentation. The AMS will help create an environment to establish and formalize research and practice collaborations.Both disciplines have much to offer society at large. The weather and climate community focuses on increasing our understanding of the hazards that affect our world. The communication community focuses on how to create messages and an effective communication environment to convey the risks and science of such hazards. The true benefit to society is when these two communities come together. Research alone does not lead to a safer society. When research communities combine with practice, then society can see the true value and benefit of all the research involved. This single grant will set into motion an ongoing series of collaborations between these communities that will fuel and sustain a continuing and growing societal benefit.