Weather and Climate in the Newsroom: Expanding the Climate Matters Network and Its Science Communication Research

在获得该奖项之前的七年里，来自乔治梅森大学的首席研究员和一个由科学家、专业协会、科学传播研究人员和广播气象学家组成的国家团队一直致力于在电视和其他天气广播中提供有关气候和天气相互作用的当前研究的信息。 建立了一个气候事项网络，涉及全国119个媒体市场218个电台的350名天气预报员。 该倡议的一个特别重点是帮助公众更加熟悉当地天气及其趋势与气候动态之间的关系背后的科学。 全国各地的许多社区都在讨论如何理解、规划和适应天气变化对与其经济和福祉有关的重要因素（如自然资源、自然灾害、农业、工业和健康）的潜在影响。 这一持续项目的目标是扩大地方新闻媒体新闻部分对这类信息报道的数量和性质。 通过激励当地对气候影响及其与个人和社区决策关系的报告，该项目将有可能帮助数百万美国人更好地了解和应对影响他们生活的关键因素。 该项目由推进非正式STEM学习（AISL）计划资助，该计划旨在推进非正式环境中STEM学习设计和开发的新方法和基于证据的理解。这包括提供多种途径，以扩大获得和参与STEM学习经验，推进非正式环境中STEM学习的创新研究和评估，以及发展参与者对深入学习的理解。 该项目涉及五项相互关联、相辅相成的活动：（1）通过形成性研究和过程评价，特别是对每个参与的新闻专业协会的记者进行深入访谈和随机抽样调查，积累知识;（2）为气候事项网络招聘400名新闻主任、制片人、记者和其他气象播报员;（3）为网络成员提供气候报告培训和专业发展;（4）几乎每周向网络所有成员制作和分发气候事项报告包;（5）评估气候报告对公众理解科学的影响。

Over the seven years prior to this award, the principal investigator from George Mason University and a national team of scientists, professional societies, science communication researchers, and broadcast meteorologists have been engaged in an effort to include in TV and other weather broadcasts information about current research on the interactions of climate and weather. A Climate Matters network has been established that involves 350 weathercasters at 218 stations, in 119 media markets, nationwide. A particular focus of the initiative has been to help the public become more familiar with the science behind how their local weather and its trends are related to the dynamics of the climate. Many communities nationwide are engaged in deliberations about how to understand, plan for, and adapt to the potential impacts of changes in their weather on important factors pertaining to their economy and well-being, such as natural resources, natural disasters, agriculture, industry, and health. The goal of this continuing project is to expand the quantity and nature of the coverage of such information into the news segments of local news media. By stimulating local reporting on climate impacts and their relationships to personal and community-wide decision-making, this project will potentially help millions of Americans better understand and respond to critical factors that are affecting their lives. This project is funded by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program, which seeks to advance new approaches to, and evidence-based understanding of, the design and development of STEM learning in informal environments. This includes providing multiple pathways for broadening access to and engagement in STEM learning experiences, advancing innovative research on and assessment of STEM learning in informal environments, and developing understandings of deeper learning by participants. The project involves five inter-related, complementary activities: (1) Knowledge building through formative research and process evaluation, specifically in-depth interviews and random sample surveys of journalists in each of the participating journalism professional societies; (2) Recruiting 400 news directors, producers, reporters and additional weathercasters into the Climate Matters network; (3) Providing climate reporting training and professional development to members of the network; (4) Producing and distributing Climate Matters reporting packages to all members of the network on a near-weekly basis; and (5) Evaluating the impacts of the climate reporting on public understanding of science.