Blog
Leadership in Action
Where there’s smoke, there’s fire: Using effective communication to bridge the gap between wildfire science and policy
Originally published in Federation of American Scientists
In an environment where fire seasons are turning to fire years, and summer skies across North America are filled with wildfire smoke from as far away as another coast, the need for scientifically accurate wildland fire policy has never been greater.
Over the past several months, COMPASS Science Communi...
Bridging Communities
Listening to Understand
One of the most challenging (and exciting!) aspects of communication is that our audience is never a blank canvas. Rather, getting to know them is more like trying to interpret a Jackson Pollock painting¹. Before we’ve even shared a single word, the person we’re looking to connect with already has a set of existing, entwined beliefs about the world, themselves...
Announcements
Elevating the Science of Blue Carbon in Federal Policy: Summary from a Science and Decisions Roundtable
We are seeing the implications of a changing climate more everyday, and the ocean plays a critical role. Recent studies and research including Restore America’s Estuaries recently published Blue Carbon National Action Plan have identified the potential of the ocean as not a “victim” of climate change, but a source of solutions to help close gaps in strategi...
Leadership in Action
Cultivating Cross-boundary Collaborations
While environmental regulations and policies are often fragmented across geographical, political, and social borders, environmental risks and impacts are transboundary. To fully address this paradox, science needs to reach across borders too.
Wilburforce Leaders, Erin Sexton, Chris Sergeant, and Jonathan Moore, are doing just that.
Chris and Erin are both res...
Tools & Resources
Laying the Groundwork: 5 Tips to Prepare for a Difficult Conversation
Imagine that you start a conversation with a new person at an outreach event. They ask about the work that you do, and you share that you’re a scientist studying the impacts of climate change on coastal wetlands.
*Eyeroll* “Oh great, you’re one of THOSE people.”
Caught off-guard, you ask what they mean.
“I’m so tired of hearing about the ...