NESS SEMINAR
Ruth O’Connor
@roconscicom
Date: Wednesday 18th April
Time: 12 – 1pm
Room: Room 275
Location: Global Change Institute (Building 20)
Decision-makers access and make sense of science through a variety of communication processes. In this seminar I will discuss what science communication research can offer those of us interested in the interplay between science and policy. I suggest that viewing the science-policy interface through a communication lens encourages us to ask questions about what knowledge is valuable, are we seeking to promote science or enable meaningful dialogue over its application and, what does success look like? I draw upon two case studies to illustrate these ideas. Both involve decision-makers participating in facilitated knowledge co-production processes. In one case natural resource managers from regional natural resource management groups engaged with climate change adaptation science. In the other South African water resource decision-makers engaged with freshwater conservation science.
Ruth O’Connor is a PhD Candidate at the Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science, Australian National University. She has a background in freshwater ecology, and has worked in the Murray-Darling basin and the tropical waterways in Australia’s north. In 2003, Ruth made the switch to communicating about science in knowledge brokering roles for a range of large collaborative research projects.
