The National Academy of Sciences is proposing a three-day Sackler Colloquium on the Science of Science Communication to be held in September 2013. This conference, which will build upon the themes of the colloquium held in 2012, will bring together communication researchers, scientists, and science communication practitioners to foster interdisciplinary discussion and promote the understanding and use of research in confronting science communication challenges of national import. Prominent communication researchers will cover subjects such as "Belief and Attitude Formation about Science Topics," "Communicating Uncertainty," "Influences of Social Networks", and "Narratives in Science Communication" during the first two days of the conference. Concurrent workshops on four topics of national interest will comprise Day Three.
The meeting will be held at the National Academy of Sciences, and will be webcast live as well as archived. The proceedings of Days 1 and 2 will be published in a special issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. In addition, written summaries of the research results and communication recommendations from the workshop on Day 3 will be distributed free on the National Academies website to highlight the importance of the role of research in effective science communication.
Goals of the colloquium are to generate an appreciation of the power of social science research to guide more effective communication of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) to help identify the gaps in communication research, and to promote sustained STEM communication programs. The colloquium will highlight the importance of the role of research in effective science communication, and strengthen understanding, appreciation, and collaboration between disciplines. It will also further strengthen the bridge between communication research and practice with the goal of improving the science of science communication.
To some degree, science communication is an art. Scientists like Carl Sagan and Richard Feynman displayed remarkable charisma as they informed and inspired a generation of curious minds. But in addition to innate abilities, science communication benefits dramatically from careful research about what makes communication more effective. To this end, the National Academy of Sciences developed the Sackler Colloquia on "The Science of Science Communication." The first of these Sackler Colloquia took place in early 2012, and the second in September 2013. For the most recent colloquium, our goals were: Improve the understanding of relations between the scientific community and the public; Assess the scientific basis for effective communication about science; Strengthen ties among and between communication scientists; Promote the greater integration of the disciplines and approaches pertaining to effective communication; and Foster an institutional commitment to evidence-based communication science. To achieve these goals, we created a three-day program with three distinct formats. Day 1 was an interdisciplinary discussion among top communication researchers. Day 2 was geared towards scientists and communicators who wanted to reach diverse audiences with greater effect. Day 3 was devoted to sustained, small-group interaction focusing on practical applications within four key fields: global climate change, nanotechnology, obesity/nutrition, and evolution. Of the themes that emerged from the colloquium, one was the power of storytelling. By conveying scientific discoveries in the context of compelling narratives, lay audiences are more likely to remember abstract knowledge and convey it to their peers. Another important theme was the importance of understanding the audiences with whom we are trying to communicate. If we are ignorant of the mindset and attitudes of our listeners, our presentations will likely sound hollow and unconvincing. An additional theme was the influence of our social networks in how we receive scientific information, how we evaluate it, and how we share it with others. In an age of rapidly changing media, we can take advantage of new opportunities rather than be bewildered by them. By all measures, the colloquium was a major success. Below are some of the notable results: 47 speakers, discussants, and facilitators. 547 in-person participants over three days, sold out on each of the three days. 11,000 views of the live webcast. 13,000 tweets from around the world using the hashtag #sackler with a potential reach of 5 million. At least two speakers—Susan T. Fiske and Katherine Milkman—were so inspired that they embarked on new research projects for the colloquium itself. Already we have heard from a number of researchers, including Kathleen Hall Jamieson and Dietram Scheufele, who plan to collaborate after experiencing the colloquium. Since the event concluded, the Sackler Colloquium has impacted broader audiences. Videos of each session are freely available for viewing online (~3000 views so far), and university faculty have used the recordings in their classrooms. Additionally, we have provided written summaries in multiple formats of the sessions in order to highlight the most salient aspects of the colloquium. As of July 1, 842 people have downloaded the free pdf of the summary, and a printed version is also available for purchase at The National Academies Press (www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=18478). Through the three-day Sackler Colloquium, more than 500 natural scientists, social scientists, and practitioners learned about the rigorous research being conducted on science communication, and we expect that this knowledge will help inform and enrich their ongoing communication with a broad array of audiences.
