ASC2020 - 16-19 Feb, Melbourne

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Understanding how nature works: five pathways towards a more ecologically literate world

The sustainability of human life on Earth depends upon the integrity of the relationship between humanity and nature. Nature supports humanity, and knowledge and understanding of how nature works form the foundation of ecological literacy. It is ecological literacy that underpins our capacity as humans to make well-informed decisions about how to live in sustainable ways. It is therefore of concern that levels of ecological knowledge and understanding within many contemporary human communities may be too low to enable effective decision making in support of sustainable human settlement.

Our concern led to an exploration of the concept of ecological literacy and the assessment of a sample of South Australian adults. We found that while ecological literacy can vary significantly in correlation with a range of socio-demographic and psychographic characteristics, no one factor is necessarily more critical than another. Based on this work we have identified five pathways for growing eco-literate communities. While the patterns and drivers of ecological knowledge and understanding naturally vary between cultures and communities, our findings certainly invite serious consideration for a society, and indeed a world, that aspires to cultivate informed citizenry, leadership and governance with capacity for building sustainable human settlements.

Many people are constantly searching for ways to assist communities in becoming more sustainable. We suggest that ecologically literate leadership and citizenry is necessary for achieving sustainability. Our research has uncovered several pathways which can lead to more ecologically literate communities and thus pave the way for more sustainable human settlements. This presentation aims to convey the essence of our findings and provide a foundation for developing policies and processes that can make a difference

 

Session Producer

Sheryn Pitman, Program Manager – Inspiring South Australia, South Australian Museum

 

When: Monday 17th February, 12:00 noon-1:00pm
Where: Room G02, Learning and Teaching Building, 19 Ancora Imparo Way, Clayton
Hashtag: TBC

 

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Towards a new model of science communication

Most science engagement activities have objectives and characteristics that reflect a mix of those theorised for deficit, dialogue and sometimes participatory activities. This coexistence of models in practice appears to be not merely an unintentional lucky accident but a necessity for science communication activities to achieve their objectives, especially when the science is controversial.

The models proposed by scholars do not appear to take into account the extensive nature and mix of objectives for initiating or participating in science communication activities.

My research of practice improves our understanding of how theorised science communication models might be further shaped to better reflect and even influence practice. I propose the new nexus model for science communication and describe how this can be implemented within the practical contexts of considering the objectives for engagement, who is involved in the engagement activity, and how positive relationships can be fostered among those participating.

 

How will your session be structured?
Presentation of research with questions at the end.

 

What type of session will this be?
Research presentation.

 

What will participants gain from attending your session?

This presentation and poster will introduce a new model for science communication that has emerged from my PhD: the nexus model. This new model is designed to get both scholars and practitioners to think differently about how they research or practice science communication.

 

Presenter

Jenni Metcalfe, Director, Econnect Communication

 

When: In session Wednesday 19th February, 11:00am–12:50pm
Where: Room G01, Learning and Teaching Building, 19 Ancora Imparo Way, Clayton
Hashtag: TBC

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Do common names influence willingness to conserve threatened species?

Words matter and how we name things can have a particularly large influence on how others perceive them. Previous research has demonstrated that animal common names can influence willingness to conserve species (Karaffa et al. 2012), and may even impact their conservation support and threat status. We use experimental surveys to test the influence of five different “common name frames” on perceived conservation importance, willingness to donate, and willingness to volunteer. We also test whether these responses are mediated by information seeking and processing variables in the audience – problem recognition, constraint recognition, level of involvement – to disentangle how each name change influences perceptions and intended behaviour. This work could inform strategic name changes of species common names to improve perceptions, support and ultimately conservation success.

 

Presenter

Emily Gregg, PhD Candidate, RMIT University

 

When: Monday 17th February, 2:00-3:30
Where: Room G03, Learning and Teaching Building, 19 Ancora Imparo Way, Clayton
Hashtag: TBC

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Social implications of knee-jerk prescribing practices in response to opioid science communications in Australian and the USA

The phrase “opioid epidemic” has become commonplace in recent years. In Australia and the USA, one-sided science communication addressed to medical practitioners about public health statistics has resulted in unintended social implications for chronic pain sufferers.

This communication has since been recanted by the authors in both countries, but has led to unintended and avoidable knee-jerk responses by both doctors and policy-makers, including doctors abandoning their patients, patients enduring rapid opioid withdrawal (which has significantly higher risk of death than opioid overdose), state legislation, and even suicides. This case study explores how this happened, and what we can learn for the future.

Presenter

S. Jade Barclay, Medical Writer, PhD Candidate, The University of Sydney

 

When: Wednesday 19th February, 2:40pm-3:25pm
Where: Room G01, Learning and Teaching Building, 19 Ancora Imparo Way, Clayton
Hashtag: TBC

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Zantac headlines are a greater health risk than Zantac tablets

Zantac (Ranitidine) has recently been recalled due to a probable carcinogen found in slightly higher than expected levels in a batch of the product. This recall is a voluntary act of social responsibility by the company, however the mainstream media and social media representations have incited panic with sensationalised headlines like “FDA says heartburn drug Zantac could cause cancer.”

The literature shows that patients don’t discern risk well when it comes to comparing medical treatments and evaluating healthcare options. Patients are meant to give informed consent about the treatments they receive, but they are at the mercy of their providing physicians and the media to get science information about the risks and benefits of their proposed treatments. These kinds of communication tactics and incomplete representation of science information in the media contribute to medical distrust, confusion, and panic that prevent good healthcare decision-making.

 

Presenter

S. Jade Barclay

 

When: Wednesday 19th February, 2:40pm-3:25pm
Where: Room G01, Learning and Teaching Building, 19 Ancora Imparo Way, Clayton
Hashtag: TBC

 

 

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The Trees Speak, and people listen

Boorna Waanginy: The Trees Speak was the opening event for Perth Festival 2019. A free, immersive light and sound installation, the show was updated and remounted following a successful season in 2017. Using cutting edge technology and a collaborative team of artists, scientists and Indigenous Elders, Boorna Waanginy tells the story of south-western WA’s unique biodiversity and explores the parallels between Indigenous knowledge and western science.

In 2019, the show involved thousands of school children, included a practical component to help people take on-ground action to help biodiversity, doubled its audience to over 200,000 and had rave reviews around the world.

Can art change the conversation around conservation and how do we convert the conversation into action?

 

Presenter

Mandy Bamford, Ecologist and Science Communicator, Bamford Consulting Ecologists

 

When: Monday 17th February, 2:00-3:30
Where: Room G03, Learning and Teaching Building, 19 Ancora Imparo Way, Clayton
Hashtag: TBC

 

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Selling science communication: how to convince an organisation that science communication really matters

Are you a science communication pioneer? Or do you want to be? Are you the first person in your organisation with ‘science communication’ in your job description? Or perhaps the only science communicator in a sea of non-communicating scientists? Or maybe you’re the only ‘science-y’ communications person in a mainstream marketing department?

Sometimes it’s tough to convince the people you work with that: a) science communication is a thing, and b) it’s a thing worth doing well. In this presentation, we’ll tell you about our experiences of being science communicators in a government agency. We’ll talk about our ups and downs, and share how we have convinced (almost) everyone that science communication really does matter.

 

Presenter

Catherine Healy, Science Communication Advisor, Environment Protection Authority Victoria

 

When: Tuesday 18th February, 11:15am-12:15pm

Where: Room G21, Learning and Teaching Building, 19 Ancora Imparo Way, Clayton
Hashtag: TBC

 

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Science internship attitudes: interns vs supervisors vs organisation

ICRAR runs a paid intern program every summer, selecting eight undergraduate science students to conduct an astronomy-based research project over the summer, closely supervised by at least one researcher. The goal of the program is to attract students to study a PhD at ICRAR, but we discovered after evaluation that both the students and supervisors have different opinions on what the program is for. What do they think and why? And how did we try to change their attitudes the following year?

 

Presenter

Cass Rowles, Cosmic Communicator, The International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR)

 

When: Tuesday 18th February, 11:15am-12:15pm

Where: Room G21, Learning and Teaching Building, 19 Ancora Imparo Way, Clayton
Hashtag: TBC

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