New practices in science communication: Roles of professionals in science and technology development

Currently, Science Communication (SC) professionals who are working in the context of science and technology development, have various jobs at universities, government agencies, NGOs and industry. Their positions have changed in recent years, due to developments in science and technology and to social trends. Increasingly, SC practitioners play a role as mediator in participatory processes, or facilitator of stakeholder meetings. These roles require decisions in difficult to manage processes and in situations that are hard to overlook. A decision support system would be able to help them. In this paper we describe the changing role of SC practitioners and the context in which they make decisions. Then we argue which requirements decision support systems must meet in order to support SC practitioners in their decision making processes. Our paper is based on a literature review on professionalization and in-depth interviews with science communication professionals. Our main conclusion is that a decision support system should not only support the SC practitioner‟s instrumental decisions, but shoul

Putting responsible research and innovation into practice at a local level in South Africa

Chapter 3 in the book Science Communication in South Africa.Published by African Minds

Inspiring and cultivating science awareness in young audiences through dialogue and astronomy. Discussion of three experiences

Nowadays, science and technology and its applications impact our societies in various ways. Some of these applications are easily accepted, while other applications are disputed or even rejected. At the same time, increasingly, it is expected that people are able to deliberate the consequences of applications when accepting or rejecting applications. Therefore, communication about science and technology and its applications with various stakeholders, such as citizens, consumers or children, is considered necessary. One way to better understand the complex processes of acceptance and rejection in the science-society relationship, is by stimulating and analysing interests of young people, our future scientific citizens, in science and technology. In this paper, we describe three different experiences on science outreach with children and young people. First, UNAWE is a project that aims to engage and inspire young children in the age group of 4 to 10 years old, especially the underprivileged by using astronomy as a tool. Second, experiences are described with astronomy popularization in Brazil. Videocasts and hands-on activities developed with children and teenagers in Sấo Paulo state in Brazil are given. Finally, experiences with children in Dutch Science Cafés, called Zabuki, are described. Learning from these experiences can enhance our understanding of the complex science-society relationship as well as the experiences can inspire our future scientific citizens (Millar & Osborne, 2000, Siune et al, 2009)

The science-media interaction in biomedical research in the Netherlands. Opinions of scientists and journalists on the science-media relationship

Scientists’ participation in science communication and public engagement activities is considered important and a duty. However, in particular, the science-media relationship has not been studied frequently. In this paper, we present findings from interviews with both scientists and journalists which were guided by the Theory of Planned Behavior. Results show that different behavioural, normative and control beliefs underlie scientists’ and journalists’ participation in science-media interactions. Both groups are positive about science-media interactions, but scientists perceive various disadvantages in this relationship while journalists perceive mainly practical barriers. Enhancing mutual understanding and further research is suggested

Abundance and diversity of ascidians in the southern Gulf of Chiriquí, Pacific Panama

© The Author(s), 2011. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Aquatic Invasions 6 (2011): 381-390, doi:10.3391/ai.2011.6.4.03.Little is known about the ascidian fauna of Pacific Panama. Ascidian surveys were conducted in the southern Gulf of Chiriquí on the Pacific coast of Panama in January 2008 and 2009. Surveys along linear transects at 2-3 m depth (snorkel, 2008) and 5 and 12 m depth (SCUBA, 2009) were conducted at multiple sites within a chain of islands extending out from the mainland. Twelve different ascidian taxa were observed with mean densities of up to ~17 ascidians m-2. The most abundant species was Rhopalaea birkelandi. Two of the most abundant taxa (Ascidia sp., Pyura sp.) appear to represent previously undescribed species. Several species of didemnids were also abundant. Ascidians were most abundant near the coast of the mainland and were less abundant near the islands farthest offshore. These data on Panamanian ascidian communities provide a baseline of local biodiversity against which it will be possible to determine whether the communities change over time, if additional species become introduced to the region, or if native Panamanian species become invasive in other parts of the world.This research was supported by Ocean Life Institute Exploratory Grant (250513.38) to Carman and Sievert, Tropical Research Initiative Grant (253750.09) to Carman, Molyneaux and Sievert, a University of Hartford International Center Faculty Grant to Bullard, and CNPq senior postdoctoral grant to Rocha (200914/2008-1)

Inspiring and cultivating science awareness in young audiences through dialogue and astronomy. Discussion of three experiences

Abstract Nowadays, science and technology and its applications impact our societies in various ways. Some of these applications are easily accepted, while other applications are disputed or even rejected. At the same time, increasingly, it is expected that people are able to deliberate the consequences of applications when accepting or rejecting applications. Therefore, communication about science and technology and its applications with various stakeholders, such as citizens, consumers or children, is considered necessary. One way to better understand the complex processes of acceptance and rejection in the science-society relationship, is by stimulating and analysing interests of young people, our future scientific citizens, in science and technology. In this paper, we describe three different experiences on science outreach with children and young people. First, UNAWE is a project that aims to engage and inspire young children in th