Sharing Science Through Shared Values, Goals, and Stories: An Evidence-Based Approach to Making Science Matter

Scientists in and beyond academia face considerable challenges to effectively sharing science, including lack of time and training, systemic disincentives, and the complexity of the modern media/attention landscape. Considering these constraints, 3 achievable shifts in mindset and practice can substantively enhance science communication efforts. Here, we provide evidence-based and experientially informed advice on how to center shared values, articulate science communication goals, and leverage the power of stories to advance our communication goals in connection with the values we share with our stakeholders. In addition to a discussion of relevant, foundational principles in science communication, we provide actionable recommendations and tools scientists can immediately use to articulate their values, identify shared values between stakeholders, set science communication goals, and use storytelling as a means of building and reinforcing relationships around shared values, thereby working productively to achieve those goals

Reimagining the language of engagement in a post-stakeholder world

Language matters in shaping perceptions and guiding behaviour. The term stakeholder is widely used, yet little attention is paid to the possibility that its use may inadvertently perpetuate colonial narratives and reinforce systemic inequities. In this article, we critically examine the limitations of the stakeholder concept and its ambiguity, normativity, and exclusionary implications. We emphasise the importance of using language that gives a voice to marginalised groups, promotes inclusion and equity, and fosters meaningful and reflexive participation in decision-making processes. In critiquing the use of the term and calling for alternative practices, we aim to contribute to the decolonisation of research norms and the creation of more inclusive and equitable societies. Therefore, rather than advocating a single alternative term, we suggest a focus on the people, places, and species affected by decisions, interventions, projects, and issues

Whole Measures Only Partially Measures Up

First paragraph: "Food can be a common and unifying force socially, culturally, and spiritually,” write the authors of Whole Measures for Community Food Systems (WM CFS), a truth with which I heartily agree. In the past decade, I have been a teacher, student, organ­izer, dreamer, schemer, more recently a gar­dener, and always an eater. Much of my personal and professional energy is directed toward food-related initiatives. Particularly in multicultural and multilingual environments, food has proven a com­mon language, providing fertile soil in which these efforts are cultivated...

Extending the Vision: Highlighting the Human Dimensions of the Ecological Society of America

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Human Dimensions: Communication and Engagement, Where Ecology and Human Dimensions Meet

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Community voices: the importance of diverse networks in academic mentoring

Mentor relationships are crucial to retention, success, and wellbeing of women and underrepresented minority scientists in academia. A network of diverse mentors may support achieving long-term career goals, advancement, and retention of both mentors and mentees, thus enhancing diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives

Percent of faculty (grey filled bars), graduate students (gold filled bars), and staff (teal filled bars) who agreed or strongly agreed with employee category-specific questions.

Category-specific questions were developed in consultation with representatives of each category and thus were uniquely relevant to either faculty, graduate students, or staff. The figure presents a subset of the category-specific questions deemed most relevant to each employment group (results for the remaining questions can be found in S5 File).</p

Fig 1 -

Compared with faculty members, graduate students in the Department of Zoology & Physiology at the University of Wyoming (a) agreed to a significantly lesser extent that their mental health has been affected positively by their experience within the department. By contrast, graduate students tended to agree that (b) their mental health has been affected positively by their experience within the Laramie community. Agreement scores on the y-axis denote survey responses to questions within the Mental Health and Well-Being section. Larger, filled circles with error bars indicate mean ± SE, whereas smaller, open circles display the raw data. Violin plots (grey, orange, and green polygons) display the full distribution of the raw data, including the density of each variable. Thus, the different widths in the x-dimension of each polygon are simply peaks in the data distribution and indicate the number of respondents with that particular score.</p