The annual lecture of the Phillips/C. J. “Pete” Silas Program in Ethics and Leadership was presented on October 18, 2017 from 3:00 p.m.- 4:00 p.m. in the College of Computing, Room 016, Georgia Tech.Roger Pielke, Jr. is with the University of Colorado since 2001. Roger’s research focuses on science, innovation and politics.Runtime: 67:12 minutesFracking, climate change, GMOs.
These are examples of scientific and technological issues that have become highly polarizing in
contemporary American politics. This sets up a challenging situation for scientists and other experts.
On the one hand, political conflict is the lifeblood of democratic governance. But on the other hand,
political conflict can compromise effective policy making that relies on technical expertise. What roles
might experts play in issues that are hyper-politicized? In this talk I’ll draw on research on science in
politics as well as my own personal experiences to offer scientists some constructive alternatives for
participating effectively in modern democracy while avoiding the pitfalls of politicization
