EE as connection between Science and Community

I’ve been attending the UMN’s intriguing Public Engagement Symposia Series.

One thing that was identified at both symposia is a need for translators to communicate between scientists and community.The values and methods of communicating with these two groups are very different, making direct communication nearly impossible.

The role of translator between scientist and community member is a role Environmental Educators have been playing for decades: making it real to the community how environmental science effects their everyday lives.

Perhaps Environmental Educators could translate their skills to other types of science – health, psychology, etc. Additionally, they may be able to help the communication flow from the community to scientists; pass on information about the community’s needs and therefore obtain their buy-in.

This strong connection to local communities with help scientists fulfill national grant standards and foster more relevant and valuable research.

On a related note, here is an cool bit of science that would translate well to an environmental education program. Scientists have developed a software program which identifies Tigers by there strip pattern. The software is free, and could be cool in a program developed by a tech-savvy EEer.

Tiger Stripe Mapping Software