# Presentation: 834874

## AAAS Center for Public Engagement with Science and Technology

- Initial Experiences & Future Plans

## Who are we and what do we do?

- AAAS, the nonprofit science society, seeks to—
- “Advance science and innovation throughout the world, for the benefit of all people.”
- Practical goals—
- Preserve reputation, circa 1848, increase visibility, and engage the public

## AAAS Office of Public Programs: Seeking to communicate with the public and reporters rapidly, equitably & efficiently – world-wide

## Or, “How to shout effectively into the wind ...”

## When this is your goal ...

## But, it feels like this ...

## Engaging the Public and Reporters in S&T               

- Briefings with Rico the Wonder Dog, Peanuts the Guinea Pig, and more
- Family Science Days at the AAAS Meeting drew more than 10,000 in 2004
- Science Talk Experts & Speakers Database --www.aaas.org/ScienceTalk
*Oceans for Everyone* Town Hall Meeting in Seattle

## EurekAlert! – A Key Public-Engagement Vehicle

- 4,800 registered reporters from 50 countries (52% int’l)
- 540,000 public visitors per month on editorially independent site
- 40,000 research news releases in searchable database
- Multi-language portal
- More than 900 experts

## Worldwide reach via EurekAlert! and translations
Science for Kids now draws some 10,000 public and reporter visitors per month
Top story: Ancient catapults and how to make them

- Worldwide reach via EurekAlert! and translations
*Science *for Kids now draws some 10,000 public and reporter visitors per month
- Top story: Ancient catapults and how to make them

## Do cloned mules have the same memories?
Will a moon rock fall on me?
New feature invites kids to engage directly with Science authors
“Science for Kids Exclusives” are distributed to 4,800 reporters and 540,000 public visitors to EurekAlert!
Shameless excuse to use daughter’s photo!

- Will a moon rock fall on me?
- New feature invites kids to engage directly with *Science *authors
*“**Science *for Kids Exclusives” are distributed to 4,800 reporters and 540,000 public visitors to EurekAlert!
- Shameless excuse to use daughter’s photo!

## Slide 11

## Public Appetite for Science, Part I –Science for Kids best-sellers*

- Catapults (593)
- Nudging an asteroid (509)
- Purebred pooch genetics (504)
- Sea shells & red blood cells (499)
- Plant genes to ice cream - Guar (498)
- Baboon babies, social moms (417)
- Languages worldwide (410)
- Tortoise & volcano (300)
- Dog vocabulary (229)
- Color of cheese (213)
- _Stories drawing the most public visitors _
- _in the first month of their posting_.

- _WHAT DID WE PRESENT?_
- 29 animal stories
- 6 space stores
- 4 language/people/brains
- 4 plant/food
- 3 archaeology/geology
- 2 weather/atmosphere
- 2 technology
- 1 plant/medicine
- 1 plant

## Public Appetite for Science, Part II – Top Stories from the 2004 AAAS Annual Meeting

_*US*_				_*Internationally*_
- Stem cell research		Stem cell research
- Solar system 			Women & hormones
- Pregnancy & alcohol		Dog genomics
- Dog genomics			Love & marriage
- Love & marriage			Athletes & doping
- Athletes & doping			Human pathogens
- Human pathogens		Sir David King / climate
- Cloned mules			Solar system
- Languages world-wide		Alzheimer’s
- Cosmology			Pregnancy & alcohol

## Public Appetite for Science, Part III –Science Press Package Survey

- _Subject_				_% of Reporters Ranking _					_it “Extremely Important”_
- Medicine			47.8 percent (132 reporters)
- Stem cells & cloning		38.0 percent (105 reporters)
- Environment			28.6 percent (79 reporters)
- Space science			28.3 percent (78 reporters)
- Psychology & neuroscience	26.8 percent (74 reporters)
- Technology			26.8 percent (74 reporters)
- Dinosaurs 			25.7 percent (71 reporters)
- Animals			23.6 percent (65 reporters)
- Evolution & other fossils		20.7 percent (57 reporters)
- Earth science			15.2 percent (42 reporters)
- Archaeology			14.9 percent (41 reporters)

## Public Appetite for Science, Part IV –Science Coverage in 2003

- _Animals_ (cloned mules, orangutan culture, baboon moms, Monarch butterfly migrations, shark populations, hummingbirds, anchovies and sardines, more )
- _Fossils & paleontology_ (ancient skeletons, giant guinea pig-like fossil the size of a buffalo, the Alpine Iceman, the South African Apeman, more )
- _Health threats_ (obesity, depression and stress, breast and ovarian cancer )
- _Brain science_ (pain, pheromones and the brain )
- _Environmental threats_ (ice shelf collapse, climate change and Mayan culture, pre-whaling numbers, coral reefs in peril, GM crops, endangered species, Brazil nuts )
- _Other_ (space, stem cells & cloning, technology)

## AAAS Center for Public Engagement with Science and Technology

## Two Primary Goals of the New Center

- Provide an open forum for the public’s concerns and hopes regarding scientific advances; and
- Provide an opportunity for the public to help frame future research agendas.

## AAAS CEO’s Mandate on Public Engagement

- “We need to engage the public in a more open and honest, bi-directional dialogue about science and technology and the products they give rise to, addressing not only the inherent benefits, but also the limits, perils and pitfalls. We need to respect the public's perspective and concerns develop a partnership that can respond to them.”
- 	--AAAS CEO Dr. Alan Leshner, *Science*

## Two Initial Public-Engagement Activities in 2004

- Oceans for Everyone Town Hall Meeting
- Family Science Days at the AAAS Annual Meeting

## Oceans for Everyone Town Hall Meeting

- February 15, 2004 during the AAAS Annual Meeting, 2-5 pm, free to the public
- 230+ attendees (including 3-4 local policymakers)
- Five speakers (Alan Leshner of AAAS; Jane Lubchenco, Oregon State; John Delaney, University of Washington; Usha Varanasi, Northwest Fisheries; Jeff Koenings, Washington Fish & Wildlife)
- Ira Flatow of NPR served as moderator

## Key Tactics – Oceans for Everyone

- Media partner – The Science Channel arranged for real-time webcast, played at the Annual Meeting Internet café, and delayed-broadcast radio spot, as well as an advance feature piece for TV
- Ira Flatow was seen as a draw
- Advance focus groups with a dozen partnering organizations (Seattle Aquarium, Pacific Science Center, Puget Sound Water Quality Action Team, etc)
- Results of a public opinion survey released in a press briefing two hours before the town hall meeting

## Public Opinion Survey Results

- _Embargoed release to reporters_ --
- “Most adults believe that human activity is endangering the Earth’s oceans, yet less than one-third feel empowered to influence positive change. This is a major finding of a national survey released today by AAAS, the world’s largest general science society, in conjunction with a public town hall meeting on marine science issues.”

## Embargoed Release to Reporters – Cont’d

- “Empowering average citizens by giving them a voice in setting the national research agenda is a primary goal of the town hall meeting, `Oceans for Everyone,’ hosted by the AAAS Center for Public Engagement with Science and Technology.”

## Format for First AAAS Town Hall 

- 15-20 minute presentations by each of the five speakers, followed by Q&A with the audience, moderated by Ira Flatow
- Breakout working groups were tasked to review a “Dialogue Module,” moderated by team leaders from partnering organizations
- Porter-Novelli and Public Agenda assisted by conducting a public-opinion survey and handling the town hall logistics, respectively

## Key Outcomes & Lessons Learned

- Good attendance (230+), but little diversity – business, blue-collar workers under-represented.
- Recommendations -- Start early, overbook by 10-20 percent, and push partners to help recruit through their own communications channels.

## Quality of Dialogue & Presentations

- Q&A was lively!
- When asked to report on “three policy directions,” the audience “got it,” and dialogue was great.
- At other times, moderator had a tough time preventing grand-standers from dominating the mike.
- NUMBER ONE PROBLEM – Some panelists were too long-winded. A “reactive mode” format would help to address this problem.

## Proposed Format for Future Town Halls

- Reactive-mode format may stimulate dialogue and insights (See *Washington Post *article on the 2003 event with the Dalai Lama and Eric Lander at MIT)
- Select the best moderator you can afford
- Speakers -- Diverse public audiences want to know: “Have I seen them on TV?”

## Potential Future Town Hall Meetings

- Public Health (esp. issues affecting families & children)
- _Other Possible Topics_
- Science, technology and national securityStem cell research and cloningBioterrorismClimate controlThe promise of genetic medicineThe environmentGenetically modified foodsSpace explorationEvolutionNanotechnology