Dear Colleagues,

Please see the following announcement below regarding two sessions at the 2014 American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting that may be of interest to you and colleagues. The conference will be taking place December 15-19, 2014 in San Francisco, CA.

Apologies in advance for cross-posting.

Kind Regards,
Kristin Timm

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Kristin Timm  | Science Communications Lead
Scenarios Network for Alaska and Arctic Planning
University of Alaska Fairbanks
P: 907.474.7064  | C: 907.590.7576
kmtimm@alaska.edu   |   @SNAPandACCAP

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Using Social Science Research to Inform and Improve the Practice of Climate Change Communication

Are you and your colleagues using social science research to inform and improve climate change communication efforts? We are encouraging organizations, individuals, and teams to submit abstracts to present at the 2014 American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting session entitled, “Using Social Science Research to Inform and Improve the Practice of Climate Change Communication”

First authors must be AGU members, and the deadline to submit an abstract is 6 August 2014, 11:59 Eastern Daylight Time. Abstracts are limited to 2000 characters and the submission fee is $65/$35 for students.

To submit an abstract to this session, please visit: https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm14/webprogrampreliminary/Session3008.html

Session Description:
It is now widely accepted that changes in climate have and will continue to impact natural and human systems around the world. Public engagement with climate change is an essential part of mitigating and adapting to the impacts. A rapidly growing body of social science addresses this subject through research on beliefs and attitudes, understanding and engagement, and behavioral responses to climate change. This rich body of research, however, is infrequently applied to the actual practice of climate change communication. Given what is now known, relying solely on intuition to communicate about climate change is imprudent and in the worst-case scenario, can degrade public engagement. In an effort to build momentum towards a more scientific approach to communication about climate change, this session seeks presentations from organizations, individuals, or teams that are conducting and applying science communication research in the development, application, and evaluation of their climate change communication efforts.

Session ID: 3008

Session conveners: Kristin Timm, Liz Neeley, Karen Akerlof, and John Kotcher

For questions and more information about the session, please email: Kristin Timm kmtimm@alaska.edu

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Science Communication: Defining a Profession at the Crossroads

Are you or your colleagues helping to advance the field of science communication through science communication professional development or innovative models that bridge communication research and practice? We are encouraging organizations, individuals, and teams to submit abstracts to present at the 2014 American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting session entitled, “Science Communication: Defining a Profession at the Crossroads”

First authors must be AGU members, and the deadline to submit an abstract is 6 August 2014, 11:59 Eastern Daylight Time. Abstracts are limited to 2000 characters and the submission fee is $65/$35 for students.

To submit an abstract to this session, please visit: https://agu.confex.com/agu/fm14/webprogrampreliminary/Session3558.html

Session Description:
Ask any science communication professional about their background and you’re likely to hear a wide range of answers—journalism, teaching, social or biophysical research, and more. With few direct paths into the profession, science communication professionals take equally diverse approaches in doing their job. Whether it’s their varied backgrounds, a shortage of professional norms, or a lack of familiarity with communication research, few practitioners utilize or engage in science communication research. Researchers and practitioners alike recognize this problematic disconnect. To move both research and the profession forward, practitioners must help identifying relevant questions for research and researchers must discuss the practical implications of their research findings. This session aims to identify successful models for the integration of science communication research and practice. We seek presentations from organizations, individuals, or teams that are conducting and applying science communication research in the development, application, and evaluation of their communication and outreach efforts.

Session ID: 3558

Session conveners: Karen Akerlof, Kristin Timm, Liz Neeley, and John Kotcher

For questions and more information about the session, please email: Karen Akerlof, kakerlof@gmu.edu