Live Event story
Engaging the Public in Basic Science
By Elisa Nuñez Acosta
It was the eighties when the HIV virus was spreading widely. The hardest hit was the male homosexual community, many of which were well-educated people with political power. They learned about HIV biology and reached out to scientists to talk about HIV. They then persuaded policy makers to start spending money on treatment because thousands of people were dying. As a result, nowadays AIDS is a treatable disease. This is an example of successful public engagement in science to achieve a goal, explained Professor Bruce Lewenstein in an interview.
Lewenstein is Professor of Science Communication and former chair of the Department of Science & Technology Studies at Cornell University, as well as one of the speakers at the event Engaging the Public in Basic Science.
Kavli Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy organized the event that brought a variety of attendees from natural and social scientist to people from museums and media. Participants from 85 countries and from different time zones attended the virtual venue on July 27-28.
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Attendants explored the idea of what moves people to look for scientific knowledge and what is important to communicate about scientific development.
Science communication is about making people aware of scientific topics. Why would people be interested in this? Because as Leslie Krohn shared in an interview, “basic science underpins everything, absolutely everything. And people could take it for granted.” Krohn is Chief Communications Officer and Senior Director of the Communications and Public Affairs Division at Argonne and was one of the event speakers.
Krohn added for instance, the basic research in making real the use of electrical cars started 20 years ago. Manufacturing started ten years ago before people could enjoy such vehicles. And most people are not aware of this. Thus, communicating the pathway to develop electrical cars may engage people with the science behind this.
Lewenstein highlighted what may move communicators and the public to talk about science and what should be communicated. “I think the key thing is that the idea of basic science has to do with curiosity. It has to do with the sense of wonder out there…” He also thinks that the development of science is affected by social factors such as politics and funding. The public should be aware of this. It is relevant “to talk about the ways that social forces affect what we know about the world,” he said.
Public engagement in science can happen when people need scientific data to support an intervention, when private sector wants to reach potential clients or just because people have a sense of wonder and curiosity, for example. In the end engaging in science helps people take action, make decisions, and improve people’s lives.
