Engaging Scientists in Public Discourse

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Scientists are often involved in very complex and meticulous work, focusing on research or data collecting or some other...complicated science thing that they like to do. People outside of the science fields may not always understand what goes on behind those clean-cut curtains of scientific study, yet it's very important that they learn at least a little bit of what happens. However, learning what goes on in science is not a one-sided battle. The part of the public to become curious about scientific work may be imbalanced by a lack of communication on the part of the scientific community. If scientists wants to get people's attention, learning to engage with people is something just as important to learn about as their field of study.

One such way scientists can engage with the public is, by speaking at a panel. Luckily, I had the privilege of being able to attend one such panel in my Science and Public class. The panel consisted of several professors (all Dr.'s) who teach several different classes at App State (where I go to college). Dr. Scott Marshall, Dr. Jamie Leville, and Dr. Sarah Carmichael all teach Geology, while Dr. Andy Bellemer teaches Biology, and Dr. Marc Kissel teaches Anthropology. As with any panel, questions were asked and answers were given, but only a few things really stood out to me the most.
First, was the answer to a question about why they became scientists in the first place. The answer that was given was that they were not seeking to find answers in the world, but instead were simply interested in the discovery of new things, and the analyzing of collected data. I had never before thought about this as something that I was interested in as a part of science. I've always wanted to go into science for just the opposite, to find answers for questions that no answer has ever been found before. I can definitely see the reason why they answered with that. If you don't have a love for finding the new, and all the work that goes along with that, science may not be for you.

Another answer was given to the question something along the lines of "how did you know you wanted to become a (whatever type of scientist the person who was answering was)?" The thing that shocked me the most was that a majority of the scientists there seemed to say that they never knew they wanted to work with what they do until they tried it. Some even studied completely different things before finding what they work with today. I, on the other hand, have always known I wanted to become a scientist ever since I was little. I have changed what type of scientist, and what field of study as I grew up, but I've always known I wanted to be a scientist. Right now, I'm set on Archaeology, but if I am to learn from them, maybe I will find it's not what I'm meant for. Who knows?

What I'm trying to say here though is that I do feel scientists need to learn to better interact with the public about their work. Instead of focusing on getting that next article in that one journal, maybe work on talking with kids, teens, or young adults about exactly what it is scientists do. Show them that scientists can be anyone, and are just as real and down to Earth people as you there, reading this blog post. Showing the simple and human side of science is what I feel would work best to help get interest from the public. From there, show the findings science are coming up with.