Strategies to Support Interdisciplinary, Applied Environmental Science Careers and Leadership for the Improvement of Global Environmental Policies and

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Strategies to Support Interdisciplinary, Applied
Environmental Science Careers
and Leadership
for the Improvement of
Global Environmental Policies
and Practices
Pew Fellows Program in Marine Conservation
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• ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
• Provides an understanding of the structure and
  functioning of natural systems
• Helps elucidate human interrelationships with and
  impacts on these systems
• Can provide critical guidance to resource
  managers, decision-makers, and the public to
  inform policy decisions and development of
  sustainable practices

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Just Doing Science, Even Excellent
Interdisciplinary Science, is Not Enough!

• Conducting the best science and publishing in
  the best journals, although critically important,
  will not contribute to needed solutions, UNLESS
• It gets in the hands of the people who need it
  and can use it
• It is informed by policy considerations
• The public appreciates the problems and sciences
  contribution to the solutions

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The Challenges of Stepping up to the Plate

• It takes time, and needs to be timely
• Must learn how to interact and communicate with
  new audiences
• Need to place research in the context of real
  world problems
• Maintaining credibility walking the fine line of
  informing the debate rather than be perceived as
  an advocate
• Often take heat from special interest groups,
  industry, and potentially some colleagues

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The Upside of Engaging

• Observation Decisions will be made with or
  without input from the scientific community.
• Opinion Only scientists can provide the
  objectivity and perspective on the problems and
  the science-based solutions.
• Reward Scientists insight can be part of the
  solution. Scientists convey the messages they
  want to communicate.

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• If science cannot lead us to wisdom, as well
  as power,
• it is surely no science at all.
  
• 
  Aldo Leopold, Ecology and Politics, 1941
• The Aldo Leopold Leadership Program provides
  leadership and communication training to academic
  environmental scientists and facilitates
  collaboration and networking among scientists and
  a broad range of non-scientific stakeholders to
  increase understanding of environmental issues
  for improved policies and practices that
  positively impact the environment and society.

communicating environmental science for people
and the planet
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• Environmental scientists have valuable
  knowledge that should be available to citizens
  and policy makers as they make choices about the
  future of our planet and our communities. It is
  vitally important to all of us that scientists be
  able to provide accurate information in plain
  language and in the context of everyday life to
  those who are determining our environmental
  policies and practices.
• -- Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D., Distinguished
  Professor of Zoology,
• Oregon State University, Aldo Leopold
  Leadership Program
• Co-Founder and Steering Committee
  Co-Chair

communicating environmental science for people
and the planet
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• The program helps build the capacity of
  scientists to conduct effective outreach and to
  better collaborate across disciplines and sectors
  to
• advance scientific understanding as
  decision-makers confront increasingly complex
  environmental issues
• enhance and solidify the links between research
  and policy, and between scientists and
  non-scientists
• increase the involvement and visibility of
  academic scientists in public outreach
• promote changes in academic culture so that
  scientists are encouraged and supported to share
  their scientific knowledge beyond the ivory
  tower.

communicating environmental science for people
and the planet
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• Support individual and collective leadership
  and collaboration through
• Training Fellowships two weeks of intensive
  training in scientific leadership and outreach
• Networking Resources quarterly listserv,
  bi-annual on-line newsletter, Fellows-only
  resource page on website
• Promotion website as experts directory,
  newsletter, press releases and annual media
  campaign on new Fellows, ongoing outreach on all
  Fellows
• Outreach Engagement Fund smaller grants for
  Fellows to work on a scientific outreach projects
• Campaign Clearinghouse database of NGO,
  government, industry and community campaigns that
  Fellows may wish to engage with

communicating environmental science for people
and the planet
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Scientific Leadership

• Aldo Leopold The Man His Legacy
• Scientific Leadership The Social and Political
  Context
• Mental Models and Group Dynamics
• Building Consensus, Negotiating, Resolving
  Conflict
• Making an Impression Introductions, CVs Bios
• Decision Analysis
• Personal Organizational Visioning
• Leadership Styles Opportunities
• Strategic Questioning Decision-making
• Strategy Planning
• Facilitating Dialog and Leading for Change
• Becoming Involved in Outreach Seizing the Moment

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Communications/Outreach

• Who are the Media What Makes a Good Story?
• Focusing Simplifying Your Message
• Message Box Exercise
• Playing the Interview Game
• Reader-responsive Writing
• Clips Critiques discussion with journalists
  about successful scientific media programs and
  campaigns
• Interviewing Technique Critique
• Writing Technique Critique
• Message Box Review Critique
• Radio Reporting
• Publishing Books
• Internet Outreach
• Video Production

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The Science-Policy Interface

• Introduction to Congress 101 102
• The Image You Project
• Giving Good Testimony
• Meeting Members of Congress
• Mock Congressional Hearings
• Hearing Critique Discussion
• Sound Bites and Ambush Interviews
• Working with State Local Officials Case Study
  Exercise
• Role of Federal Agencies Where How They Get
  Scientific Information
• Role of Scientific Societies Getting the Science
  to the Policymakers
• Policy for Science The Federal Budget Process
• Congressional Agency Visits
• International Policy Making Case Study
  Exercise
• Expert Witness Testimony Moot Court Exercise

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The World of NGOs

• NGOs An Introduction
• Case Study I NGOs Scientists Collaboration in
  a Crisis Situation
• Case Study II A Successful Outreach Campaign
• Campaign Planning Strategy

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The Corporate Sector

• Science--Industry Collaborations Successes
  Challenges
• Case Study Using Business Models to Value Nature
• Scientist--Industry Dialog

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• Democracy demands the participation of
  scientists as both professionals with important
  information to share and as citizens who care
  about the future of the planet. The Aldo Leopold
  Leadership Program helps scientists learn to
  communicate, but it really helps all of us by
  making important scientific information more
  accessible as we consider courses of action that
  determine the future.
• -- Barry D. Gold, Ph.D., Program Officer for
  Sustainability Science and
• Conservation, David and Lucile Packard
  Foundation Aldo Leopold
• Leadership Program Steering Committee
  member

communicating environmental science for people
and the planet
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• the Leopold Leadership training has
  influenced every aspect of my work and how I
  allocate my time. It is interesting for me to
  speculate on why the program has such a big
  impact certainly the nuts and bolts of the
  training were essential, but the mentoring and
  networking were as influential if not more.
  Working alongside the group of premier scientists
  that were in the ALLP either as trainers or as
  participants not only taught me much, but was
  energizing and motivating. This did not stop
  with meI can see my students and postdocs
  responding to my shift in priorities and slowly
  shifting theirs. We are not giving up on our
  research but simply incorporating new
  perspectives that will ensure our science has a
  broader impact.
• --Margaret Palmer, 2001 Leopold Leadership
  Fellow

communicating environmental science for people
and the planet
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www.leopoldleadership.org
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Pew Fellows Program in Marine Conservation
Mission To promote, protect, and preserve the
global ocean environment through investment in
outstanding leaders in marine conservation to
focus their expertise on seeking applied
solutions to critical challenges in the marine
realm, and communicating science for
conservation of the sea.
For the sea, for the earth, for us
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Applied Conservation Outputs Outcomes

• Revealing Problems

• Increasing Understanding

• Enhancing Awareness

• Building Capacity

• Developing New Frameworks Models

• Deploying New Technologies

• Implementing Strategic Initiatives

• Influencing Improved Ocean Policies

For the sea, for the earth, for us
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Pew Fellows Program in Marine Conservation

• Support individual and collective leadership and
  through
• Fellowship Grants 150,000 each over three to
  five years for innovative, interdisciplinary,
  cross-sectoral projects that seek solutions to
  problems and/or communicate about ocean
  challenges
• Networking bi-monthly listserv SeaSpan,
  bi-annual newsletter MARITUENTAS, annual meeting
• Professional Development Training
  communications/media relations, environmental
  negotiations, expert witness testimony, decision
  analysis, emerging science-policy issues
  workshops
• Promotion website as experts directory,
  SeaSpan, MARITUENTAS, press releases and annual
  media campaign on new Fellows, ongoing publicity
  on all Fellows
• Collaborative Initiative Fund smaller grants for
  two or more Fellows to work together on an
  expansion project or new endeavor

For the sea, for the earth, for us
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Program Strengths and Benefits Moving Beyond
Traditional Boundaries Selected Examples
Roberto Enriquez Andrade, Ph.D. Combining
historical, social, ecological, and economic
analyses of forces causing coastal degradation in
Baja California peninsula to develop market-based
management incentives.
Alison Rieser, J.D. Writing a book on selected
marine conservation legal cases studies directed
to marine science students outlining the role of
scientists in effecting sustainable marine
conservation policy and management.
For the sea, for the earth, for us
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Program Strengths and Benefits Enabling Applied
Efforts Expanding Circles of Influence
"The Pew Fellowship award gave me the financial
independence and professional legitimacy to
pursue the conservation applications of my work.
What I was able to accomplish under the Pew
Fellowship, namely conservation efforts at the
interface of natural science and policy, would
have been impossible to support under any of the
traditional sources of funding. Wearing the badge
of Pew Fellow gave me heightened legitimacy
outside academic circles so that I was given more
attention in policy, legislative, and executive
arenas. This experience has fundamentally changed
my career. ---Charles Peterson,
Ph.D., 1994 Pew Fellow, North Carolina State
University Influenced the first
legislation in North Carolina regulating nutrient
loading in riparian and
estuarine systems.
For the sea, for the earth, for us
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Pew Fellows Program in Marine Conservation
www.pewmarine.org
For the sea, for the earth, for us
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Monterey Bay Aquarium
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Board of Scientific Experts
Funded by The Packard Foundation
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COMPASS Mission

• To accelerate the pace of solutions to important
  environmental problems by advancing and
  communicating marine conservation science.
• To build capacity within the existing marine
  conservation community by providing individuals
  with the skills, tools and opportunities for
  effective communication.

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COMPASS Approach

• People Stimulate interdisciplinary,
  conservation-oriented research and action by
  marine scientists
• Products Translate scientific concepts and
  information into accessible forms to help improve
  marine policy and management
• Relationships Catalyze communication among
  marine scientists, policymakers, the media and
  the concerned public

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Interviews Guided COMPASS Development

• A high level of interest in conservation among
  academics
• Scientists are wary of the media
• Severe gulf between scientists, NGOs, resource
  managers and policymakers
• New venues are needed to exchange and discuss
  scientific information

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COMPASS An integrated set of initiatives

• Identify emerging topics and scientists
• Convene meetings on emerging topics
• Train scientists in communication skills and
  media relations
• Conduct media outreach campaigns on emerging
  topics, new journal articles, and books
• Develop policy-relevant information products

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Communication Training and Media Outreach

• Train scientists to communicate their work in
  a clear and engaging manner. Connect scientists
  and journalists. Offer four types of training
• Seminars at scientific conferences (e.g ESA)
• Advanced communication workshops (e.g. ALLP)
• Graduate student workshops (e.g. WSN)
• One-on-one coaching
• Nancy Baron Seaweb/COMPASS office _at_ MBA
  647-6831 (nbaron_at_mbayaq.org)

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Benefits of Recognition, Training,
Networking--At ALL Career Stages!
In its support to individuals, it promotes
leadership (gives a boost to those that are
willing to stick their necks out). By bringing
those individuals together annually and
networking them continuously, the program allows
a rapid transfer of know-how that influences a
wide circle of specialists it also boosts the
resolve of all those involved. The annual
meetings are exceptionally stimulating and vital
because so much mutual education occurs during
those few intense days. I have come away from
the annual meetings with a wealth of new
information, ideas, strategies, and contacts that
have been incorporated into my projects. The
fellowship helped immeasurably to validate my
program and ideas. It also gave me a boost and
made me feel I wasnt crazy to take the risks I
have taken. It has provided a huge increase in
awareness of global environmental issues, who is
working on them, and the process by which
knowledge is converted into action. My peers
(strangers to me before the meeting) were
dynamic, talented academics from many branches of
environmental science. We meshed as a training
group and many career friendships have developed,
now leading to new projects and working groups.
The meeting has been the single most valuable
aspect of the program. The assembly of great
people and the flow of ideas is wonderful.
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Pew Fellows Program in Marine Conservation