The Ethics of Communicating Scientific Uncertainty: Understanding How Scientists, Environmental Lawyers, and Reporters Treat Uncertainty Workshops; Fall 2015 and Spring 2016

Environmental Law Institute

Investigators

Abstract

This award supports two multi-disciplinary workshops in Washington, DC, at which scientists, lawyers, and media professionals will explore the relationship between scientific uncertainty and ethical and professional norms in communicating and teaching complex Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) concepts effectively and ethically. The workshops will build on a previous pilot workshop funded by the NSF and run by the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) that brought scientists, lawyers, and journalists together. The goals of the workshops are three-fold: 1) to facilitate more effective cross-discipline communications by deepening participants' understanding of the approaches their peers take to address scientific uncertainty, and the ethical and normative reasons underlying these approaches; 2) to promote more transparent and constructive debate on major scientific issues by deepening public understanding of the ethical and disciplinary constraints on scientific, legal, and media professionals charged with communicating scientific uncertainty; and 3) to bring the challenges in understanding and ethically communicating scientific uncertainty and potential solutions to the forefront through technical and non-technical presentations, peer-reviewed publication, and outputs for lay audiences. The motivation behind convening the workshops is the notion that public decisions are heavily informed by the data, information, and analysis developed and communicated by scientists, lawyers, and members of the media. Yet each of these professions thinks about scientific uncertainty differently shaped in large part by their own internal ethical standards and professional norms.