Public Understanding of Science

Student Pugwash Intern LuncheonJune 8, 2007

Richard O’Grady, Executive Director American Institute of Biological

Sciences

American Institute of Biological Sciences

AIBS is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) scientific association dedicated to advancing biological research and education for the

welfare of society. Founded in 1947 as a part of the National Academy of Sciences, AIBS became an independent,

member-governed organization in the 1950s. Today, with headquarters in Washington, DC, and a staff of

approximately 50, AIBS is sustained by a robust membership of some 5,000 biologists and 200 professional societies and scientific organizations; the combined individual membership

of the latter exceeds 250,000. AIBS advances its mission through coalition activities in research, education, and public policy; publishing the peer-reviewed journal BioScience and

the education website ActionBioscience.org; providing scientific peer review and advisory services to government

agencies and other clients; convening meetings; and managing scientific programs. Website: www.aibs.org.

Coalition on the Public Understanding of Science: www.copusproject.org

&Year of Science 2009:

www.yearofscience2009.org

Your organization is invited to participate in the Coalition on the Public Understanding of Science and The Year of Science 2009-- nationwide efforts to engage the American Public in activities that will stimulate their interest in and

appreciation of the process of science.

What is COPUS?

The Coalition on the Public Understanding of Science is a grassroots effort linking

universities, scientific societies, science advocacy groups, science media, science educators, businesses, and industry in a

consortium having as its goal a greater public understanding of the nature of science and its

value to society.

What is the Year of Science 2009?

A national year-long celebration of science, organized through COPUS, to engage the public in science and improve public understanding about the nature and

processes of science.

Why COPUS & YoS09?

• Progress in science has been so great that it is taken for granted, and even breeds a widespread complacency… The biggest challenge to the scientific enterprise today is not to achieve deeper understanding of genomes or ecosystems or black holes-- that understanding is coming along just fine.

• The challenge that matters now is to make sure that science is taken seriously. Scientists need to convince people that we have developed honest procedures for understanding how the world works, that we can put confidence limits around most of our conclusions, and that our track record shows we have achieved reliable, if still incomplete, knowledge

Why COPUS & YoS09?

• A general public with an understanding and appreciation of the nature of science is a prerequisite for a skilled workforce able to compete in a knowledge-based global economy, able to make informed decisions about relative risks such as medical treatments and other quality of life factors, and prepared to engage in public policy discussions involving science and technology.

• An insufficient understanding of science leads to exclusion from much of the discourse of modern society, an inability to distinguish science from non-science, and a vulnerability to special interests attempting to drive public perceptions of science in their favor.

Since launch earlier in 2007• 52 organizations have signed up to participate in COPUS and Year

of Science 2009 initiatives. These organizations include the National Academy of Sciences, the National Science Teachers Association, the American Geological Institute, museums, university departments, governmental agencies, and NGOs.

• A cross section across scientific disciplines is represented including groups from the Earth Sciences, Biological Sciences, Geosciences, and Physical Sciences, as well as some international groups. 

• Resources to increase awareness of the initiatives include a searchable database offering a place for COPUS and Year of Science 2009 participants to register their science related events so that they may be easily accessed by members of the general public, media, and educational communities. 

Participating Organizations• Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys• Alliance for Science• American Association of Physics Teachers• American Fisheries Society• American Geological Institute• American Institute of Biological Sciences• American Society of Human Genetics• American Society of Plant Biologists• American Sociological Association• Arizona Geological Survey• Arkansas State University, Department of Biological Sciences• Arkansas State University, Department of Chemistry and Physics• Association of American State Geologists

Participating Organizations, cont’d

• Berkeley Natural History Museums• BioOne• Biotechnology Institute• Botanical Society of America• California Science Teachers Association• Colorado Science Forum• Denver Museum of Nature and Science• Geological Society of America• HMS Beagle Project• Lansing Community College Science Department• Louisiana State University: Museum of Natural Science• Lyme Regis Development Trust - Fossil Festival - Rising Seas• Massachusetts Society for Medical Research

Participating Organizations, cont’d

• MIT Museum• MIT, Department of Biological Engineering• Mycological Society of America• National Academy of Sciences• National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis• National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent)• National Institute of General Medical Science, National Institutes of

Health• National Science Resources Center• National Science Teachers Association• Nehru Centre• New York State Museum• Northwest Association for Biomedical Research• Pinellas County Environmental Lands Division

Participating Organizations, cont’d

• SoCal Science Cafe, University of California Irvine• Society for Developmental Biology• Society of Wetland Scientists• Speaking Science 2.0• United States Environmental Protection Agency• University of California Museum of Paleontology• University of California Press• University of Connecticut• University of Oklahoma Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural

History• Visionlearning• Wellesley College Botanic Gardens• Wonderfest, the San Francisco Bay Area Festival of Science• Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History

The Goals of COPUS

• Develop a shared appreciation of science, its contributions to the quality of life, and its underlying role in advances in technology and engineering

• Inform and engage the public in and about science, its process and products—how it is done, how scientific issues can best be framed and communicated, what roles science and scientists play in society, the benefits of using the process of science to make informed decisions and address challenges

• Make science more accessible to everyone

COPUS will

• Develop a network among all interested stakeholders, including the scientific, education, policy, media and business communities and the general public

• Sponsor, encourage, and broker events, such as Year of Science 2009 (www.yearofscience2009.org), that showcase and celebrate science

• Develop state-level benchmark science-indicator reports on the importance of science to the U.S. economy and standard-of-living

• Integrate with informational resources such as the Understanding Science website currently under development at www.understandingscience.org

• Create forums for sharing ideas, best practices, and resources

Advantages to COPUS network participants

• Participation in a national effort to promote the public understanding of science in a year-long celebration: Year of Science 2009

• Your organization’s events and programs listed on the COPUS website in a public database searchable by criteria such as date, location, topic, and audience level.

• Access to COPUS communication resources and network

• Receipt of COPUS email alerts and newsletter

• A role in growing the COPUS community, providing input on COPUS direction and activities

Expectations of COPUS network participants

• Support the development of regional coalitions and partnerships in your area

• Work with others to develop activities and programs in support of Year of Science 2009

• Share best practices and evaluation data about those practices with the rest of the COPUS network

• Work with the COPUS network to develop common messages and themes

• Promote and embrace the full spectrum of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics as critical to our societal well-being

Participants agree to the following characterization of science

• Science is a way of learning about what is in the natural world and how it works.

• Science involves a process for testing ideas.

• — Science proposes broad natural explanations for how the natural world works and tests those explanations by making observations of the natural world.

• — Scientific explanations must be predictive and hence, falsifiable or testable.

• Science is an intellectual and social endeavor.

• — The process described above is carried out by individuals and communities. In that sense, science is also a social system for building knowledge about the natural world.

• — Science involves individual reasoning and large scale interactions among scientists all around the world. The social nature of science is a critical component of its success.

COPUS contact information

• To learn more about COPUS visit www.copusproject.org; applications to become a part of the COPUS network may be sent to admin@copusproject.org

• The COPUS national office is located in Washington DC, hosted by the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS).

• 2007 COPUS Steering Committee• Lee Allison, Director, Arizona Geological Survey• Jack Hehn, Director of Education, American Institute of Physics• Jack Hess, Executive Director, Geological Society of America• Jay Labov, Senior Advisor for Education and Communications, National Academy of

Sciences• Richard O’Grady, Executive Director, American Institute of Biological Sciences• Judy Scotchmoor, Assistant Director, UCMP, Education and Public Programs

• Planning for COPUS and the Understanding Science website is supported by funding from the National Science Foundation

Year of Science 2009 activities will include:

• A national year-long celebration of science to engage the public in science and improve public understanding about the nature and processes of science.

• Integration of efforts with the Coalition on the Public Understanding of Science network

• Creation of a website and resource center to coordinate and promote 2009 activities. The website will include suggested activities and kits, a searchable database of events, an interactive map of events, a blog, a press room, and links to content in the Understanding Science website currently under development at www.understandingscience.org.

Year of Science 2009 activities will include (cont’d):

• Opportunities to mark 2009 as the anniversary of seminal events in the history of science: the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln, founder of the National Academy of Sciences, the 150th anniversary of the publication of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, and the 400th anniversary of the publication of Johannes Kepler’s first two Laws of Planetary Motion.

• Collaborations with communications experts on framing scientific communications most effectively for general public understanding as well as for particular public constituencies.

• Summary reports, other deliverables, and follow-up plans after the end of 2009; opportunities to continue collaborating on public understanding of science projects via the COPUS network.