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Papers New! Identifying and testing engagement and public literacy indicators for river health Natural resource management organisations in Australia are increasingly recognising the need for complement studies of biophysical condition of the environment with studies of social condition, such as values, understanding, and participation related to the environment. Relevant and reliable social indicators that can be scaled and measured on a regular basis are essential to meet this need. In this study, we identified four indicators to test the social condition of the public in the state of Victoria in Australia with regard to river health:
We tested the four indicators through telephone and web-based surveys with over 1000 people in three areas of Victoria. We analysed the survey data statistically and gathered baseline data on the social condition of river health in the three regions. We made recommendations for how this data could be interpreted and used in community engagement and science communication programs about river health. We also examined the limitations of the methodology and recommended modifications to the survey design and application for an anticipated roll-out of the survey across the entire state of Victoria. The Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment will use this survey instrument to test social indicators on a regular basis.
Jenni Metcalfe and Michelle Riedlinger View
the paper (PDF 207 kb) Teaching scientists to interact with the media Many scientists lack the skills or encouragement to speak to the media successfully. Media skills training provides a way for scientists to confidently use the media to talk about their work. Jenni Metcalfe and Toss Gascoigne View
article (PDF 69 kb) Toss Gascoigne A presentation to the Australian Academy of Science, February 2008, The Shine Dome, Canberra Toss explains what journalists want and how scientists can give it to them. Read the transcript of the presentation and the subsequent discussion. The science communication professional in Australia Jenni Metcalfe and Toss Gascoigne The Australian Science Communicators was formed in 1994 in response to a demand by professionals working around Australia for an organisation that would help them to network and share ideas. Since this time science communication has become a recognised profession in Australia. This paper reports the results of a survey of science communicators and explores the questions: who are science communicators, what do they do, what influences them, and how do they see their career path. Full paper (PDF 27 kb) Changing lives and landscapes in the Philippines Jenni Metcalfe , Gerado Boy, Aurora Laotoco, Eldon RuizPaper presented at PCST 2004 Conference This paper discusses the participation of farmers and scientists in landcare in the Philippines. Landcare in the Philippines started as a grass roots movement from local small-holder farmers engaging with scientists from the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) in northern Mindanao in the early 1990s. In the last decade, landcare has spread throughout Mindanao and to the Visayas through the involvement of international research organisations and aid agencies from Australia, Spain and South East Asia. Its success at dramatically increasing the uptake by farmers of conservation technologies and methods can be at least partly explained by the communication methods and approaches used to gain local and widespread interest in and demand for Landcare practices. This paper will explore this case study using a social change model to identify communication practices for successful engagement between researchers and local people in developing countries. Full paper (PDF 83 kb) Identity and communication: Who collaborates in collaborative research? Michelle Riedlinger, Susan McKay and Cindy Gallois Research collaborations involving partner communities outside the research area are believed to produce more innovative and useable outcomes, and increase the support of external partners and community groups for research. Yet social researchers also report that members of diverse research teams have a genuine inability to collaborate due to poor communication. Using concepts gathered from social identity theory (SIT), this paper examines the identity processes that enhance or inhibit communication between researchers and external partner communities in areas of collaborative research. Participants highlighted communication activities associated five goals and all were associated with the management of social identity. The practical applications of these findings will be discussed. Full paper (PDF 15 kb) Incentives and impediments to scientists communicating through the media Toss Gascoigne and Jenni Metcalfe. Science Communication, Vol. 18 No.3, March 1997 What incentives and rewards – for scientists, their programs, or their organisations – does media coverage offer? This paper discusses the factors that encourage or discourage scientists to communicate their work through the media. Some of the implications for managers of publicly funded research organisations are also discussed, along with suggestions for changes they can consider to both the practices and the culture of their organisations.
Science journalism in Australia Jenni Metcalfe and Toss Gascoigne. Public Understanding of Science and Technology, Vol. 4, 1995, pages 411-428 This paper considers the trends and current realities of science journalism in Australia. It examines the role science journalism is playing in setting the agenda for media coverage in developing an informed public willing to be involved in science debates. The challenges facing science journalism in Australia are also discussed. These challenges include the need for more in-depth and critical analysis of science and technology; overcoming the negative or trivial perceptions of gatekeepers about the importance of science and technology stories; and integrating science and technology with social, economic and political issues.
Scientists commercialising their research Toss Gascoigne and Jenni Metcalfe. FASTS Occasional Paper Series, April 1999. Scientists and technologists are under increasing pressure to commercialise the results of their work. Governments, funding agencies, universities and research organisations are all seeking greater returns on their investments in research. They are increasing pressure on researchers to generate income through royalty streams, licensing fees or taxation revenue generated by new industrial enterprises. This article identifies both the obstacles researchers can experience in responding to these new expectations and the way some scientists have overcome them.
Why do governments spend money on national programs of science awareness? Toss Gascoigne and Jenni Metcalfe. Presentation to International Conference on the Public Communication of Science and Technology, Geneva, February 2001. Most countries have national programs to increase the public awareness and understanding of science. The assumption is that a scientifically literate population will ultimately lead to a healthy and economically prosperous country. How do we know these programs achieve their aims? Are they evaluated, and by what method? This paper proposes a simple five-point model for evaluation, and concludes that more resources must be devoted to the evaluation of these programs.
Relationships – the building block to successful communication Lawrie Kirk and Jenni Metcalfe. Presentation to an Irrigation Conference, Melbourne, Australia, 2000. This paper outlines the process used in the development of a Communication Strategy for the Murray-Darling Basin Initiative, the largest integrated catchment management program in the world. The strategy, which highlights relationship building as the foundation to successful communication, was developed over ten months during 1999 using a wide range of consultation and participation techniques.
Training scientists to understand and love the media Toss Gascoigne and Jenni Metcalfe. Presentation to World Science Conference, Budapest, 1999. Scientists are generally fearful or suspicious of the media, especially if they have had little experience. Training in media skills can help overcome the barriers between scientists and journalists. This paper outlines the workshops, summarises the response of participants and describes a change in attitude by participants towards journalists over the course of the workshop.
Media skills workshops: Breaking down the barriers between scientist and journalists Jenni Metcalfe and Toss Gascoigne. Presentation to International Conference on the Public Communication of Science and Technology, Berlin, 1998. This paper explores the stereotypes that scientists and journalists hold of each other - which are often reflected in the public view. The paper looks at the way media skills training workshops can help to break down these barriers, and give scientists a feeling of greater confidence and control over media appearances.
Survey on how Australian journalists use the Internet Jenni Metcalfe and Toss Gascoigne. Presentation to 3rd Asia-Pacific Symposium on Press and Scientific and Social Progress (APSP2001) The Internet has become a prime means of communication, especially amongst scientific interests, in the last 10 years. Clearly, this has implications for journalists and journalism. How has the Internet changed the life of working journalists in Australia? This paper summarises a national survey of Australian journalists, and describes how different sections of the media make use of the Internet. How does the Internet rank as a source of information for journalists? Have the sources of information changed over the last five years? What are the best things and the worst things using the Internet as a source of information? How long did it take journalists to learn to use it efficiently?
The evaluation of science-based organisations’ communication programs Jenni Metcalfe and David Perry. Presentation to Australian Science Communicators conference, Sydney, 2001. This paper highlights the importance of evaluation of communication activities for science organisations. It also suggests a process for evaluating such activities based on recent case-study examples from the Cooperative Research Centre for Catchment Hydrology and the National Dryland Salinity Program. The paper outlines a seven-step approach to evaluation and compares this proposed evaluation process with accepted and tested methods used in evaluation of public health campaigns also aimed at attitudinal or behavioural change.
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