Ten lessons from teaching the public about shark science and conservation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At Southern Fried Science on January 18, 2024 there is a very interesting article by David Shiffman titled Lessons learned from teaching the public about shark science and conservation: Insights from my SICB Plenary. (SICB is the acronym of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology). David says that:

 

 1] Public science engagement is good for science, good for the public, and good for you … when done effectively.

 2] No one owes you their eyeballs.

 3] Storytelling is more effective than a list of dry facts … and while facts will always matter, an infodump cannot be the sole focus of your public engagement.

 4] Saying that your research is important (for conservation, or otherwise) does not make it so.

 5] Not every individual unit of science needs to be communicated to the public.

 6] Unilateral disarmament doesn’t win battles, but you do not have to participate in every fight you are invited to.

 7] Know (and use) the right tool for the job, but tools by themselves are not a strategy. You need a strategy.

 8] Treat your audience with respect. That includes how you carry yourself, how you respond to questions, and your word choice re: jargon.

 9] Sometimes the messenger matters as much as the message … or more.

10] Professional need not mean stuffy and boring. This stuff should be fun!

 

There is recent brief article at NOAA Fisheries on July 28, 2023 titled Debunking common shark myths. There also is long, earlier article (32 pages in pdf) by David S. Shiffman et al. at iScience on June 17, 2020 titled Inaccurate and biased global media coverage underlies public misunderstanding of shark conservation threats and solutions.

 

An image of a shark was adapted from this one by Diego Delso featured at Wikimedia Commons.