2017 Esri UC Science Symposium: Continue the Discussion

[DawnWright]

Thanks to the many hundreds who attended this afternoon's UC Science Symposium. There we so many people that we were not able to get to during the Q&A session, after Jon Foley's thought-provoking keynote and reaction panel. Perhaps we can continue the discussion here? Feel free to post your questions and reactions and let's keep the momentum going!

Photos and a recap of the Science Symposium still forthcoming.

A few takeaways from Jon Foley's talk:

Want to actually make the world better with science communication? Talk about hope more than fear, solutions more than problems, stories more than data.

Big data not enough! Need big Wisdom that is ACTIONABLE!

[JaneSchafer-Kramer]

Thank you Dawn!  I agree that we all could do a better job of communicating our work; and an important part of communication is listening and empathy. Makes me think of something I heard on National Public Radio recently; http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/06/04/531271710/alan-aldas-experiment-helping-scientis...

"Alan Alda is an acclaimed actor, director, and writer with a lifelong passion for science. As a Visiting Professor in Stony Brook University’s School of Journalism, he is a founding member of the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science and a leading national advocate for educating young scientists to connect better with the public."  (https://www.suny.edu/sunycon/2015/speakers/alan-alda/)  Maybe you could invite him to speak at next year's UC?

[DawnWright]

Great thoughts and thanks Jane Schafer-Kramer‌! I heard that same interview on NPR and it is indeed so germane to our discussion. Both Jon Foley and I have been following Alan Alda's work for some time, especially as it mirrors the Leopold Environmental Leadership Program that we were both trained under wrt science communication. 

Good suggestion of Alan Alda as a speaker, especially if he is able to meet the requirement of adding a decidedly geospatial flavor to his remarks as Jon was able to do so effectively. We do already have a Science Symposium speaker lined up for 2018 (Camilo Mora), secured early given his busy schedule. And given the height of Mr. Alda's celebrity it will likely take some doing to secure him in any capacity. But one can shoot for the stars. 

The work that Alan Alda and others (such as COMPASS Science Communication, Inc.) are doing is indeed so very valuable and needed these days. I hope that others will look at the NPR interview that you shared!

[DustinNelson3]

Is any of the content from the symposium available online (recording of the discussion, etc.)? I was unable to attend but would like to know more

[DawnWright]

Yes, Dustin Nelson‌ please stand by. I will post a full recap on various social media sites (including here), also with a large library of photos, as soon as we can gather all the pieces.

[DawnWright]

Our best recap is now this Storify at 2017 Esri Science Symposium (with images, tweets) · deepseadawn · Storify  and photos on Flickr, http://esriurl.com/sciphotos2017