National Science Communication Institute
Published by Chris Doering,
Science does a poor job of communicating internally. Scientists write mostly for journals that very few people ever read, researchers don’t share their data often enough, science efforts don’t spend money on coordinated public relations efforts, and more. The outcome of this dysfunction is that science doesn’t discover as much as it might otherwise be able to given better communications tools and practices, and opportunities for discovery are being lost. This is true in every field from medical research to alternative energy research to pure science. STEM education is also a continual challenge, at least in part due to these communications issues, and the public’s understanding of science is anemic, particularly with regard to hot-button public policy issues like climate change and evolution.