good evening well I recently started a
blog I wanted to talk about my work as a
PhD student in atmospheric science but
the very first blog I posted was
actually called climate stakes why
scientists should be more like local
butchers and why would I want to be like
a local butcher especially as I am
studying climate and you know about the
greenhouse gases and I’m a vegetarian
well I remember when I was small in
Mexico and I would go with my mom to a
local market and there to her local
butcher usually my mom would be there to
buy liver and chicken hearts and all
this weird organs to feed me she kept
saying it was against anemia but the
butcher was there to help us to give us
advice recommendations you know a recipe
or two he knew his meat and we trusted
him but not only because he’s an expert
at what he does but because we built a
relationship with him and this is the
role that I see the modern scientists to
have why well if you want quality food
you go to your local market but what
about the information that you’re
consuming what is the quality and what
is the source of that information well
here’s where scientists can come in and
we are lucky in that society already
places a high level of trust on the
scientific profession so we just have to
work a little bit on that bilateral
relationship so why should we bother why
is this important well I’m sure most of
you have come across a headline like
this at some point
we’re inundated with sensationalized
headlines where the aim is to sell news
rather than simply inform us so if
science also is it’s quite often the
topic of the news but it is often taken
out of context or it is misused or at
best
the story’s too simplified so as
consumers of that information you have
to be critical but you also have to have
a reliable source to that information so
for that scientist we have to step out
and we have to step it up so let’s take
some very frequent key words that you
hear when you talk about the climate
climate news Greenland polar bears sea
level rise and let’s just go a little
bit beyond that just a little bit look
behind those words I was very lucky that
I could go to Greenland last summer it
was part of a course to see how climate
change is affecting Arctic societies and
when we landed there we saw this
beautiful rocky landscape it’s something
I’ve never seen before there are no
trees in Greenland there are no roads
connecting one town from another so if
you want to travel you have to go by air
by water or by ice the biggest lesson I
got from that course was actually what I
learned after talking to the local
Greenlanders and after I got just a
little bit of a glimpse to see Greenland
from their perspective so we had coffee
with labor union representative Julie
and she said it beautifully she said to
us Greenlanders ice it’s like a huge
highway but what happens when that
highway is melting we’ll just like for
polar bears the Greenlandic Inuit which
make up at least 80% of the population
depend on that ice to move around for
hunting so no ice means that they can’t
have access to territories or they can’t
follow their their their animals their
hunting the same for fishing thinner ice
means they can go out and fish it’s
endangering their livelihood their
traditions and their cultural identity
but on the other hand greenland is also
seeing new opportunities surfacing
because of this change in environment so
they have tourism for example it’s
blossoming we saw a couple of touristic
ships coming in with all the cameras
mining and agriculture is surfacing so
it’s an opportunity for Greenland to
become more prosperous and more
independent but at the same time this
change in lifestyle is also bringing a
really high toll on the local people so
you’re taking you’re taking them from
being in small towns and putting them in
this urbanized residential buildings
they’re going from fishing to being
contained in this office jobs and that’s
really difficult for them so Greenland
has to juggle when it looks at its
opportunities but also the challenges
that it’s facing and of course together
we’ll the you know historical and
political aspects that come with it
and when we talk about sea level rise
actually Greenland may not have that
immediate problem the seas of melting
water the warming water will be
displaced and it will flood and affect
millions of people in coastal areas
elsewhere so when we hear about
Greenland and polar bears in the
headlines there’s a lot more going on
behind those words it’s it’s like a huge
complex network of both local stories
and a bigger picture because it’s not
just limited to climate talk of course
I’ve been talking about climate because
this is related to what I work on but we
can talk about something else
vaccines are they going to make your
child sick and how about GMOs what is
genetically modified even mean
where is biotechnology or AI taking us
the public deserves to have a direct
source to that information and that
source should be us not only because as
taxpayers they’re funding our research
but because keeping our science a
political and objective does not mean
that we’re not also citizens of that
society and university walls do not make
us immune to whatever decisions or
actions our society takes now some of my
colleagues well I’ve heard from other
scientists fear or voice concerns that
the people just don’t care about what we
do with scientists but I find it boring
or that they just can’t connect with us
or that we should just stick to doing
science and that’s all but people do
care otherwise they wouldn’t be marching
around the world for science clearly
they know it has an impact in their
lives and it is our job to communicate
for three reasons the first because no
one knows our research better than we do
talking about our work is good for our
fields for our careers and it’s a
service to that society it reminds us of
why we’re doing science in the first
place
we want to understand the world around
us
we want to take human knowledge a little
bit further so why wouldn’t we want to
share that with the rest of the people
of course it also means that we have to
work on being better communicators but
science is a team effort and a sort of
team quality control so we have to be
good at talking to each other anyway now
at the beginning of my PhD I was very
excited and I went to this conference
and I saw a senior scientist whom I
admire very much so I went up to him and
I asked him what do you think is our
responsibility a scientist in this whole
climate talk and he said we should be
doing the best possible science we can
so we can pass that on to policy makers
and then they’ll take it on from there
and that’s that’s where our job ends but
I’ve always been a bit Restless with
that answer because what happens when
those policy makers or a certain
government becomes disinterested
or even worse finds that goes against
their interest to follow environmental
policies who do we assign to stern to
them do we only then turn to society and
say guys yeah we should talk society
should be our main stakeholder and for
that reason we need the second point
science literacy because science is
everywhere it’s in how we produce our
food it’s in making healthy longer
living humans it’s taking us to space
but only a very few percentage of us can
actually talk and read science and even
that is clouded with scientific jargon
or it’s locked behind paywalls of
scientific journals in a democracy we
all have the right to choose but how can
we choose or propose solutions or
innovate we’re not completely aware of
the state of our society its needs or
where it’s going Science and Technology
are everywhere so we have to we have to
help give the tools to our society for
them to also be participants because if
they choose to be only consumers and not
active participants of it it should be a
choice not an imposed disadvantage the
third point critical thinking a
scientist were trained to make
observations to test our hypotheses and
to adjust our knowledge based on that
result we are pushed to ask questions
and be skeptical but also to receive
criticism and we’re willing and open to
modify what we presently know that’s the
way that science can move forward so
what if we
as a society could listen to politicians
or read headlines in the same way
society our large is the ultimate
decision-maker and the scientist we can
contribute by providing the tools and
the information they need to make the
best decisions which is why I am
standing here and I’m calling on my
fellow scientist to rethink our role in
society we can be promoters of
discussion we do this every day already
we do this over lunch so let’s take
those discussions outside the academic
setting and into the rest of society
science communication should be an
integral part of our curriculum it
should be part of a researchers training
Carl Sagan said not explaining science
seems to me perverse when you’re in love
you want to tell the world and we love
our jobs I haven’t met a scientist who
just accidentally became a scientist we
love what we do so let’s let it out you
can use your hobbies to make your
research more accessible if you don’t
want to right type you know try
photography take us into that scientific
journey through photographs tweet saying
I dance the topic of my PhD in a video
and actually I learned a lot more about
the basics of my topic only after a bit
done so it really helps to see it from
different angles engage with your
community with citizen science meet up
with artists and if the general public
is just not you you don’t don’t be big
audiences that’s okay too then take it
to your family be that cool aunt or
uncle that can answer the kids questions
of why is the sky blue
we can promote roundtable discussions
where we have scientists natural and
social we have students and teachers and
fishermen all gathered in the same table
and
talking and that way we can promote a
society that will listen that will
question and that will dialogue and that
way collectively we can steer towards a
positive future with a society that is
both empowered and it’s inclusive thank
you very much
[Applause]
you
blog I wanted to talk about my work as a
PhD student in atmospheric science but
the very first blog I posted was
actually called climate stakes why
scientists should be more like local
butchers and why would I want to be like
a local butcher especially as I am
studying climate and you know about the
greenhouse gases and I’m a vegetarian
well I remember when I was small in
Mexico and I would go with my mom to a
local market and there to her local
butcher usually my mom would be there to
buy liver and chicken hearts and all
this weird organs to feed me she kept
saying it was against anemia but the
butcher was there to help us to give us
advice recommendations you know a recipe
or two he knew his meat and we trusted
him but not only because he’s an expert
at what he does but because we built a
relationship with him and this is the
role that I see the modern scientists to
have why well if you want quality food
you go to your local market but what
about the information that you’re
consuming what is the quality and what
is the source of that information well
here’s where scientists can come in and
we are lucky in that society already
places a high level of trust on the
scientific profession so we just have to
work a little bit on that bilateral
relationship so why should we bother why
is this important well I’m sure most of
you have come across a headline like
this at some point
we’re inundated with sensationalized
headlines where the aim is to sell news
rather than simply inform us so if
science also is it’s quite often the
topic of the news but it is often taken
out of context or it is misused or at
best
the story’s too simplified so as
consumers of that information you have
to be critical but you also have to have
a reliable source to that information so
for that scientist we have to step out
and we have to step it up so let’s take
some very frequent key words that you
hear when you talk about the climate
climate news Greenland polar bears sea
level rise and let’s just go a little
bit beyond that just a little bit look
behind those words I was very lucky that
I could go to Greenland last summer it
was part of a course to see how climate
change is affecting Arctic societies and
when we landed there we saw this
beautiful rocky landscape it’s something
I’ve never seen before there are no
trees in Greenland there are no roads
connecting one town from another so if
you want to travel you have to go by air
by water or by ice the biggest lesson I
got from that course was actually what I
learned after talking to the local
Greenlanders and after I got just a
little bit of a glimpse to see Greenland
from their perspective so we had coffee
with labor union representative Julie
and she said it beautifully she said to
us Greenlanders ice it’s like a huge
highway but what happens when that
highway is melting we’ll just like for
polar bears the Greenlandic Inuit which
make up at least 80% of the population
depend on that ice to move around for
hunting so no ice means that they can’t
have access to territories or they can’t
follow their their their animals their
hunting the same for fishing thinner ice
means they can go out and fish it’s
endangering their livelihood their
traditions and their cultural identity
but on the other hand greenland is also
seeing new opportunities surfacing
because of this change in environment so
they have tourism for example it’s
blossoming we saw a couple of touristic
ships coming in with all the cameras
mining and agriculture is surfacing so
it’s an opportunity for Greenland to
become more prosperous and more
independent but at the same time this
change in lifestyle is also bringing a
really high toll on the local people so
you’re taking you’re taking them from
being in small towns and putting them in
this urbanized residential buildings
they’re going from fishing to being
contained in this office jobs and that’s
really difficult for them so Greenland
has to juggle when it looks at its
opportunities but also the challenges
that it’s facing and of course together
we’ll the you know historical and
political aspects that come with it
and when we talk about sea level rise
actually Greenland may not have that
immediate problem the seas of melting
water the warming water will be
displaced and it will flood and affect
millions of people in coastal areas
elsewhere so when we hear about
Greenland and polar bears in the
headlines there’s a lot more going on
behind those words it’s it’s like a huge
complex network of both local stories
and a bigger picture because it’s not
just limited to climate talk of course
I’ve been talking about climate because
this is related to what I work on but we
can talk about something else
vaccines are they going to make your
child sick and how about GMOs what is
genetically modified even mean
where is biotechnology or AI taking us
the public deserves to have a direct
source to that information and that
source should be us not only because as
taxpayers they’re funding our research
but because keeping our science a
political and objective does not mean
that we’re not also citizens of that
society and university walls do not make
us immune to whatever decisions or
actions our society takes now some of my
colleagues well I’ve heard from other
scientists fear or voice concerns that
the people just don’t care about what we
do with scientists but I find it boring
or that they just can’t connect with us
or that we should just stick to doing
science and that’s all but people do
care otherwise they wouldn’t be marching
around the world for science clearly
they know it has an impact in their
lives and it is our job to communicate
for three reasons the first because no
one knows our research better than we do
talking about our work is good for our
fields for our careers and it’s a
service to that society it reminds us of
why we’re doing science in the first
place
we want to understand the world around
us
we want to take human knowledge a little
bit further so why wouldn’t we want to
share that with the rest of the people
of course it also means that we have to
work on being better communicators but
science is a team effort and a sort of
team quality control so we have to be
good at talking to each other anyway now
at the beginning of my PhD I was very
excited and I went to this conference
and I saw a senior scientist whom I
admire very much so I went up to him and
I asked him what do you think is our
responsibility a scientist in this whole
climate talk and he said we should be
doing the best possible science we can
so we can pass that on to policy makers
and then they’ll take it on from there
and that’s that’s where our job ends but
I’ve always been a bit Restless with
that answer because what happens when
those policy makers or a certain
government becomes disinterested
or even worse finds that goes against
their interest to follow environmental
policies who do we assign to stern to
them do we only then turn to society and
say guys yeah we should talk society
should be our main stakeholder and for
that reason we need the second point
science literacy because science is
everywhere it’s in how we produce our
food it’s in making healthy longer
living humans it’s taking us to space
but only a very few percentage of us can
actually talk and read science and even
that is clouded with scientific jargon
or it’s locked behind paywalls of
scientific journals in a democracy we
all have the right to choose but how can
we choose or propose solutions or
innovate we’re not completely aware of
the state of our society its needs or
where it’s going Science and Technology
are everywhere so we have to we have to
help give the tools to our society for
them to also be participants because if
they choose to be only consumers and not
active participants of it it should be a
choice not an imposed disadvantage the
third point critical thinking a
scientist were trained to make
observations to test our hypotheses and
to adjust our knowledge based on that
result we are pushed to ask questions
and be skeptical but also to receive
criticism and we’re willing and open to
modify what we presently know that’s the
way that science can move forward so
what if we
as a society could listen to politicians
or read headlines in the same way
society our large is the ultimate
decision-maker and the scientist we can
contribute by providing the tools and
the information they need to make the
best decisions which is why I am
standing here and I’m calling on my
fellow scientist to rethink our role in
society we can be promoters of
discussion we do this every day already
we do this over lunch so let’s take
those discussions outside the academic
setting and into the rest of society
science communication should be an
integral part of our curriculum it
should be part of a researchers training
Carl Sagan said not explaining science
seems to me perverse when you’re in love
you want to tell the world and we love
our jobs I haven’t met a scientist who
just accidentally became a scientist we
love what we do so let’s let it out you
can use your hobbies to make your
research more accessible if you don’t
want to right type you know try
photography take us into that scientific
journey through photographs tweet saying
I dance the topic of my PhD in a video
and actually I learned a lot more about
the basics of my topic only after a bit
done so it really helps to see it from
different angles engage with your
community with citizen science meet up
with artists and if the general public
is just not you you don’t don’t be big
audiences that’s okay too then take it
to your family be that cool aunt or
uncle that can answer the kids questions
of why is the sky blue
we can promote roundtable discussions
where we have scientists natural and
social we have students and teachers and
fishermen all gathered in the same table
and
talking and that way we can promote a
society that will listen that will
question and that will dialogue and that
way collectively we can steer towards a
positive future with a society that is
both empowered and it’s inclusive thank
you very much
[Applause]
you
Please follow and like us: