College
Arts & Sciences
Department
Biology
Rank
Assistant Professor
Type of Work
Journal Article
Publication Information
Rosenblatt, A.E. (2017) Is it possible to make environmental science relevant to society at-large? Ideas in Ecology & Evolution 10:43-46.
Description of Work
Over the last five U.S. presidential election cycles, public concern about environmental issues has seemingly declined while concerns about national security and economic issues have remained steady or increased. These changes in public attitudes have been associated with decreased attention to environmental issues amongst policymakers, a situation that contrasts strongly with the 1970s when public concern about environmental issues was high and environmental legislation was a U.S. federal government priority. “Framing” has been pro-posed as a tool that environmental scientists could use to increase the relevancy of their research to U.S. society at-large, thereby helping to change public attitudes and influence policymaking. However, if done haphazardly, some framing efforts can actually have the opposite effect. To combat this weakness, environmental scientists should join with experts in psychology, decision science, and social science to create interdisciplinary teams that can effectively communicate with the public, positively affect public opinion, and make environmental science more relevant and meaningful to society at-large.
Included in
Is it possible to make environmental science relevant to society at-large?
Over the last five U.S. presidential election cycles, public concern about environmental issues has seemingly declined while concerns about national security and economic issues have remained steady or increased. These changes in public attitudes have been associated with decreased attention to environmental issues amongst policymakers, a situation that contrasts strongly with the 1970s when public concern about environmental issues was high and environmental legislation was a U.S. federal government priority. “Framing” has been pro-posed as a tool that environmental scientists could use to increase the relevancy of their research to U.S. society at-large, thereby helping to change public attitudes and influence policymaking. However, if done haphazardly, some framing efforts can actually have the opposite effect. To combat this weakness, environmental scientists should join with experts in psychology, decision science, and social science to create interdisciplinary teams that can effectively communicate with the public, positively affect public opinion, and make environmental science more relevant and meaningful to society at-large.
Biographical Statement
Dr. Rosenblatt’s research program aims to understand the effects of environmental change on the functioning of ecological communities and food webs. His current research focuses on the responses of American alligators and insects to environmental change and how shifts in their behaviors can affect whole ecosystems. Dr. Rosenblatt’s work is especially important and timely because of the many ways humans are impacting the environment and in numerous cases damaging the natural systems on which we rely.