Chemistry in primetime and online : communicating chemistry in informal environments

101 Pages·2011·13.846 MB·English

by  Masciangioli, Tina

CHEMISTRY IN PRIMETIME AND ONLINE
Communicating Chemistry in Informal Environments
WORKSHOP SUMMARY
Tina Masciangioli, Rapporteur
Chemical Sciences Roundtable
Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology
Division on Earth and Life Studies
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS 500 Fifth Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20001
NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the
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for appropriate balance.
This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy under Grant
DE-FG02-07ER15872, the National Institutes of Health under Grant N01-OD-4-2139 (Task Order
25), and the National Science Foundation under Grant CHE-0621582.
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CHEMICAL SCIENCES ROUNDTABLE
CHAIR
MARK A. BARTEAU, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware
WILLIAM F. CARROLL JR.,* Occidental Chemical Corporation, Dallas, Texas
MEMBERS
MICHAEL R. BERMAN, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Arlington, Virginia
APURBA BHATTACHARYA, Texas A&M, Kingsville, Texas
PAUL F. BRYAN, Biomass Program, U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, D.C.
MARK CARDILLO,* Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation, New York
ROBERT J. CELOTTA, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland
JOHN C. CHEN, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
JENNIFER SINCLAIR CURTIS, University of Florida, Gainesville
TERESA FRYBERGER, NASA Earth Sciences Division, Washington, D.C.
JOHN W. KOZARICH, ActivX Biosciences Inc., La Jolla, California
LUIS E. MARTINEZ, Private Consultant, Jupiter, Florida
JOHN J. MCGRATH, National Science Foundation, Arlington, Virginia
KENNETH G. MOLOY, DuPont Company Experimental Station, Wilmington, Delaware
ROBERT PEOPLES, American Chemical Society, Washington, D.C.
MATTHEW PLATZ, National Science Foundation, Arlington, Virginia
DOUGLAS RAY, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington
MICHAEL E. ROGERS,* National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
ERIC ROHLFING, U.S. Department of Energy, Germantown, Maryland
JAMES M. SOLYST,* ENVIRON International Corporation, Arlington, Virginia
PATRICIA A. THIEL, Iowa State University, Ames
LEVI THOMPSON, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
RICHARD P. VAN DUYNE, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL STAFF
DOROTHY ZOLANDZ, Director
AMANDA CLINE, Administrative Assistant
KATHRYN HUGHES, Program Officer
TINA M. MASCIANGIOLI, Responsible Staff Officer
ANGELA OLSON, Christine Mirzayan S&T Policy Fellow (January-April 2011)
SHEENA SIDDIQUI, Research Associate
RACHEL YANCEY, Program Assistant
* These members of the Chemical Sciences Roundtable oversaw the planning of the Workshop on Chemistry in Primetime and
Online: Communicating Chemistry in Informal Environments, but were not involved in the writing of this workshop summary.
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BOARD ON CHEMICAL SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY
CO-CHAIRS
RYAN R. DIRKX, Arkema Inc., King of Prussia, Pennsylvania
C. DALE POULTER, University of Utah, Salt Lake City
MEMBERS
ZHENAN BAO, Stanford University, California
ROBERT BERGMAN, University of California, Berkeley
HENRY BRYNDZA, E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, Wilmington, Delaware
EMILY CARTER, Princeton University, New Jersey
PABLO DEBENEDETTI, Princeton University, New Jersey
MARY JANE HAGENSON, Chevron Phillips Chemical Company, LLC, The Woodlands, Texas
CAROL J. HENRY, The George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
JILL HRUBY, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, New Mexico
CHARLES E. KOLB, Aerodyne Research, Inc., Billerica, Massachusetts
JOSEF MICHL, University of Colorado, Boulder
MARK A. RATNER, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois
ROBERT E. ROBERTS, Institute for Defense Analyses, Washington, D.C.
DARLENE J. S. SOLOMON, Aligent Laboratories, Santa Clara, California
ERIK J. SORENSEN, Princeton University, New Jersey
JEAN TOM, Bristol-Myers Squibb, West Windsor, New Jersey
WILLIAM C. TROGLER, University of California, San Diego
DAVID WALT, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL STAFF
DOROTHY ZOLANDZ, Director
AMANDA CLINE, Administrative Assistant
KATHRYN HUGHES, Program Officer
TINA M. MASCIANGIOLI, Senior Program Officer
SHEENA SIDDIQUI, Research Associate
RACHEL YANCEY, Program Assistant
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Preface
The Chemical Sciences Roundtable (CSR) was established in 1997 by the National
Research Council. It provides a science-oriented apolitical forum for leaders in the chemi-
cal sciences to discuss chemistry-related issues affecting government, industry, and uni-
versities. Organized by the National Research Council’s Board on Chemical Sciences and
Technology, the CSR aims to strengthen the chemical sciences by fostering communication
among the people and organizations—spanning industry, government, universities, and
professional associations—involved with the chemical enterprise. One way it does this is by
organizing workshops that address issues in chemical science and technology that require
national or more widespread attention.
In May 2010, the CSR organized a workshop on the topic “Chemistry in Primetime and
Online: Communicating Chemistry in Informal Environments.” The one-and-a-half-day
workshop was held to
• Examine science content, especially chemistry, on television, on the Internet, in
museums, and in other informal educational settings,
• Explore how the public obtains scientific information, and
• Discuss methods chemists can use to improve and expand their efforts to reach a
general, nontechnical audience.
Specific consideration was given to the rapid changes taking place in mass media com-
munication and the opportunities that interactive web technologies may provide scientists
in developing and distributing materials for informal education. Means of measuring rec-
ognition and retention of the information presented in various media formats and settings
was also discussed.
Workshop participants included chemical practitioners (e.g., graduate students or
postdocs, professors, administrators); informal learning experts; public and private fund-
ing organizations; science writers, bloggers, publishers, and university communications
officers; and television and web producers.
This document summarizes the presentations and discussions that took place at the
workshop. In accordance with the policies of the CSR, the workshop did not attempt to
establish any conclusions or recommendations about needs and future directions, focusing
instead on issues identified by the speakers and workshop participants. In addition, the
organizing committee’s role was limited to planning the workshop. The workshop summary
has been prepared by the workshop rapporteur Tina Masciangioli as a factual summary of
what occurred at the workshop.
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viii PREFACE
IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT INTERNET WEBSITES
The Internet information provided in this Summary was correct, to the best of our knowl-
edge, at the time of publication. It is important to remember, however, the dynamic nature of
the Internet. Information on websites can be transient, and is not always validated or verifiable.
Resources that are free and publicly available one day may require a fee or restrict access the
next, and the location of items may change as menus and homepages are reorganized.
Acknowledgment of Reviewers
This workshop summary has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their
diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by
the NRC’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide
candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published sum-
mary as sound as possible and to ensure that the summary meets institutional standards for
objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and
draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We
wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this workshop summary:
Jo Ann Caplin, Science TV Workshop, Wynnewood, Pennsylvania
Jennifer S. Curtis, University of Florida, Gainesville
Al Hazari, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Terri M. Taylor, American Chemical Society, Washington, DC
David R. Walt, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts
Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and
suggestions, they did not see the final draft of the workshop summary before its release.
The review of this summary was overseen by Jeffrey I. Steinfeld, Massachusetts Institute
of Technology, Cambridge. Appointed by the National Research Council, he was respon-
sible for making certain that an independent examination of this summary was carried out
in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully
considered. Responsibility for the final content of this summary rests entirely with the
author and the institution.
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