Speaker

Cat Davis (University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, AL)

Abstract

For more than a decade, researchers have been called to move beyond information transmission toward forms of science engagement that shift beliefs, build trust, and deepen understanding for both scientists and the public. Frameworks, including community and citizen science, transdisciplinary science, and translational ecology, articulate principles for collaborative, dialogic engagement — yet concrete, ethically grounded guidance for operationalizing these principles remains fragmented across disciplines and largely absent from the training of most environmental scientists. As a result, deficit thinking persists: the assumption that public inaction reflects a lack of scientific knowledge, and that lay communities lack expertise relevant to research. Drawing on my work in the United States, I will examine two components of a more intentional and ethical approach to science engagement — clarity about goals, outcomes, and tactics, and genuine recognition of the assets communities bring to scientific work — and consider what evaluation contributes to each. I will use examples in avian research and conservation to illustrate what process-specific, asset-based engagement can look like across different scales and contexts. I will conclude by reflecting on what changing training, publishing norms, and institutional structures would be required to support these practices, and by opening dialogue with the audience about the Dutch context and how exchanges between the U.S. and the Netherlands might advance science engagement research and practice.