Combining poetry and science to walk through geological time

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Combining poetry and science to walk through geological time

Author: Fergus McAuliffe – iCRAG, University College Dublin, Ireland

Co-authors:

  • Anthea Lacchia – iCRAG, University College Dublin, Ireland

The notion of geological time is one the many members of the public struggle with given its immense size and scale. To this end, iCRAG (the Irish Centre for Research in Applied Geosciences) has been running a geoscience-poetry public engagement programme to explore how poetry can be used to create greater understanding of geological time and geological formations. In this insight talk we present an overview of these activities, and an evaluation of their efficacy at engaging various publics with geological time and the geosciences. Our “Poetry and Palaeontology” event at the National Museum of Ireland, run in collaboration with Poetry examined the scientific learnings that can be gleaned from the poetry of Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney, in particular his poems that described bog bodies and the passage of time, such as “Kinship” and “Bog Queen”. This has led to an ongoing collaboration with “Feile na Bealtaine”, a local arts and music festival in the west of Ireland. Events run at this festival have examined the poetry of Hughes, Auden, Yeats, Heaney and Micheál Fanning by way of a geology-poetry cliff walks. Landscape poetry, such as “The Peninsula” by Heaney, “The Song of Wandering Aengus” by WB Yeats and “Crow and the Sea” by Ted Hughes can be an excellent means to engage publics with science through the imagery of the land, and the sense of time passing by, that are created in these poems. In this insight talk we will present our thoughts on poetry-science collaboration for science communication, the results of the evaluation, and recommendations for others interested in exploring poetry to communicate geological time.

The author has not yet submitted a copy of the full paper.

Presentation type: Insight talk
Theme: Time

Engaging with media; A Kenyan perspective

Author: Cynthia Mauncho – KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kenya

Co-authors:

  • Irene Jao – KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kenya
  • Dorcas Kamuya – KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kenya
  • Noni Mumba – KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kenya
  • Roselyne Namayi – KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kenya

KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme (KWTRP) engages with the public with the aim of building mutual understanding, trust and respect between researchers and the public. One of the approaches is through Media engagement. KWTRP has traditionally focused on dissemination of research and capacity building for researchers. Conversely, Africa has experienced poor research reporting, due to lack of journalist skills, compounded by poor researcher and journalist relations, leading to mutual fear and suspicion. KWTRP sought to create a platform for in-depth conversations and engagement between researchers and journalists, considering the key role media plays in agenda setting, opinion shaping, advocacy for evidence-based decision in health policy, and achievement of scientific growth.

Two initiatives aimed at enriching researcher and journalist relationships were employed; the 1st, was a workshop model for cross learning between researchers and science reporters. This brought together 25 journalists, science bloggers, 30 senior researchers in KWTRP, the Media council of Kenya and the Science communication teams. Using informal structures to encourage dialogue, the program included; – Topical presentations on the work environments for the researcher and the journalist, the media regulatory framework in Kenya, a soapbox session for experience sharing, and a panel discussion that triggered a conversation on ethics for both professions and challenges faced by researchers in creating appropriate messages.

Subsequently, both teams agreed to an extensive media tour, bringing together 20 regional reporters and over 30 researchers at different levels of their careers. This included a tour of KWTRP, group discussions on ongoing research and subsequent practical skills training from the journalists on framing messages for the media.

The activities have helped in better relations between the journalists and researchers resulting in comprehensive media articles, researchers proactively seeking to work with media colleagues and journalists working with KWTRP researchers to improve their reporting, while being open to criticism.

The author has not yet submitted a copy of the full paper.

Presentation type: Visual presentation
Theme: Transformation

Making PCST conferences as inclusive and diverse as possible

Author: Liesbeth de Bakker – Utrecht University, Netherlands, Netherlands

Co-authors:

  • Sook-kyoung Cho – Gwangju National Science Museum, Gwangju, South Korea
  • Mohamed Elsonbaty Ramadan – Freelance Science Journalist and Science Communicator, Egypt
  • Karina Omuro Lupetti – Project Olhares, Federal University of Sao Carlos, Brazil
  • Esha Shah – Water Management Resources, Wageningen University, Netherlands
  • Kim Waddilove – Communications Officer SANTHE, Durban, South Africa

NB: Jenni Metcalfe’s message of 9 Jan: I am happy to make this session a formal part of the programme. We can discuss specifically how it is run later. (as a demonstration session / round table or unconference session)

Currently, inclusion and diversity, also referred to as equity in academic literature, are hot topics, be it in terms of social inclusion, accessibility of education, or gender equality. So it stands to reason, as organizers of the next PCST conference in Rotterdam in 2022, that we have inclusion and diversity high on the agenda. It is therefore promoted by a special team, consisting of Anne Dijkstra, University of Twente; Pedro Russo, University of Leiden; Cees Leeuwis, Wageningen University; and Liesbeth de Bakker, Utrecht University. In Aberdeen we would like to devote an online session to new ways of promoting equity in our own PCST conferences. And we are asking for the conference visitors’ help, especially those under-represented groups in our PCST family, such as the socio-culturally marginal voices from both global south and north, science journalists, policy makers, and/or certain groups of scholars. We are hoping the virtual nature of Aberdeen will already bring many new ideas to the table.

To kick-start this process, the session will start with five inspirational short pitches by five knowledgeable representatives from areas of the world or fields of professions that are not (so) well represented in the PCST community. They will share their ideas and expertise and finish with a question. After that, we will split into break out rooms with interested participants. In a plenary 25 minute wrap up, all new ideas will be presented. Let’s transform our PCST conferences of the future into more inclusive and diverse gatherings!

Presentation type: Demonstration
Theme: Transformation

South African factors that shape transformation of science-society relations: A case study on how to democratise and transform science communication through the use of diverse indigenous languages in the media.

Author: Zamuxolo Matiwana – South African Agency for Science and Technology Advancement, South Africa

As one of the cornerstone institutions in most democratic countries most citizens consume the media in order to be informed about what is happening locally and worldwide. More particularly, for most educated citizens, the media becomes is an accessible source of information about science and technology.

In this regard, science journalism and science communication play a crucial role in informing and educating citizenry about scientific advancements and allowing them to make informed decisions.

In South Africa, the mainstream media, especially print media, is mostly dominated by English and Afrikaans-speaking media houses. Few communicate in indigenous languages, thus marginalising and disenfranchising a large proportion of the population. This is more prominent in most developing countries like South Africa where there is a pervasive lack of science coverage, with burgeoning community media outlets and of the biggest public broadcaster, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) providing content predominantly focused on entertainment, sport, religion and politics.

This paper will analyse the South African Agency for Science and Technology Advancement’s (SAASTA) Science and Technology Journalism Internship Programme that aims to encourage the community media to cover science and technology in indigenous languages. In particular, the paper seeks to explore community media science coverage in indigenous languages and how it contributes to democratise science communication. As such, this paper With a special focus on the medium of radio, the paper will show how radio contributes toward a dialogue model which helps to democratise the media space as well as contribute to science journalism and the science communication body of knowledge.

Radio is an important media in developing countries like South Africa, due to a high rate of illiteracy. Especially community radio stations that broadcast in indigenous languages, they improve access into information.

KEY WORDS:

Community Media, Democratisation of science, Indigenous languages, Radio, Science Communication and Science Journalism.

The author has not yet submitted a copy of the full paper.

Presentation type: Insight talk
Theme: Transformation

Transformation of the Media Landscape: Infotainment versus Expository Narrations for Communicating Science in Online Videos

Author: Lloyd Davis – University of Otago, New Zealand

Co-authors:

  • Michael Bourk – Gulf University for Science and Technology, Kuwait
  • Wiebke Finkler – University of Otago, New Zealand
  • Bienvenido León – University of Navarra, Spain

Society is undergoing a transformation in the way people consume media: increasingly we are using online on-demand videos, accessed mostly on mobile devices. The fastest growing segment of online videos about science is User Generated Content (UGC) that uses an infotainment style of delivery, and these videos are proving significantly more popular than professionally generated content that traditionally uses an expository style of narration. Here, we test the effect of an infotainment or expository narration for: (i) engaging viewers and (ii) enhancing their understanding of science.

We produced two identical videos about climate change save for their style of narration: each contained the same information, but one had an infotainment narration; the other, an expository narration. The narrations were available in English and Spanish. We tested 870 participants (419 English; 451 Spanish), who were directed to a website to undertake a survey in which they were randomly presented with either the infotainment or expository version of the video.

We found viewers were significantly more likely to believe the expository narration and liked it significantly more than the infotainment version. This held true for English and Spanish viewers, irrespective of their age, sex, or online viewing habits. However, viewers without a university education liked the infotainment version significantly more.

Notably, viewers of the infotainment video performed significantly better at recalling information than did those watching the expository version, and this relationship was consistent regardless of where the information was given throughout the videos.

In conclusion, the dramatic rise of UGC and its reliance on infotainment is a cultural phenomenon. While generally perceived as less authoritative than traditional expository narrations, the focus on infotainment may actually prove advantageous for science communication by increasing information recall for all viewers and increasing engagement with science by one of the hardest publics to reach: those without a university education.

The author has not yet submitted a copy of the full paper.

Presentation type: Individual paper
Theme: Transformation

Engagement with science and art as a means of social inclusion

Author: Ana Matias – CIMA – Universidade do Algarve, Portugal

Co-authors:

  • Andreia Dias – Museu Calouste Gulbenkian, Portugal
  • Ana Lúcia Mena – Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciàªncia, Portugal
  • Paulo Nuno Vicente – iNOVA Media Lab, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, Portugal

Social inclusion in science communication is a complex issue. During the past decades, research centres, science centres, museums and other institutions invested in science communication aiming at the promotion of cultural activities to diverse audiences. Despite this investment, science communicators still face a challenge: how to reach citizens that are not interested in science? The main goal for this innovative work was to explore techniques to engage socially-vulnerable communities with science.

The “Embodying Memories” project was developed in a collaborative way between science partners (research institutes), art partners (art museum) and administrative partners (municipality), articulated via a boundary spanner. The target audience, a senior community of women, most illiterate and migrant from Sub-Saharan Africa, was involved since early stages, starting with the topic choice – Memory.

The project implementation consisted of eight sessions over two months in 2018, covering several themes related to memory/brain. Diverse formats were used: from informal scientific presentations in neuroscience (standard in science communication), study cases storytelling (standard engagement technique), community memories sharing (aligned with current dialogue paradigm of science communication), to more interactive activities stimulating body movement, abstraction and self-expression (techniques from engagement with art). Besides in-door sessions, visits to the museum (visual art oriented) and to laboratories (neuroscience oriented) were organized, and a public presentation (empowerment oriented) was performed.

The project was qualitatively evaluated right after implementation, revealing some to moderate changes in awareness and knowledge and in engagement, high changes in attitude and moderate to high changes in social inclusion. Our analysis was based on field notes, attendance record, pre/post focus group, community evaluation and narrative, and public presentation content.

We will present how this project was structured and its outcomes, reflecting on the dynamic equilibrium between science and art education, cultural entertainment and mental health promotion necessary to potentiate social inclusion of this community.

The author has not yet submitted a copy of the full paper.

Presentation type: Individual paper
Theme: Time

Escaping the choir – STEM escape rooms as a tool for broader engagement.

Author: Amanda Mathieson – University College Dublin, Ireland

Co-authors:

  • Edward Duca – University of Malta, Malta

Escape rooms are a new and widely popular form of entertainment where players are locked in a room and in groups, must solve puzzles in order to escape. We were keen to explore this format as an engagement tool and ran two rooms over 5 days at a science centre in Malta.

We believed an escape room would inspire intrinsic motivation to participate, by meeting the innate psychological needs described in self-determination theory; namely the needs for autonomy, a sense of competence and interaction with others. The game was also designed to target different kinds of science capital in order for those not normally comfortable with science to confidently engage.

Through our evaluation we found the activities to be extremely successful, drawing players with little interest in science but who were seeking fun activities to create memories with family and friends. We found that by presenting it in the form of a challenge, players are happy to approach difficult scientific content and persist in trying to understand it in order to solve puzzles. A common theme that emerged was that even players who found the puzzles difficult, left having had a rewarding experience they would be happy to repeat. We therefore believe this format has a lot of potential as a future tool for broader engagement with science.

Increasingly, science communicators seek to bridge the gap between science and the arts, embedding science within culture. Escape rooms are now a part of modern culture and we see this as an exciting opportunity to communicate science in ways that are confidence building, entertaining and provide lasting positive associations with science for underserved audiences. This talk will cover our approach for the project, our lessons learned and our ideas for the future of escape rooms as a communication medium.

The author has not yet submitted a copy of the full paper.

Presentation type: Insight talk
Theme: Time

No trust, no interest: Mexican farmers’ perceptions of Covid-19 and Scientists’ role in society

Author: Lourdes Mateos Espejel – Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla, Mexico

Co-authors:

  • José Luis Estrada Rodrí­guez – Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Mexico
  • Haydeé Margarita Hernández Ruí­z – Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla, Mexico
  • Helga Ochoa Caceres – Tecnológico de Monterrey Campus Puebla, Mexico

The state of agriculture had already been in crisis before COVID-19 due to food security and nutrition. However, the outbreak of the pandemic added challenge on primary agriculture specially in developing countries because businesses increased their capacity to manage larger inventories, moving to on-line platforms and hiring temporary staff. In the case of Mexico, the country is in eleventh place in food worldwide production. Therefore, Mexico’s biggest challenging tasks come from the measures need to contain COVID-19 in agricultural labor-force. The main objective of this article is to highlight the perceptions of Mexican farmers about Covid-19 and their views on scientists’ role in society. Based on a qualitative approach, five focus groups were conducted with 30 farmers in total. We identified Mexican farmers have been exposed to the virus without enough scientific information and critical understanding of the serious threat they are facing. Main perceived barriers to access to scientific information were lack of interest and credibility in daily TV press conferences conducted by scientists and public workers. Besides, extensive labor hours and limited access to internet were obstacles that inhibit voluntary searches of scientific information. The realization of the present work contributes to generate hypothesis about perceptions of science in the agricultural labor force and provides a starting point to generate science communication strategies to prevent COVID-19 in the agricultural sector.

The author has not yet submitted a copy of the full paper.

Presentation type: Individual paper
Theme: Time

Transforming Science Communication: New models enacted by Science Ceilidh on the Isle of Lewis

Author: Erica Mason – Science Ceilidh, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Co-authors:

  • Lewis Hou – Science Ceilidh, United Kingdom

How can interdisciplinary research help transform science communication practice, leading to more culturally meaningful encounters where communities can engage with global research on their own terms?

Using a case study of Science Ceilidh, a public engagement and cultural arts “intermediary” organisation in Scotland and their activities around biology, health and well-being on the Isle of Lewis, this research identifies existing types of science communication and proposes a new one: science communication that aims to create new knowledge.

By engaging Science and Technology Studies frameworks to deconstruct the forms, structures, narratives and power dynamics in science communication encounters, science communication is described as a form of cross-cultural communication between distinct groups whose institutions, norms, and values are socially shaped. The resulting understanding transforms science-society relations, implies expanded participation in research and calls for a new framework for engagement.

These new encounters are a form of ‘inventive problem making’, where what is known about the natural world is constructed through the encounter, which is initiated and facilitated by any actor. These encounters change the boundaries of disciplinary authority, preserve conflicts and happen before research is considered “complete”.

Science Ceilidh is conceived as a model for community empowerment or cultural democracy, which can explore the incentives participants have for engaging with research and smooth the separation between the institutions and “everyone else”. This positions communities as partners in the research process, neither the subject of research or the object of information delivery. The outcomes are unique and subjective to the groups that construct them. Participants in public engagement encounters must be reflexive, creative and willing- to both change and be changed- by a subjective process that produces new outcomes. We propose that only when this occurs can new kinds of public engagement be enacted, and underrepresented communities engage in global research.

The author has not yet submitted a copy of the full paper.

Presentation type: Individual paper
Theme: Transformation

Narrative analysis about facemask wearing at the COVID-19 time: Perceptions of a basic tool with significant socio-cultural implications

Author: Lucia Martinelli – MUSE – Science museum. Italy

Individual and collective responsibility, trust in the institutions and credibility of the public health communication are crucial to motivate citizens to adopt/refuse the mandatory measures aimed at containing SARS-CoV-2 spread. Besides lockdown and physical distancing, facemask wearing is a main public health measure recommended. Although a “simple” protection tool, facemask can be understood as a sophisticated technological devise because of the load of personal and social perception attributed to its use/not use. A better understanding of citizens’ perception toward this personal protection device is required to design effective health communication to motivate the acceptability of the policies to contain present pandemic, as well as future global crisis. With this purpose, focusing on the facemask wearing, in May 2020, we collected observational testimonies from 29 scholars, members of an interdisciplinary research network on health and society, leaving in 20 European countries, South Korea and China. Participants wrote open-ended texts, answering to questions regarding rules adopted in their country, individual/personal attitude and practice, their view about other people behavior, and interpersonal interactions. The narratives (collected as an open source for research purpose: https://data.mendeley.com/datasets/9s6fm7vdbc/1) were analyzed thematically with the method of qualitative descriptive analysis. They are valuable commentaries describing national public health regulations, personal facemask use, and behaviors of citizens in various countries. This study highlights how social and personal practices of wearing (or not) face masks are influenced by individual perceptions of infection risk, personal interpretation of responsibility and solidarity, cultural and religious tradition, personal interpretations of social and cultural norms and need of expressing self-identity. Interestingly, the facemask was also described as a visual communication tool and a new way to communicate during times of lockdown and isolation. Finally, wearing (or not) face mask showed to be an ideological symbol and to have a strong political meaning.

The author has not yet submitted a copy of the full paper.

Presentation type: Individual paper
Theme: Time

Personal and social implications of genomic knowledge

Author: Lucia Martinelli – MUSE – Science museum, Italy

Co-authors:

  • Patrizia Famí – MUSE – Science museum, Italy
  • Lucia Martinelli – MUSE – Science museum, Italy

How much do we know, would we like/fear to know about our physical and psychological genetic traits – whether we like them or not – and about talents and diseases recurring in our families? Is it a question of a “destiny” marked by genetic inheritance, life styles or epigenetics? The growing technology and knowledge about human genome is discovering markers for genes involved in diseases and may anticipate predisposition awareness. Genomic information is available in genetic tests also accessible on the Internet. Regarding health, the easy access to this knowledge offers both opportunities and difficult choices, and the risk of a new genetic determinism. During the 2018 and 2019, we collected a number of visitors” narratives regarding visions and concerns about their own genetic predispositions, traits, attitudes and personality. These stories of “everyday-genetics” were written by the public on a notebook in the main MUSE temporary exhibition “The Human Genome. What makes us unique”. The notebook was displayed in a cozy corner of an immersive scenography reproducing a square to engage museum’s visitors in the private and the social implications of genomic technology development, and to stimulate their willingness to share their intimate stories. Here, visitors could hear narratives we conceived ad hoc: they were inspired by real cases available in the scientific literature, in the media, and on the Internet and websites of medical and patient organizations. The confidences left by our visitors are a fresh collection about citizens” awareness and knowledge on personal genetics and offer interesting feedback to better develop public our engagement activities regarding biomedical topics. Moreover, in our projects involving stakeholders of the medical field, they can give interesting insights to support a patient-centered medicine based on a better knowledge of citizens” feelings about their own genetics and may contribute to a more empathic patient/medical doctor communication.

The author has not yet submitted a copy of the full paper.

Presentation type: Insight talk
Theme: Technology

Theme parks as science communication spaces: The EPCOT case

Author: Daniela Martin – ITESO, Mexico

Co-authors:

  • Daniela Martin – ITESO

Science and technology have become tools to legitimize messages on a desired future that affect the world in terms of society, politics and economy; and cultural institutions have played a great role in this practice. By their nature, these spaces employ persuasion and entertainment strategies in their narratives to attract and arouse public interest. In this sense, scientific-technological theme parks have been propitious places for the communication of science and technology through modernity.

This paper presents the results of a study that analyzed the symbolic construction of the future in the scientific-technological discourse of four attractions at EPCOT theme park in Orlando, Florida. The discourses were analyzed based on the theoretical and methodological approach by John B. Thompson, which involves three phases that are not subsequent but intertwined with each other. The first phase involved a sociohistorical analysis of the production conditions of company, the theme park and each of the attractions. In the second phase, each transcript was systematized and analyzed to respond to the conventional, structural and referential aspect of the symbolic production of the future. This analysis, combined with the sociohistorical analysis, provided enough information to proceed with the third phase: the analysis of the intentional aspect or interpretation/reinterpretation.

EPCOT has become a landscape in which corporate visions converge with the political and historical reality of the US and the world. It presents a narrative in which progress is presented as one without disruption, uncertainty or complexity, in order to secure a privileged and exclusively positive symbolic position in the collective imagination regarding the role of science and technology in the world. This theme park is therefore a device providing education and training to consumption by introducing a sample of how social life is transformed through the consumption of the technology that is showcased.

The author has not yet submitted a copy of the full paper.

Presentation type: Visual presentation
Theme: Technology

Social labs as transformative approach to implement Responsible Research and Innovation

Author: Ilse Marschalek – Centre for Social Innovation, Germany, Austria

Co-authors:

  • Joshua Cohen – University of Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • Eileen Focke-Bakker – Delft University of Technology, Netherlands
  • Elisabeth Unterfrauner – Centre for Social Innovation, Austria

The notion of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) reflects the changing relationship between science and society and calls for transformations of science-society relations. An open and transparent process is regarded as crucial for good scientific practices. While the inclusion of societal actors in research processes is becoming more important, the ways diverse stakeholders are included are still in development. Innovative and appropriate, which allow for real engagement and co-production of knowledge still formats need to be explored.

The New HoRRIzon project, funded by the EC, aims to further integrate RRI in research and innovation systems. It addresses RRI practices by focusing on the 19 funding programme lines of the EC. By bringing together stakeholders from the different fields of the programme lines from all over Europe, the project engages them in participative processes, in so-called Social Labs. A Social Lab is not a method, but rather a paradigm which is social, experimental and systemic that opens up space for reflection and discussion, developing new ideas and further implementing and assessing them. A Lab thereby consists of a series of workshops, enabling a highly participative process. The diverse stakeholders involved act on an equal and collaborate basis throughout the process of the Social Lab. Each of the Labs allows for an approach of doing, rather than just planning by using experiments and prototypes and involving most diverse groups of people and finally implementing the selected activities in pilot actions.

In the context of the New HoRRIzon project, we have adapted the Social Lab approach and used it as a tool to implement public engagement within an RRI process. Each Social Lab has co-designed several pilot-actions that are – with the support of the group – implemented and managed by the participants themselves.

The author has not yet submitted a copy of the full paper.

Presentation type: Roundtable discussion
Theme: Transformation

Time inside the Dome: How astronomical time is depicted and communicated in planetarium sessions

Author: Joana Marques – University of Macau, China

Co-authors:

  • Andrew Carlin – University of Macau, China
  • Miguel Gomes – Natural History and Science Museum of the University of Porto, Portugal
  • Ricardo Moutinho – University of Macau, China

Cosmological time, and the connection between time measurement and astronomical events, are central to astronomy and astronomy communication, yet people’s use of time concepts in astronomy outreach activities have not received sufficient attention in the research literature. How is time depicted and communicated in outreach contexts? In this paper we present an analysis of the communication of time concepts in planetarium sessions. We studied more than 20 events in different Portuguese institutions (the Geophysical and Astronomical Observatory of the University of Coimbra, the Museum of Natural History and Science of the University of Lisbon, and various schools in Portugal). Participants in these sessions varied: school children between 3 to 12 years old, families and adults. Data were collected during the summer of 2019. Taking Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis (EM/CA) as our approach, we analyse instances of actual events in planetarium sessions. EM/CA consider social reality and meaning-making as phenomena achieved and produced by the participants. Transcripts from recordings of these sessions enabled in-depth study of how concepts were communicated. Studying real-world occurrences in detail reveals the taken-for-granted work (the natural actions and interactions) done by people to produce those events, such as talking about astronomic time in the planetarium. By presenting the concepts people use affords exploration of differences and similarities in temporal concepts between public and communicators. Our analysis reveals that people make sense of time through their in situ work of making an astronomy outreach activity happen. In the data analysed, a frequent aspect concerning time and time concepts is the connection between time and the periodicity of celestial movements. Time is a ubiquitous concept, perceived and available interactionally. Therefore, detailed study of real events can certainly be applied in other areas to reveal how, in practice, time is communicated and understood.

(research supported by the FDCT grant# 0054/2019/A1)

The author has not yet submitted a copy of the full paper.

Presentation type: Individual paper
Theme: Time

Foot and mouth disease ready?: How relationships between Australian livestock producers and other animal health stakeholders are being transformed to improve disease preparedness

Author: Jennifer Manyweathers – Graham Centre for Agricultural innovation (Charles Sturt University and NSW Department of Primary Industries). Australia

Co-authors:

  • Lynne Hayes – Charles Sturt University Australia
  • Jennifer Kelly – CSIRO Australia
  • Barton Loechel – CSIRO Australia
  • Yiheyis Maru – CSIRO Australia

By promoting mutual trust, and inclusion of multiple sources of knowledge and experience, the Agricultural Innovations Systems (AIS) framework is transforming how improvements in animal disease management are achieved, through a four year pilot study in Australia.

Traditional approaches to improving disease monitoring and reporting typically follow a linear research-extension-adoption model. This has not been effective in addressing complex issues involving multiple stakeholders with competing priorities, such as animal disease management. Instead, an AIS approach has been adopted to enhance Australia’s preparedness for a foot and mouth disease (FMD) outbreak.

The project brings together livestock producers, veterinarians, livestock agents, abattoir representatives, social scientists, etc., to tackle complex issues around animal disease monitoring and trusting relationships, one conversation at a time.

The FMD Ready Farmer-led surveillance project, working with five different livestock industries, flips the traditional top-down deficit model approach to improve disease monitoring by including multiple stakeholder voices to transform how knowledge is co-created, valued and shared. This pilot study will contrinbute to the development of a model approach for addressing other complex scientific and social issues, reaffirming the importance of evidence-based science communication best practice.

This project is supported by Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA), through funding from the Australian Government Department of Agriculture as part of its Rural R&D for Profit program, and by producer levies from Australian FMD-susceptible livestock (cattle, sheep, goats and pigs) industries and Charles Sturt University (CSU), leveraging significant in-kind support from the research partners.

The research partners for this project are the Commonwealth Science and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), CSU through the Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation, the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) and the Australian Department of Agriculture, supported by Animal Health Australia (AHA).The project commenced in July 2016 and will conclude in June 2020.

The author has not yet submitted a copy of the full paper.

Presentation type: Individual paper
Theme: Time

The light at night: Our convenience, birds’ peril

Author: Shalie Malik – Department of Zoology, University of Lucknow. India

Co-authors:

  • Sangeeta Rani – Department of Zoology, University of Lucknow India

How strange it would be to wake up to a world without birds!

Our morning begins with bird song but we never recognize or acknowledge it, yet they keep the nature in balance and take care of our ecosystem, which is an interrelated natural community of flora and fauna.

I work on biological timekeeping (Chronobiology) in birds and therefore got interested in studying how use of technology, that has dramatically impacted human life, has influenced the wildlife specially birds. Of all the technological innovations, the advent of artificial light has been the most dramatic event. It has obscured day-night differences, leading to extended day, increased work hours and changed pattern of our social life. We are now free to ‘chose our day’ within 24h. However, what is good for us may not hold true for birds.

The bright nights have disturbed the natural behavior of birds. Every year millions of birds die colliding with illuminated buildings and towers and the migrants that navigate by moonlight and starlight, wander and move towards the dangerous landscapes of cities on seeing the bright light at night. The nightlight has altered the perception of daylength than they actually are and shifted the onset of various physiological events such as migration, reproduction, foraging, nesting, song and sleep behaviors.

These findings can be useful for experts in the field, wildlife department, urban development authorities and policy makers to plan out the judicious use of technology for betterment of both man and wildlife. We need to think, discuss and analyze the impact of technology on the timing of life events and make planet earth a better place for birds to live, as is rightly said “if you take care of birds you take care of most of the big problems in the world”.

The author has not yet submitted a copy of the full paper.

Presentation type: Visual presentation
Theme: Technology

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