Taking Science to the People: A Communication Primer for Scientists and Engineers

3. Taking Your Science to the Capital

Gene Whitney, PhD, is currently head of the energy section of the Congressional Research Service. During the administration of President George W. Bush, Whitney was assistant director for environment at the Office of Science and Technology Policy (ostp), Executive Office of the President, in Washington dc. In that role, he was responsible for earth sciences, earth observations, climate change, natural hazards and disasters, energy, water, environment, and natural resources. He is cochair of the U.S. Group on Earth Observations and is ostp principal to the U.S. Climate Change Science Program. He directed the Future of Land Imaging Interagency Working Group and serves on the Subcommittees on Disaster Reduction and Water Availability and Quality of the National Science and Technology Council. Whitney, who received his doctorate in geology from the University of Illinois, has authored or coauthored numerous scientific papers and abstracts. He received a National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellowship at nasa/jpl and a Senior Postdoctoral Fellowship at the École Normale Supérieure, Paris. He has worked with the governments of China, Russia, Pakistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, and Japan on energy and mineral resource issues. Gene Whitney has said that policymakers need scientific and technical guidance “more than they know.” In an April 2008 talk at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Whitney told science faculty and students that “science almost never carries the day” in public policy decisions. “More times than I’d like to admit, science gets trumped . . . and you end up with a decision that makes no sense scientifically.” And yet, in the same talk, Whitney said the process of making public policy needs the input of both politicians and scientists: “If not for politicians, we’d never get any decisions made. Think of what the world would be like if scientists were in charge. When would you have enough data?” In this essay, Whitney encourages scientists and engineers to offer their expertise to politicians and other policymakers and gives specific advice on how to do so most effectively. 21 3 Taking Your Science to the Capital Gene Whitney Policymaking has become increasingly technical over the last half century. The development of atomic weapons during World War II was followed by the space program in the 1960s and by rapid developments in physics, aerospace, earth and climate sciences, medicine and biotechnology, electronics and computing, and material sciences. All these developments have been the subject of policy debates at many levels of government. To make decisions, policymakers—from city councils to federal agencies—must grasp an incredibly broad and technical array of material. Congress and the president, for example, make policies about stem-cell research, nanotechnology, advanced weapon systems, pharmaceutical regulations, climate change, and energy options. Many people who make public policy related to science are educated and equipped for the task, but virtually all of them rely on the advice of technical experts. In the United States, decision makers include the president, members of Congress, governors, state legislators, county commissioners , city officials and hundreds of other government leaders.1 In fact, decisions requiring scientific input are not in the hands of a single person or institution; many players acting in many venues over many years steer the ship of policy. Although most decision makers try to be well informed, they don’t have the time, the staff, or the resources to gather all the information they need to make well-informed decisions on technical or scientific issues. Sometimes a decision can be postponed , but more often decision makers must act on the available information, even if it isn’t always the best information. Policymakers become informed—or misinformed—about these issues through a variety of sources, including the media, personal study, staff, and expert briefings or testimony. However, many highly technical decisions are made with little expert input or with incomplete or bad information. In short, across the country, at all levels of government, officials are making decisions every day because they must be made, although the decision makers would often benefit from additional expert input and counsel. This situation provides an opportunity for scientists and engineers to become involved in the decision-making process. Who Will Do It? Few scientists and engineers are interested in engaging directly in the political decision-making process. After all, they chose a career in science or technology because their aptitude, skills, and interests are in exploration, discovery, innovation, and the  taking your science to the capital 22 intellectual...