Best Practice Examples

The conference committee reviewed more than 150 entries, from which it selected 48 entries for the March 2002 conference. The following is a representative sample:

ENVIRONMENT CANADA

Environment Canada developed a successful strategy for communicating science to Canadian aboriginal communities. To the Inu people of northern Quebec and Labrador, ashkui, the first areas of frozen ice to open up in the spring in northern Canada, are both supermarket and pharmacy. Environmental scientists studying the ashkui listened to, acknowledged, and incorporated traditional wisdom about the environment in their research. When the researchers met with local elders, they met not in a boardroom-type setting, but in a camp setting where the native people felt comfortable. And to communicate the results of the project they printed posters not on paper, but on linen.

BROOKHAVEN NATIONAL LABORATORY

Brookhaven National Laboratory turned a crisis into an opportunity, and used face-to-face, two-way communication to improve the labs image and trust after public confidence in the lab eroded in the wake of a series of costly environmental crises that occurred under a previous contractors management. The path toward restoring public trust involved coming up with a new public-relations and community-relations strategy, a culture change within the organization, and a commitment to excellence in communications and community involvement. Communications and government affairs offices were brought together under one manager who responded directly to the director of the lab. The community was involved and felt that its concerns were heard.

USGS WESTERN REGION CENTER

The U.S. Geological Survey's Western Region Center, in Menlo Park, Calif., holds a public open house every three years. At the last event, in May 2000, 14,000 people attended over three days. The event attracts children and families, college students, teachers, neighbors, and scientists from nearby universities. The open house is a way to share information about earthquakes, landslides, water quality, and other issues affecting people living in the Bay Area, and has helped rally support for an institution that has faced past threats of extinction and relocation.

NATIONAL EYE INSTITUTE

The National Eye Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, created a traveling kiosk, designed for display in shopping malls, to provide information about low visionvisual impairment not correctable by eyeglasses, medicine, or surgery. NEI determined that shopping malls, Americas new town halls, provide an ideal venue for communicating health information to a wide audience.

ORDER HEALTH INFORMATION AND EDUCATION NETWORK (¡BIEN!)

Southern New Mexicos border region contains a diverse and medically underserved population. A coalition of libraries led by the New Mexico State University library banded together to provide health-related information in electronic and other formats to targeted populations. ¡BIEN!Border Health Information and Education Network also wanted to provide information on current health-related research to professionals, educators, and librarians; develop an information network, and provide literacy training to health professionals and consumers. The project provides increased access to quality health information in English and Spanish in multiple formats.

HIGH SCHOOL BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH PROGRAM FOR DISADVANTAGED YOUTH

The High School Biomedical Research Program for Disadvantaged Youth, a full-time, eight-week summer program at the University of Maryland at Baltimore, pairs disadvantaged high school students with scientist mentors for research projects. The research topics include heart disease, cancer, molecular biology, brain disorders, and pharmacology. Students not only work in the laboratory but also meet for weekly group activities, such as science and career seminars, debates, and oral presentations. Since 1988, 95 percent of the students have gone on to college with 88 percent majoring in the sciences.

UNIVERSITY CORPORATION FOR ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH

The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research provides TV weathercasters with background information on global climate change, visualizations of weather and climate concepts, and stock footage of major weather events. The ClimateStock program is designed to encourage coverage of climate change on prime-time TV, since TV weathercasters are often the most visible representatives of science in U.S. households. B-roll is provided free via satellite uplink, and suggested scripts and shot lists are available on the ClimateStock Web site.

MAYO CLINICS MEDICAL EDGE

The Mayo Clinic provides video news releases on health-related topics to local television stations. Medical Edge is a weekly, 90-second news insert made available at no cost on a market-exclusive basis. The segments air regularly on 121 TV affiliates in the U.S. and Canada, along with stations in Turkey, the Middle East, and Croatia. The program is designed to provide reliable information to the public on medicine and health, increase awareness of Mayo Clinic locations and expertise, and direct traffic to Mayos Web site. Stations can air the segments as-is, use clips of b-roll for their own stories, or have their own reporters or anchors voice the accompanying script. The segments use Ph.D. scientists and M.D.s as spokespersons.

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