Communicating Geohazards: Delivering Information Responsibly in Crisis and Calm
Abstract
Communicating geohazards is critical for public safety and understanding, whether the dangers are fast-onset like earthquakes, landslides, and volcanic eruptions or slow-onset like climate change. While communicating about any science is challenging--and rewarding--hazard communication in particular can have immediate and far-reaching impacts. Communication of hazards must be both effective and responsible, considering the communities and individuals affected not only by the hazards themselves but also by the messaging about them. Irresponsible or uninformed communication may unnecessarily induce anxiety, economically hurt communities by reducing tourist traffic, and confuse audiences around the world through inaccurate or inaccessible language.
Conversely, effective and responsible communication can alleviate stress, compel action, and engage communities. Geoscientists and journalist are critical allies in this endeavor. This presentation will report on a hazards communication short course for journalism and geoscience graduate students held in October 2019, developed with funding from an AGU Celebrate 100 grant. The program is comprised of a two-day short course with a field trip to the Cascades Volcano Observatory and three remote follow-on sessions, and will explore responsible communication of geohazards with a focus on earthquakes and volcanoes of the Pacific Northwest. Goals of the program include building a cross-career path cohort; exploring the ethics and best practices of communicating about geohazards; engaging with professional communicators from the GAGE and SAGE geophysical facilities, USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory, and various journalism outlets; and producing a final media project. We hope this innovative course will serve as a model for future courses and result in sharable resources to benefit the broader geoscience and journalism communities.- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019AGUFM.U33B..06B
- Keywords:
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- 0815 Informal education;
- EDUCATION;
- 0850 Geoscience education research;
- EDUCATION;
- 6349 General or miscellaneous;
- POLICY SCIENCES & PUBLIC ISSUES;
- 6699 General or miscellaneous;
- PUBLIC ISSUES