Modeling 101: Creating a Journalist Crash Course in Climate and Weather Modeling

Climate and environmental reporters regularly write about the advances in climate and weather science that are based on modeling results. But many of these reporters do not have a fundamental understanding of the underlying concepts of modeling, and they may not know how to start educating themselves on this topic. In our Modeling 101 workshop, the NCAR | UCAR Communications Team created an educational experience specifically for science journalists. The two-day workshop, which took place in May 2019, was designed to teach the fundamental building blocks scientists use to create a model and what answers may arise from model results. Our goal was to improve the long-term accuracy, nuance, and context in climate and weather reporting and provide a stepping stool for journalists who wish to enhance their modeling knowledge.

In this presentation, we will share our workshop design, how we worked with scientists to create presentations for a journalistic audience, the workshop successes (including post-workshop reporting), and what we learned along the way.