April 2016 Workshop Findings

April 21-22, 2016, Washington, DC

In preparation for the workshop, participants were asked to complete a questionnaire as a way to initiate the exploration of the issue. Their answers set the stage for the workshop discussions. During the workshop, participants explored both challenges to communicating scientific uncertainty and ways to overcome them. In addition, participants divided into groups based on profession and identified some of the professional norms and ethics that guide their approaches to communicating scientific uncertainty.

 

Communicating Scientific Uncertainty: Findings

Day 1: Challenges and Solutions Identified

In a series of breakout sessions on the first day of the meeting, the meeting participants explored challenges to and solutions for communicating scientific uncertainty as it related to one of three fields—climate change, hydraulic fracturing, and chemical exposure. While each breakout session explored these individual issues in detail, some overarching observations about challenges and potential solutions were identified. The following table summarizes these observations.