Building Trust in Science: A One-Day Conference for a More Informed Future
Building Trust in Science: A One-Day Conference for a More Informed Future, a collaboration between the Aspen Institute Science & Society Program and the MIT Press, aims to bridge the gap between decades of research in neuroscience and social science about how humans process and understand information, and the vulnerabilities to misinformation and propaganda we endure when we fail to leverage this knowledge in communicating science, especially in the age of generative AI.
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This conference will be ideal for science communicators, journalists, researchers, students, policymakers, and anyone interested in mobilizing knowledge for a better world. For individuals directly invited as well as public attendees, this conference is planned for March 10, 2025 in Boston, at MIT, with
- keynotes by Francis Collins (former director of the National Institutes of Health) and Lina Yassin (Sudanese climate activist, policy analyst, and journalist),
- poster session,
- closing talk about next steps,
- speaker dinner,
- smaller workshops before and/or after,
- recordings for freely available retroactive viewing, and
- publicly available playbook or handbook summarizing strategies that emerge from this conference.
This conference will explore how journalists, science communicators, researchers, and policymakers can utilize knowledge about human learning to
- Empower diverse groups to make informed decisions in a complex world;
- Combat disinformation and build trust in science and scientists;
- Amplify voices and perspectives historically marginalized by science and journalism; and
- Craft impactful messaging that fosters active and engaged communities where science is a cornerstone.
This conference is supported by
Conference Plan
Emcee: Cara Santa Maria, creator and host of the weekly science communications podcast Talk Nerdy with Cara Santa Maria
Remarks:
- Cindy Barnhart, MIT Provost
- Robert Langer, MIT Institute Professor
Plenary Session:
- Francis Collins, former Director of the National Institutes of Health
- Lina Yassin, Sudanese climate journalist and development consultant
- Alfred Ironside, MIT VP of Communications, moderator
Panel: Polarization in science communication
- Lee McIntyre, moderator, Research Fellow at the Center for Philosophy and History of Science at Boston University and a Senior Advisor for Public Trust in Science at the Aspen Institute
- Dietram Scheufele, Taylor-Bascom Chair in Science Communication, University of Wisconsin Madison
- Lily L. Tsai, Ford Professor of Political Science and Director, MIT Governance Lab
Panel: Climate communication in the age of decarbonization
- Lauren Feldman, Professor of Journalism and Media Studies, Rutgers School of Communication and Information
- Bernadette Woods Placky, Chief Meteorologist and Director of Climate Matters, Climate Central
- Anirudh Tiwathia, Director of Behavioral Science, Rare Center for Behavior & the Environment
- Madalina Vlasceanu, Assistant Professor of Environmental Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, and Director of the Stanford Climate Cognition Lab
Panel: The Power of Public Health Storytelling for Societal Transformation
- Melissa Fleming, Under-Secretary General for Global Communications, UN Department of Global Communications
- Lori Rose Benson, CEO, Hip Hop Public Health
- Laura Hughes, Director of Narrative Strategies, PolicyLink
- Erica Rosenthal, Director of Research, USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center
Panel: Generative AI and Trust in Science
- Renee Cummings, Professor of Practice in Data Science at the University of Virginia, 2023 VentureBeat AI Innovator Award winner, and the first Data Activist-in-Residence at the UVA School of Data Science
- David Rand, Erwin H. Schell Professor and Professor of Management Science and Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT, the director of the Applied Cooperation Initiative
- Deb Roy, Professor of Media Arts and Sciences at MIT, where he directs the MIT Center for Constructive Communication
- Claire Wardle, moderator, Associate Professor at Cornell University School of Communication
Conversation: Directions for future research and action
- Rick Berke, co-founder and executive editor of STAT
- Kai Kupferschmidt, contributing correspondent for Science magazine.
Cocktail reception and poster session
The planning committee for this conference includes
- Rick Berke, Co-founder & Executive Editor, STAT
- Deborah Blum, Director, MIT Knight Science Journalism Program
- Amy Brand, Director and Publisher, The MIT Press (program co-chair)
- Mariette DiChristina, Dean of the Boston University College of Communication
- Michael John Gorman, Incoming Director, The MIT Museum
- Amml Hussein, Civic Science Fellow, Boston University; President-elect, National Association of Social Workers (NASW), New Jersey chapter
- Alfred Ironside, Vice President for Communications, MIT
- Aaron Krol, Climate Communications Coordinator, MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative
- Thomas Levenson, Professor of Science Writing and director of the graduate program in science writing, MIT
- Lee McIntyre, Senior Advisor for Public Trust in Science at the Aspen Institute
- Aaron Mertz, Executive Director, Aspen Institute Science & Society Program
- Seth Mnookin, MIT Professor & Director of the Graduate Program in Science Writing (program co-chair)
- Jylana Sheats, Associate Professor, Tulane University School of Public Health; Associate Director, Aspen Institute Science & Society Program (program co-chair)
- Claire Wardle, Co-director of the Information Futures Lab, Brown University