Aspen Global Congress on Scientific Thinking & Action
The Aspen Institute Science & Society Program (New York, USA) and the Instituto Questão de Ciência (Question of Science Institute, São Paulo, Brazil), in collaboration with the Aspen Institute Italia (Rome, Italy) and EquiTech Futures, organized the Aspen Global Congress on Scientific Thinking & Action, March 17–20, 2021.
PARTICIPANTS’ LIGHTNING TALKS about THEIR WORK
Recordings of keynote session and panel discussions
This meeting gathered 100 thought leaders from over 50 countries actively working to implement scientific and rational approaches to policy making and education, both locally and globally. Through presentations by leading experts, small-group breakout sessions, and large-group discussions, the meeting bolstered the design and implementation of science communication strategies, focusing on themes that transcend geographical boundaries: science denial, science popularization, vaccines, climate change, medicine, and food biotechnologies.
The meeting facilitated opportunities for participants to learn how to support one another on a global scale. They shared mechanisms for construction and signing of international documents; learned to develop work plans for running events and campaigns; and designed roadmaps for future global work. Currently, many regional science organizations do not have strong relations with—or even knowledge of—related organizations elsewhere in the world. This meeting aimed to build bridges among these groups.
Speakers:
| Keynote Discussion: Standing Up For Data and Evidence in the Face of Science Denial |
|
| Mariette DiChristina (Massachusetts, USA) | Dean, College of Communication, Boston University; former Editor-in-Chief, Scientific American |
| Ricardo Galvão (Brazil) | Professor, Institute of Physics, University of São Paulo; former Director-General of the National Institute for Space Research |
| Session 1: Building a Dialogue on Evidence and Values: Overcoming Science Denialism | |
| Chair: Abhilash Mishra (Illinois, USA / India) |
Director, Xu Initiative on Science, Technology, and Global Development, University of Chicago; Founder, EquiTech Futures |
| Lee McIntyre (Massachusetts, USA) | Research Fellow, Center for Philosophy and History of Science, Boston University |
| Amardeo Sarma (Germany) | Chair, Gesellschaft zur wissenschaftlichen Untersuchung von Parawissenschaften (Society for the Scientific Investigation of Parasciences) |
| Philipp Schmid (Germany) | Behavioral scientist, Interim Lecturer for Statistics and Methods, Department of Psychology, University of Erfurt |
| Joy Y. Zhang (UK/China) | Senior Lecturer in Sociology, School of Social Policy, Sociology, and Social Research, University of Kent |
| Session 2: Science Literacy and Popularization: Understanding How Science Works | |
| Chair: Richard Gallagher (California, USA / UK) |
President & Editor-in-Chief, Annual Reviews, Publisher, Knowable Magazine |
| Ayelet Baram-Tsabari (Israel) | Associate Professor, Faculty of Education in Science and Technology, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology |
| Stuart Firestein (New York, USA) | Chair, Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University |
| Simon Singh (UK) | Author, journalist, and TV producer, specializing in science and mathematics |
| Masataka Watanabe (Japan) | Specially Appointed Professor, Tohoku University |
| Session 3: Risks and Dangers of Alternative Medicine | |
| Chair: Roxana Tabakman (Argentina) |
Health writer and science journalist |
| Edzard Ernst (UK) | Emeritus Professor, University of Exeter |
| Narendra Nayak (India) | President, Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations |
| Joe Schwarcz (Canada) | Chemist and Director, Office for Science and Society, McGill University |
| Natália Pasternak Taschner (Brazil) | President, Instituto Questão de Ciência (Question of Science Institute) |
| Session 4: Dousing the Fires of Climate Change Denial | |
| Chair: Tim Mendham (Australia) |
Executive Officer, Australian Skeptics |
| François-Marie Bréon (France) | Climatology Researcher, Association Française pour l’Information Scientifique (French Association for Scientific Information) |
| John Cook (Washington, DC, USA) | Research Assistant Professor, Center for Climate Change Communication, George Mason University |
| Hajar Khamlichi (Morocco) | President and Co-Founder, Mediterranean Youth Climate Network; Board Member, Moroccan Alliance for Climate and Sustainable Development |
| Lina Yassin (Sudan) | MENA Programme Manager, Climate Tracker |
| Session 5: Defeating Vaccine Hesitancy Through Communication | |
| Chair: Agnes Binagwaho (Rwanda) |
Vice Chancellor, University of Global Health Equity; former Minister of Health of Rwanda |
| Noel Brewer (North Carolina, USA) | Professor, Department of Health Behavior, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill |
| Ovidiu Covaciu (Romania) | Administrator, Vaccinuri si Vaccinare (Vaccines and Vaccinations); Founder, Coaliția România Sănătoasă (Romania Healthy Coalition); Producer, Sceptici în România (Skeptics in Romania) |
| Fara Ndiaye (Senegal) | Deputy Executive Director, Speak Up Africa |
| Kavin Senapathy (Illiinois, USA) | Science, health, and parenting writer |
| Session 6: Food Biotechnology for a Sustainable Future | |
| Chair: Mahaletchumy Arujanan (Malaysia) |
Global Coordinator, International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA); Executive Director, Malaysian Biotechnology Information Centre (MABIC) |
| Angela Bearth (Switzerland) | Research Scientist, Consumer Behavior, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zürich |
| Jon Entine (Ohio, USA) | Founder and Executive Director, Genetic Literacy Project |
| Sarah Davidson Evanega (New York, USA) | Director, Cornell Alliance for Science, Cornell University |
| Margaret Karembu (Kenya) | Director, AfriCenter, International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) |
Congress Participants:
| Naglaa Abdel-Moneim Ahmed Abdallah (Egypt) | Head of the Arab Society of Genetics and Biotechnology; Director of the Egypt Biotechnology Information Center (EBIC) www.e-bic.net, International Service for Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Application (ISAAA) |
| Ali Albahrani (Saudi Arabia) | Founder and Presenter, Eureka Show |
| Saleem Ali (Delaware, USA) | Member, Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel, Global Environment Facility, United Nations Environment Programme |
| Paulo Almeida (Brazil) | Financial Officer, Instituto Questão de Ciência (Question of Science Institute) |
| Dheaya Alrousan (Jordan) | Chairman, Green Generation Foundation |
| Ross Andersen (Washington, DC, USA) | Deputy Editor, The Atlantic |
| Gonzalo Argandoña (Chile) | Science journalist and astronomy disseminator; Founder, Cabala Producciones |
| Faris Bukhamsin (Saudi Arabia) | CEO, Scientific Saudi |
| Russ Campbell (North Carolina, USA) | Senior Communications Officer, Burroughs Wellcome Fund |
| Yul Rae Cho (South Korea) | President, Korea Foundation for the Advancement of Science & Creativity (KOFAC) |
| Anne Claiborne (California, USA) | Health Science Policy and Strategy Lead, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative |
| Tinsley Davis (California, USA) | Executive Director, National Association of Science Writers |
| Catherine de Jong (Netherlands) | Anesthesiologist; Secretary, Vereniging tegen de Kwaksalverij (Dutch Society Against Quackery) |
| Daria Denisova (Russia) | Director, Center for Science Communication, ITMO University |
| Thomas Dorlo (Netherlands) | Pharmacometrician and clinical pharmacology expert; Board Member, Vereniging tegen de Kwaksalverij (Dutch Society Against Quackery) |
| Çiler Dursun (Turkey) | Professor, Faculty of Communication, Ankara University; Scientific Coordinator, Genovate |
| Ahmed El-Ghandour (Egypt) | Founder and presenter, Al-Daheeh YouTube show |
| Mónica I. Feliú-Mójer (Puerto Rico, USA) | Director of Communications & Science Outreach, Ciencia Puerto Rico |
| Cary Funk (Washington, DC, USA) | Director, Science and Society Research, Pew Research Center |
| Erez Garty (Israel) | Head of Science Communications, Davidson Institute of Science Education, Weizmann Institute |
| Susan Gerbic (California, USA) | Founder, Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia |
| Akram Ghadimi (Iran) | Associate Professor, Department of Popularization of Science, National Research Institute for Science Policy |
| Rose Gidado (Nigeria) | Assistant Director of the Agricultural Biotechnology Department at the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA); Nigerian Country Coordinator for the Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology (OFAB) |
| Laura Goodall (New Zealand) | President, Science Communicators Association of New Zealand |
| Alice Hazelton (Switzerland/UK) | Programme Lead, Science and Society, World Economic Forum |
| Jonathan Jarry (Canada) | Science Communicator, Office for Science and Society, McGill University |
| Marina Joubert (South Africa) | Senior Researcher, Centre for Research on Evaluation, Science and Technology (CREST), Stellenbosch University |
| Stéphane Kenmoe (Cameroon) | Scientist, science communicator, and television personality |
| Safa Khalaf (Jordan) | Community Outreach Officer, Phi Science Institute |
| Patience Kiyuka (Kenya) | Infectious diseases researcher |
| Claire Klingenberg (Czechia) | President, European Council of Skeptical Organizations (ECSO) |
| Robert Klitzman (New York, USA) | Professor of Psychiatry, Director of Masters of Bioethics Programs, Columbia University |
| Marko Krstić (Serbia) | Acting Director, Centar za Promociju Nauke (Center for the Promotion of Science) |
| Stella Levantesi (Italy) | Journalist and photographer |
| Neta Lipman (Israel) | CEO, Israel Society of Ecology and Environmental Science |
| Soledad Machado (Uruguay) | Senior Team Member, Química d+; Founding Member, Bardo Científico |
| Hope Mafaranga (Uganda) | Science journalist; Assistant Regional News Editor, New Vision |
| Mahmoud Bukar Maina (Nigeria) | Founder, Science Communication Hub Nigeria |
| Mouhannad Malek (Syria/Germany) | Founder and Chairman, Syrian Researchers |
| Qaiser Majeed Malik (Pakistan) | Chairman, Pakistan Science Foundation |
| Afy Malungu Bobyondo (Democratic Republic of Congo) | Environmental communication practitioner; freelance editor, www.infocongo.org |
| Michael Marshall (UK) | Project Director, Good Thinking Society |
| Emily Gold Mears (California, USA) | Health and science advocate; author, Discussing Dementia blog |
| João Lourenço Monteiro (Portugal) | Vice President, COMCEPT: Comunidade Céptica Portuguesa (Portuguese Skeptical Community) |
| Michel Naud (France) | Director, Former President, Association Française pour l’Information Scientifique (French Association for Scientific Information) |
| Pablo Orozco (Guatemala / New York, USA) | Policy Affairs Associate, Cornell Alliance for Science |
| Carlos Orsi (Brazil) | Editor-in-Chief, Questão de Ciência (Question of Science) magazine |
| Daniela Ovadia (Italy) | Science journalist, neuroscientist, and neuroethicist; Scientific Director, Agenzia Zoe; Co-Director, Neuroscience and Society Lab, University of Pavia |
| Alexander Panchin (Russia) | Senior Researcher, Institute for Information Transmission Problems (Kharkevich Institute) and Member, Commission on Pseudoscience and Research Fraud, Russian Academy of Sciences |
| Carlo Papa (Spain) | Director, Enel Foundation |
| Helen Pearson (UK) | Chief Magazine Editor, Nature; journalist, science communicator, and author |
| Avital Percher (Washington, DC, USA) | Director of Partnerships, National Science Policy Network (NSPN); American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science & Technology Policy Fellow |
| Marco Perduca (Italy) | Co-Founder, Science for Democracy |
| Rodrigo Pérez Ortega (Washington, DC, USA / Mexico) | Freelance science journalist; founding member, Mexican Network of Science Journalists |
| Massimo Polidoro (Italy) | Executive Director, Comitato Italiano per il Controllo delle Affermazioni sul paranormale (Italian Committee for the Investigation of Claims on the Paranormal) |
| Inez Ponce de Leon (Philippines) | Assistant Professor, Department of Communication, Ateneo de Manila University |
| Ángela Posada-Swafford (Florida, USA / Colombia) | Science, environment, and exploration journalist, lecturer, moderator, and book author |
| Alberto Quadrio Curzio (Italy) | Economics Professor; President Emeritus, Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei |
| Juan A. Rodríguez (Spain) | Secretary, ARP–Sociedad para el Avance del Pensamiento Crítico (Society for the Advancement of Critical Thinking); Editor, El Escéptico (The Skeptic) magazine |
| Rhodora Romero-Aldemita (Philippines) | Director, International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) SEAsia Center |
| Iida Ruishalme (Finland/Switzerland) | Biologist and science communicator; author of Thoughtscapism blog |
| Mohamed Qasem (Kuwait) | Assistant Professor, Department of Electronics Engineering, College of Technological Studies; consultant on digital science content, Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS) |
| Ahmed Samir (Egypt) | Founder and Leader, Egychology |
| Gianna Savoie (New Zealand) | Director of Filmmaking, Center for Science Communication, University of Otago |
| Ximena Serrano Gil (Colombia) | President, Asociación Colombiana de Periodismo Científico (Colombia Association of Science Journalists) |
| Emily Shore (Canada) | Public Affairs and Communications Director, Office for Science and Society, McGill University |
| Sunil Babu Shrestha (Nepal) | Vice-Chancellor, Nepal Academy of Science and Technology |
| Nataliya Shulga (Ukraine) | CEO, Ukrainian Science Club |
| Tania Simoncelli (California, USA) | Director of Science Policy, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative |
| Thomas Tagoe (Ghana) | Lecturer, Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Ghana; Co-Founder, GhScientific |
| April Philippa Tash (France) | Programme Specialist, Lead for the Recommendation on Science, UNESCO |
| Tenaw Terefe (Ethiopia) | Assistant Professor, Faculty of Journalism and Communication, Addis Ababa University |
| Stuart Vyse (Connecticut, USA) | Behavioral scientist, teacher, and writer; Contributing Editor, Skeptical Inquirer magazine |
| Deena Skolnick Weisberg (Pennsylvania, USA) | Principal Investigator, Scientific Thinking and Representation Lab; Assistant Professor, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Villanova University |
| Michael Weisberg (Pennsylvania, USA) | Co-Director, Penn Laboratory for Understanding Science; Professor, Professor and Chair of Philosophy, University of Pennsylvania |
| Rizqy Amelia Zein (Indonesia) | Assistant Professor, Department of Personality and Social Psychology, Universitas Airlangga |
We are grateful to the underwriters of the Aspen Global Science Congress:
- Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
- John Templeton Foundation
- Natália Pasternak Taschner, Ph.D., Question of Science Institute, Brazil
- Annual Reviews
- Hurford Foundation
- Burroughs Wellcome Fund
- Emily Gold Mears
- EquiTech Futures