TRUST AND CONFIDENCE AT THE INTERFACES OF THE LIFE SCIENCES AND SOCIETY Does the Public Trust Science? A Workshop Summary |
Helaine E. Resnick, Keegan Sawyer, and Nancy Huddleston, Rapporteurs
Roundtable on Public Interfaces of the Life Sciences
Board on Life Sciences
Division on Earth and Life Studies
Board on Science Education
Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, DC
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001
This activity was supported by Grant No. GBMF3869 from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Grant No. 10002067 from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, Grant No. 10001304 from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Grant No. 10001447 from Monsanto, a grant from DuPont, with additional support from the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project.
ISBN-13: 978-0-309-37792-8
ISBN-10: 0-309-37792-7
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Suggested citation: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2015. Does the Public Trust Science? Trust and Confidence at the Intersections of the Life Sciences and Society. A Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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PLANNING COMMITTEE FOR THE WORKSHOP DOES THE PUBLIC TRUST SCIENCE?
TRUST AND CONFIDENCE AT THE INTERSECTION OF THE LIFE SCIENCES AND SOCIETY1
Members
RICK BORCHELT (Co-Chair), Department of Energy
MOLLY JAHN (Co-Chair), University of Wisconsin-Madison
CYNTHIA BEALL (NAS), Case Western Reserve University
TIFFANY LOHWATER, American Association for the Advancement of Science
GEORGE MATSUMOTO, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
MATTHEW NISBET, Northeastern University
IVAN ORANSKY, MedPage Today
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1The workshop planning committee members were not involved in the writing of the workshop summary.
ROUNDTABLE ON PUBLIC INTERFACES OF THE LIFE SCIENCES
Members
CYNTHIA BEALL (NAS; Cochair), Case Western Reserve University
DIETRAM A. SCHEUFELE (Cochair), University of Wisconsin–Madison
JOSEPH ARVAI, University of Calgary
RICK BORCHELT, US Department of Energy
DAVID E. DUNCAN, Freelance Journalist
DAVID GOLDSTON, Natural Resources Defense Council
FRED GOULD (NAS), North Carolina State University
DAVID INOUYE, University of Maryland
MOLLY JAHN, University of Wisconsin–Madison
BRUCE LEWENSTEIN, Cornell University
MICHAEL LOHUIS, Monsanto
TIFFANY LOHWATER, American Association for the Advancement of Science
GEORGE MATSUMOTO, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
MATTHEW NISBET, Northeastern University
JOHN OHAB, US Naval Research Laboratory
IVAN ORANSKY, MedPage Today
STEPHEN PALACIOS, Added Value Cheskin
WILLIAM PROVINE, DuPont
VINCENT RACANIELLO, Columbia University
KENNETH S. RAMOS, University of Louisville
BROOKE SMITH, COMPASS
MARY WOOLLEY (NAM), Research!America
Staff
KEEGAN SAWYER, Project Director, Board on Life Sciences
MICHAEL FEDER, Senior Program Officer, Board on Science Education
P. KANOKO MAEDA, Senior Program Assistant
NORMAN GROSSBLATT, Senior Editor
BOARD ON LIFE SCIENCES
Members
JAMES P. COLLINS (Chair), Arizona State University
ENRIQUETA C. BOND, Burroughs Wellcome Fund (retired)
ROGER D. CONE, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
JOSEPH R. ECKER, Salk Institute for Biological Studies
SEAN EDDY, HHMI Janelia Farm Research Campus
SARAH C. R. ELGIN, Washington University
DAVID R. FRANZ, Former Cdr USAMRIID; Consultant
STEPHEN FRIEND, Sage Bionetworks
ELIZABETH HEITMAN, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
JOHN G. HILDEBRAND (NAS), University of Arizona
RICHARD A. JOHNSON, Arnold & Porter, LLC
JUDITH KIMBLE, University of Wisconsin–Madison
MARY E. MAXON, Science Philanthropy Alliance
KAREN E. NELSON, J. Craig Venter Institute
ROBERT M. NEREM, Georgia Institute of Technology
MARY E. POWER, University of California, Berkeley
MARGARET RILEY, University of Massachusetts
LANA SKIRBOLL, Sanofi
JANIS C. WEEKS, University of Oregon
MARY WOOLLEY (NAM), Research!America
Staff
FRANCES E. SHARPLES, Director
JO L. HUSBANDS, Scholar/Senior Project Director
JAY B. LABOV, Senior Scientist/Program Director for Biology Education
KATHERINE W. BOWMAN, Senior Program Officer
MARILEE K. SHELTON-DAVENPORT, Senior Program Officer
KEEGAN SAWYER, Program Officer
AUDREY THEVENON, Associate Program Officer
BETHELHEM MEKASHA, Financial Associate
ANGELA KOLESNIKOVA, Administrative Assistant
P. KANOKO MAEDA, Senior Project Assistant
JENNA OGILVIE, Senior Project Assistant
BOARD ON SCIENCE EDUCATION
Members
ADAM GAMORAN (Chair), WT Grant Foundation
GEORGE BOGGS, Palomar College (emeritus)
MELANIE COOPER, Department of Chemistry, Michigan State University
RODOLFO DIRZO, Department of Biology, Stanford University
JACQUELYNNE ECCLES, Department of Psychology, University of Michigan
JOSEPH FRANCISCO, Department of Chemistry, Purdue University
MARGARET A. HONEY, New York Hall of Science
SUSAN KIEFFER, Department of Geology, University of Illinois, Urbana
MATTHEW KREHBIEL, Kansas State Department of Education
MICHAEL LACH, Urban Education Institute, University of Chicago
LYNN S. LIBEN, Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University
BRIAN REISER¸ School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University
MARSHALL (MIKE) SMITH, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
ROBERTA TANNER, Retired Physics Teacher, Thompson School District, Loveland, Colorado
SUZANNE WILSON, Neag School of Education, University of Connecticut
YU XIE, Department of Sociology, University of Michigan
Staff
HEIDI SCHWEINGRUBER, Director, Board on Science Education
MICHAEL FEDER, Senior Program Officer
MARGARET HILTON, Senior Program Officer
MATT LAMMERS, Program Coordinator
ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF REVIEWERS
This workshop summary has been reviewed in draft form by persons chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making the published workshop summary as sound as possible and to ensure that it meets institutional standards of objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this summary:
Rick Borchelt, U.S. Department of Energy
Robert Dorit, Smith College
Audrey Huang, Johns Hopkins University
Kirk Englehardt, Georgia Institute of Technology
Beth Shapiro, University of California, Santa Cruz
Although the reviewers listed above provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they did not see the final draft of the workshop summary before its release. The review of this summary was overseen by Stephen Berry of the University of Chicago. He was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this workshop summary was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this workshop summary rests entirely with the authors and the institution.
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CONTENTS
A Historical Perspective on Trust in Science
3 What Do We Know About Trust in Science?
4 Government, Politics, Science, and Trust
Experiences at the Intersection between Science and Government
Identifying Common Goals for Trustworthy Forest Partnerships
Responsible Leadership During the Ebola Outbreaks
Leveraging Scientific Authority During the Anthrax Attack
5 Trusted and Trustworthy Media
University Press Offices and Science Hype
Boxes
2-1 Some Definitions of Trust in Science
2-2 Human Universals Involved in the Biology of Trust
3-1 Cultural Factors That Influence Trust in Science
4-1 Science-Public Policy Intersections
5-1 What Makes a Source Reliable?
6-1 Break-out Session Goal and Guiding Questions
Figures
1-1 A Sunday in the Park on the Island of La Grande Park
3-1 Confidence in the Scientific Community
3-3 Conflicting Messages About Nutrition
C Biographies of the Workshop Planning Committee Members and Speakers
D About the Roundtable on Public Interfaces of the Life Sciences