Using Storytelling to Counter Misinformation in Science Communication

ESA Water Cooler Chat #4

How can we keep the focus on robustly informed science? What role does storytelling and narrative techniques play in compelling science communication? How can we counter misinformation without inadvertently repeating/entrenching the inaccurate messaging? This discussion will rove through these and related topics important to today’s ecologists and ecologists in training.

Co-hosted by:

• Skylar Bayer, NRC Post-doctoral associate at NEFSC Milford Lab (Secretary of ESA Communication and Engagement Section)
• Bethann Garramon Merkle, University of Wyoming (co-founder of ESA Communication and Engagement Section)
• Jonathan Miller, Ecological Society of America

Summary of Resources Shared during the Chat

• ESA’s Communication and Engagement Section
• Slate.com — Counter Lies with Emotions, Not Facts
• Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment — Science communication in a post-truth world: promises and pitfalls
• Experts.ASU — How science makes environmental controversies worse
• PNAS — Using narratives and storytelling to communicate science with nonexpert audiences
• Smithsonian — How to Avoid Misinformation about COVID-19
• The Atlantic — How to talk about Coronavirus
• Naomi Oreskes — Why Trust Science?
• Eula Biss — On Immunity
• Journal of Black Studies — A Matter of Life and Death: Effects of Emotional Message Strategies on African American Women’s Attitudes About Preventative Breast Cancer Screenings
• The Bulletin of ESA — Storytelling: A Natural Tool to Weave the Threads of Science and Community Together
• The Bulletin of ESA — Plant Love Stories: Share Your Story and Grow a Movement
• Stanford Social Innovation Review — How to Build Better Calls to Action
• Stanford Social Innovation Review — The Science of What Makes People Care
• Stanford Social Innovation Review — Stop Raising Awareness Already
• University of Florida — Science of Story Building
• Stanford Social Innovation Review — How to Tell Stories About Complex Issues
• Stanford Social Innovation Review — The Back-of-the-Envelope Guide to Communications Strategy
• 99Wetlands
• University of Wyoming — WySCI (University of Wyoming Science Communication Initiative)