IR focused a great deal of its efforts in 2006 on reaching out to international media groups thanks to the unveiling of the IR “Statement of Responsible Research Practices.” We presented the statement—along with other “hot topic” research areas—to media groups both at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Missouri and the EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF) in Germany, where we also hosted a week-long public exhibition. The statement itself was covered perhaps most comprehensively in Science News (October 7, 2006; “Venting Concerns: Exploring and Protecting Deep-sea Communities” by Janet Raloff, pp. 232-234). Kristen Kusek, IR’s E&O coordinator, continues to field media calls about IR and the statement as a result of the media outreach.
Media Outreach Activities
InterRidge held a 90-minute symposium on February 19th 2006 entitled:
Latest Ocean Ridge Research: Microbes, Mining, Management, and More
Can you trust scientists? Do you trust scientists? These questions touch upon the complicated, often charged relationship between scientific experts and laypeople; they are not questions that deep-ocean scientists have traditionally had to deal with, working as they do mostly outside national water on the "high seas." But things are starting to change. A growing global awareness that the oceans are intimately connected with human society and that the resources of Earth are finite - however large the planet may seem - has prompted environmental groups to investigate how to set up Marine Protected Areas (MPA), akin to nature reserves on the seafloor.
InterRidge had a strong presence at the EuroScience Open Forum that took place in Munich, Germany in July 2006. We held both a scientific session ("The Latest Ocean Ridge Research: Microbes, Mining, Management and More") and an outreach session (“Deep Sea AdVENTures – without getting your feet wet!”), which was run in conjunction with Germany's national science week. The IR Outreach proposal was one of 30 to be accepted from around the world -- and has been held as an example of 'best practices in international outreach'! In addition, IR hosted a showing of the “Volcanoes of the Deep Sea” IMAX film, including a Q&A session afterwards. This comprehensive media and public outreach event was so successful that we were invited to submit a session proposal for ESOF 2008, which will be held in Barcelona, Spain.
