Science and Society

By Eilea Knotts Have you heard about consulting as a possible career path? Have you asked the questions, “am I a good candidate to go into consulting”, “what are the pros and cons”, and “how do I start a consulting business”? The American Geosciences Institute (AGI) recently uploaded a course module titled, How Consulting Works. The module’s instructor is Dave ...

By Eilea Knotts The world has been following the reports of COVID-19's spread and has been considering ways in which science education can continue. There has been a massive movement for online educational resources and virtual instruction for students of all ages. The response for sharing these resources with each other has been heartwarming. Scientists from around the globe have ...

SciComm Social hour: A new way to deliberate outreach by Maha Cziesielski This year’s Ocean Sciences Meeting in San Diego is pleasantly packed with science communication, policy, journalism and outreach events. There are numerous poster and oral sessions, and a wide range of workshops and lunch events for participants to choose from. In fact, the assortment of science communication related ...

By Brittany Schieler One of my favorite television series of the early 2000’s was “Friday Night Lights.” On the show, a charismatic high school football coach dramatically recites the team’s motto before big moments: “Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose.” To this I day I still find myself repeating this mantra. The pithy saying has a lot of relevance beyond high school ...

by Teresa L. Curto, ASLO Executive Director; Mike Pace, ASLO President; Adrienne Sponberg, ASLO Director of Communications and Science   This week, ASLO joined over 125 scientific societies and journal publishers to respond to a rumored forthcoming Trump Administration executive order that would make all papers produced by federally funded research freely available upon publication. If implemented, this would completely eliminate the ...

By Maha Joana Cziesielski On November 6th the Supreme Court of the United States held a hearing for the case County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund. The arguments pertained to the question on whether the Clean Water Act requires a permit for the discharge of pollutants when the pollutant has traveled from a point source and through groundwater into ...

By Maha Joana Cziesielski   The County of Maui is being taken to the Supreme Court by a number of advocacy groups, led by the Hawaii Wildlife Fund, after a study showed that wastewater from the Lahaina Wastewater Reclamation Facility injected into groundwater could be traced into the Pacific ocean. The Clean Water Act prohibits the discharge of pollutants from a point ...

By Brittany Schieler Quick overview: The EPA proposed changes to implementation of Section 401 of the Clean Water Act (Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OW-2019-0405) which will significantly restrict a state or tribe’s authority in certifying infrastructure projects that will impact its waters and watershed habitat.  On August 8th the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed changes to implementation of Section 401 of the Clean Water Act (CWA), which were officially entered into the Federal Register on August 22, 2019 (Docket ID ...

By Brittany Schieler Summer break is quickly coming to a close for many, meaning it’s that time of year again! Time to dust off that syllabus from last year and get ready for the academic year ahead. If you are an instructor or teaching assistant preparing for a course in oceanography, limnology, or general earth science, ASLO may be able ...

In my role at ASLO, I’ve coordinated or facilitated dozens of workshops and panel discussions geared to encourage and to train scientists to communicate their science to policymakers, the public and the media. What I’ve heard over and over again from participants is: “This is important. This takes time. This doesn’t count towards tenure.” Researchers, particularly early career researchers, are ...