How To Translate Good Science Into Good Copy

Published September 23, 2014 at 12:40 PM CDT

Physicist Christina Love talks about her PhD thesis on dark matter at the Chemical Heritage Foundation in Center City Philadelphia. She organized the event called "Start Talking Science"(Susan Philllips/WHYY)

The chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, told delegates at the opening ceremony of the UN Climate Summit in New York today that the IPCC's Fifth Assessment Report – compiled by hundreds of scientists – had three key findings:

One: Human influence on the climate is clear and growing.

Two: Quick and decisive action is needed to avoid destructive outcomes.

Three: There are means to limit climate change. That language is pretty simple and clear.

So what makes a scientist a good communicator? Turns out the scientific community has become more interested in figuring that out.

From the Here & Now Contributors Network, WHYY’s Susan Phillips reports.

WHYY: The Art of Explaining Science…And Why It’s So Hard to Do

Reporter

Susan Phillips, energy reporter for StateImpact Pennsylvania, a collaboration between WTIF and WHYY. She tweets @susanphill