Friday, March 25, 2011

Making sense about science


Sense About Science is an independent UK charitable trust that responds to "the misrepresentation of science and scientific evidence on issues that matter to society, from scares about plastic bottles, fluoride and the MMR vaccine to controversies about genetic modification, stem cell research and radiation." The group brings scientists together with reporters to respond to news stories and public claims.

I'm at the COPUS board meeting in Berkeley where we are getting a briefing this morning by Dr. Leonor Sierra, Science and Policy Manager for Sense About Science, who is describing how the program works and the challenges scientists face, not only in the UK, but worldwide.

The group has a wonderful set of short easy to read reports on the above topics as well as background reports on how science is done including "I Don't Know What to Believe," that explains the peer review process. All the reports are free for download. There is a long list of "For the Record" responses to specific news reports.

Leonor is in the U.S. meeting with groups about the potential to collaborate.

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