"Why Mis-Information Exists and How to Debunk It" by Professor Scott Mandia

This event is hosted by the Climate Reality-St. Louis Meetup Group.

This meetup will have two topics:

This meetup will have two presentations related to why misinformation exists and how to confront it:

Presentation 1: "Debunking Climate Misinformation"

Professor Scott Mandia from Suffolk Community College on Long Island has been in the front lines of climate communication for years. Scott will share his insights about the underlying causes of climate related misinformation and what we can do about it.

Scott will join us via Skype for a 45 minute presentation and 15 minutes of Q&A.

Presentation 2: "Developing Creative Dialogue on the Issue of Climate Change"
This will be recorded 40 minute webinar by NCAR's Dr. Jeff Kiehl.

From Dr. Kiehl's page at NCAR:

Communicating Climate Change:

"It is extremely important for scientists to effectively communicate their science to society. Polls have indicated that the public would like more information on climate science. For the most part, scientists are most familiar with communicating with each other. Over the past ten years I have explored different ways of communicating climate science to various sectors of society. Based on my studies, I have given a wide array of presentations to provide tools for scientists to better communicate their work to various sectors of society. These tools are based on lessons learned from personal experience and from communication research. In particular, I am exploring how metaphor, image and narrative can be used to connect people to climate change issues."

Psychology and Climate Science

"I am also very interested in exploring the interconnections between climate change and psychological processes, which is a field that has gained more attention within the psychological community. There are numerous conscious and unconscious processes that regulate how we take in information, especially information that can be activate strong affective reactions.

These processes may act as barriers to assimilating information around climate change. I am intrigued by these barriers that may prevent people from connecting to the importance of our warming planet. I feel that a number of these barriers are linked to deep psychological defenses. I hold two degrees in psychology and am using this knowledge to explore this intriguing issue."

http://www.cgd.ucar.edu/ccr/aboutus/staff/kiehl/kiehl.html

Donations will be solicited to support the "Climate Science Legal Defense Fund"

http://climatesciencedefensefund.org/