By Sheeva Azma
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To what extent does the science that scientists pursue have an impact outside of the laboratory, and how can it be made more impactful?
In Science with Impact, Anne Helen Toomey answers the question: To what extent does the science that scientists pursue have an impact outside of the laboratory, and how can it be made more impactful? It is a question scientists have likely been asking themselves, but have not had the life experience to answer, since answering this question means working at the intersection of science, society, community engagement, law, policymaking, and other areas. To ask scientists to do all of that would be ridiculous, but asking scientists to read this book is not.
The book lives up to its full name: Science with Impact: How to Engage People, Change Practice, and Influence Policy. It talks about ways to make science more impactful for society including via community-based science, improved science communication, and via science policy. Reading it cover to cover, a scientist will come away with knowledge needed to make their scientific endeavors be more inclusive of society and also have a greater role in society.
Science and politics meet at a murky crossroads
Author Anne Helen Toomey is an interdisciplinary conservation scientist, so she provides many examples in the environment and climate space. As she writes, conservation is a difficult area to navigate due to political and sociocultural beliefs of scientists and nonscientists, which often can conflict. Science is not apolitical, and neither is she: Toomey cites a study stating that Democrats are more pro-science than Republicans, seemingly blaming Republicans for a collective lack of action on environment issues. However, even on this polarizing issue, a small group of Republicans are dedicated to looking to the science in the House Conservative Climate Caucus. Amazingly, there is actually some common ground there!
When I lecture to college and graduate students about effective science policy, one of the things I say is to embrace meeting with lawmakers with different political views than you, as they were elected based on their constituency’s priorities. They likely see the world differently than you, but you are still obligated to be professional and respectful, as common ground can only be established with mutual respect. You might also learn a bit about their constituency’s (and their) priorities by doing so, which can be helpful in future policy discussions!
Indeed, public science engagement, including with lawmakers on tough issues such as climate, reveals few true avenues for creative applications of the science that scientists value so much. There’s no world (yet?) in which scientists can be handily elected to office based on an evidence-based, pro-science agenda and get to work. Life is more complicated than that. That’s why, in Toomey’s words, the book “is about the choices that scientists and their supporters can make to effectively engage with communities, influence policy, and get more people genuinely excited about science…[f]undamentally, this book is written to challenge the scientific community to consider whether our work is having the desired impacts for society and, if it is not, how we can change to make it so.”
“Scientific research can—and frequently does—have great impact for society, but not in the way many of us have traditionally believed,” writes Toomey. Science impact is neither linear nor predictable, she argues, and the things she talks about as “choices” are, in her view, not really “choices” per se, but rather, “emerged from a complex mix of individual preferences, societal pressures, and institutional resources (or the lack thereof).”
Research suggests that most of the science that our lawmakers and their staffers see is not novel science, but is rather science in the service of policy which is interpreted the same way by scientist and nonscientist staffers. So, while there may be a long way to go on creating bipartisan coalitions to tackle climate issues, there is at least some middle ground from which to craft bipartisan, pro-science solutions, including widespread support of science, generally, in Congress.
Science with Impact is a practical, three-part book to be read from cover to cover
Science with Impact is divided into three parts. The first part, “Searching for Impact,” talks about the ways scientists view the communication of science. One common, but ineffective, SciComm method is what Toomey summarizes as a question: “Will you please just listen to me?”
The second part, “The Spaces of Scientific Communication,” talks about ways scientists can plan their research for greater impact – this includes things like asking good questions, collecting the right data, and navigating peer review.
The third and final part of the book is called “The End is Just the Beginning” and focuses on what scientists can do after their research is published, such as engaging with policymakers and dealing with skepticism and uncertainty in the public, non-scientist sphere.
As Toomey states, scientists have an idea in their mind about how they will do science and how it will shape society. That idea is a good start, but it is not the reality of what will make science better, according to Toomey. Community engagement is key, Toomey says, to identify hypotheses that ask questions that can actually help the people involved. She gives the example of an environment researcher who was working with farmers on studying the effects of a pesticide, who was better able to come up with useful hypotheses that were more relevant to not only farmers, but policymakers as well, when engaging with local farmers about the challenges they face.
I could see this book being required reading in a graduate level science course, particularly in disciplines relating to the environment and life sciences, given the examples mentioned in the book about climate and vaccines.
Why scientists and students of science should read Science with Impact
What I love about this book, and why I would recommend it as a teaching resource for science programs, is that it provides the real-world context for scientific discoveries and argues that looking to the “real world” that scientists often feel separate from can help improve science. I would add (though it is perhaps outside the scope of this book) that science as a way of discovering knowledge is unique in its processes, compared to, say, knowledge discovery and application in the legal tradition. Many people in politics are lawyers, and if I could challenge scientists to do one thing besides read Science with Impact, it would be to look at the ways science is used in the legal system to get an idea of how lawyers conceptualize knowledge. Walking a mile in nonscientist shoes (so to speak) goes a long way in creating more impactful science communication, if not more impactful science research.
Lastly, I love the idea of “science capital” Toomey talks about in the book. She defines “science capital” as “the combined science-related experiences and knowledge a person may have, including connections with others who are working in science fields.” She details research that shows that young people with greater science capital are more likely to pursue a career in or related to science, compared to young people with less science capital. As for creating more science capital, Toomey says that involves “creating more science-based experiences for people, such as opportunities to participate in out-of-school science activities, meet people in science-related careers, and have conversations about science.”
If simply having conversations about science with young people (and perhaps older people) is enough to help them have greater science capital, then scientists would be wise to build science capital into the work they do. Undoubtedly, this would help them win more grant money, gain more public support, and do more good – and, overall, be more impactful.
I recommend Science with Impact for any scientist or student of science interested in figuring out ways to make their work more impactful. Find it on Amazon here or at Island Press Publishing here.
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