Scott Horner, a farmer in western Colorado, awaits the bloom of spring lilacs with anticipation each year. Once the lilacs peak, it’s time for Horner to plant potatoes and launch the growing season.
The fragrant bunches have been appearing earlier and earlier in recent years, Horner has noticed.
Earlier lilacs, plants growing out of turn, an extended wildfire season: these are some of the observations and data that are shared in a new science journalism project, iSeeChange, launched at KVNF-TV in Paonia, Colorado. The initiative is designed to bring local farmers, ranchers, and residents into conversation with scientists about environmental issues.
iSeeChange producer Julia Kumari Drapkin described her project at RFF’s February 2013 First Wednesday Seminar, “The Media, Science and Cognition: How We Shape Our Understanding of Environmental Issues.” The discussion was part of RFF’s 60th anniversary event series, Resources 2020, a yearlong exploration of how economic inquiry can address future environmental challenges.
Drapkin, along with Barbara Allen, the Ada M. Harrison Distinguished Teaching Professor of the Social Sciences and chair of Women’s and Gender Studies at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, led the discussion about how the public understands and shapes its opinions about global warming and other environmental issues.
Drapkin went to Paonia, which last year experienced its worst drought since 1924, to launch iSeeChange as part of Localore, a nationwide project funded primarily by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to bring public service journalism to local media. Her vision was to turn science reporting upside down by starting with the observations of local residents on changes in climate and bringing scientists into the conversation to discuss how those observations fit and compare with broader scientific research.
Click here to read the full article. To watch video of the event, visit www.rff.org/cognition.
