Last Updated on October 15, 2018 by Angela Colonna
This past year, Roger Kjelgren, MREC’s center director, was awarded an American Association for the Advancement of Science’s (AAAS) Leshner Fellowship. We had a chance to chat with Kjegren about his experience as an AAAS Leshner Fellow so far and how this experience has helped shaped his position as the center director of the UF/IFAS Mid-Florida Research and Education Center in Apopka, Florida.
The focus of the AAAS Leshner Fellowship is to connect the science world with society to enhance public engagement and understanding of the importance of research.
- What have you learned so far from your AAAS Leshner Fellowship? That public engagement is a step beyond science communication. I had previous experience as a Jefferson Science Fellow in a distilling science message to a lay audience. The Leshner fellowship emphasizes engaging the public in a dialogue so you the scientist is more able to see the world through the eyes of your listener.
Here is Dr. Kjelgren at the Leshner training in the chair’s seat of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources committee meeting room. - What is one thing you were surprised to learn about science communication and policy? That crafting a scientific message and format that can truly engage a specific audience is not easy. To do it well takes training, such as that provided by the Leshner program, practice, team work, and lots of thought.
- What do you see as the benefits of combining the area of policy with natural sciences like horticulture? Horticulture affects everybody every day, in the food we eat, the medicines we take, and the physical environment around us. Making a slice of the public aware that they interact with horticulture all the time is an opportunity to make them stakeholders in science
- What do you see as the barriers of combining the area of policy with natural sciences like horticulture? Again, crafting a meaningful message, finding a venue for that message to be heard, and then being vigilant in listening to the response to that message.
- What do you think the future looks like with scientists getting more involved with policymaking? I distinguish policymaking from public engagement. Scientists with a knack and interest in advocacy can influence policy with appropriate training, and while related, advocacy is not the same as public engagement because it doesn’t necessarily involve a dialogue.
- What tools do you think are the most useful to communicate science? Seeing the world through the eyes of your audience so you never talk down to them.
- Do you think print (hard copy brochures, flyers) or digital media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, websites, blogs) have different impacts on your ability to communicate science? Or both? Both are tools in the toolbox that you use depending on the audience.
- What role do you think organizations like American Association for the Advancement of Science play with the policymaking? With industry? With scientists? AAAS’s mission is in part to educate scientists about communication and policymaking, so they play a fundamental role.
- Anything else you would like to add? I spent a year as a Jefferson Science Fellow communicating science to non scientists, taught a science communication course for two years, and now am a Leshner Fellow, and I feel like I am just beginning to get this stuff figured out. Maybe by the time I retire, if I’m diligent and lucky. 😊
The Leshner Leadership Institute is an initiative of the AAAS Center for Public Engagement with Science and Technology. Each year, a group of 15 public engagement fellows are chosen from different research areas to look at the relationship between society and science. This cohort meets for a week of intensive training covering the topics of science communication training and public engagement plan development.More information can be found here.
For another UF/IFAS blog post about Kjelgren receiving the fellowship, follow this link.
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Comments:
January 24, 2022
with the perfect subject. Thanks for a great valuable project. Great work! Keep up the ultra do the webjob!
October 14, 2021
Great job cousin. Loved reading this. Yay Taylor woot woot!
September 30, 2021
Thank you for your interest. You can find all the Water Wednesday recordings on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD1BxYa33g85HaQCLMz99CQ/videos
September 30, 2021
Where can I watch The Power of Ponds?
August 25, 2021
That's superb,congratulations Yuvaraj Khamare!
August 23, 2021
Looking forward to reading more. Great post.Really looking forward to read more. Much obliged.
August 17, 2021
Update: We will switch this class to Zoom. Sorry for the inconvenience.
August 6, 2021
Thank you for your interest. You do not need to bring water samples to the event. We will hand out testing kits at the event.
August 6, 2021
What size water sample is needed for the testing? A Pint?
August 3, 2021
Thank you for your interest. The webinars are recorded. We are building a webpage to house all the recordings. Please stay tuned!
August 2, 2021
Hello Yilin, I work for a local jursidiction and was wondering if you would be able to offer a presentation on this subject at our conference this year.
July 30, 2021
I wish you would record the seminars so those of us who cannot attend live could see the seminar later.
July 23, 2021
Thank you for your interest. We are building a webpage to house all the recordings. Please stay tuned!
July 23, 2021
Thank you for your interest. The event will be held at the UF/IFAS Extension Hernando County. The address is 16110 Aviation Loop Dr., Brooksville, FL 34604.
July 15, 2021
Would like to attend but where is this event located?
July 15, 2021
How do we access webinars that we missed? Thanks!
June 26, 2021
Thank you for your interest. Recordings will be available after the webinar is conducted.
June 25, 2021
Please make the webinars available for those who cannot attend sessions.
June 25, 2021
Very timely topic.
June 17, 2021
This article is excellent. Thank you for sharing this wonderful article regarding your ideas about septic systems. The Tulsa Septic Service website is an excellent resource. You can learn more at www.tulsasepticservice.com.
April 30, 2021
Such an amazing content about AI. Way to go!
April 22, 2021
Thank you for your interest. I am sorry you have time conflict. Please register the topics that you are interested. We will share the recordings with the registrants including those who are unable to attend.
April 21, 2021
I am interested in this series. I am in clinic seeing patients every Thursday and am wondering if there will be an opportunity to see this series online/evenings.
March 1, 2021
Thank you!
February 27, 2021
Ai is the new thing. It has so much potential. Nice article by the way
February 22, 2021
Nancy, what are you treating specifically?
February 13, 2021
Do you have any organic herbicides to recommend?
January 27, 2021
Great to hear about the Tree-cycling and Chop and Drop as ways to compost! I have been landscaping like this for over 15 years and the results are remarkable. I use no fertilizer (except on veggies) and my additional water use is minimal. My trees and shrubs never need pesticides or interventions and are beautiful. It works and keeps all that bio-mass out of the landfills! Thank you for spreading the word.
January 22, 2021
Thank you for sharing this beautiful information with us about the Health of Septic Tank System. if you are looking for < Septic tank installations in Colchester Essex Try Ashwaste Environmental, they provide this type of services in Colchester, Chelmsford, Epping, Essex, and nearby areas.
January 12, 2021
My dad noticed that his septic tank is producing an awful smell, which is why he's thinking of having it pumped. Well, it never occurred to me that smaller tanks will need more pumping. I'll also keep in mind to tell him that he must not flush wipes or tissues in his toilet since this may cause a blockage.
December 29, 2020
Hello Dr. Warwick. Is it possible for me to register to view a recrording of this webinar? Thank you!
December 14, 2020
Thank you for your comments. Florida's springs are facing various complex threats, including decreasing spring flows and excessive nutrients. Spring flows decrease because of declining water levels in the groundwater aquifer that sustains them. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Water Withdrawals, Uses, and Trends in Florida, 2015 report indicated that 5,720.82 million gallons of water were withdrawn every day. Commercial-industrial-institutional-mining (CIIM) freshwater withdrawals are reported at 408.99 million gallons per day (MGD). Bottled water companies are one industry included in CIIM category. On Page 21 of the report (https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2019/5147/sir20195147.pdf): “Food production (including water-bottling) accounted for about 20 MGD of the freshwater withdrawals in this category in 2015, of which about one-quarter (5 MGD) was withdrawn specifically for water-bottling.” As a Floridan, we are all responsible to reduce the plastic use and protect our water resources.
November 28, 2020
Work done by Mr Yuvraj is quite remarkable and may prove very beneficial for farming sectors around the globe especially for country like India where 70% of population is dependent on agriculture directly or indirectly. We also work with farming equipment provider giant in India Mahindra & Mahindra. We manufacture components for there tractor and are manufacturing partner. You can get details in our website www.dishaengg.com , company name is Disha Engineering, Nagpur. Best wishes to Mr Yuvraj for his work.
November 18, 2020
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/15/opinion/bottled-water-is-sucking-florida-dry.html you people are either 2 faced or have your heads in the sand, companies are destroying our springs
November 18, 2020
If the springs are so valuable (which I agree with BTW) then why are applications from companies like Nestle even considered? They drain the aquifer, generate single use plastic, and don't provide any real financial benefit.
July 31, 2020
Hello Angela, Your blog seems a great help for students. I want to introduce our George J. Mitchell Scholarship Program Deadline: 29th Sept 2020 Apply Now https://www.helptostudy.com/george-j-mitchell-scholarship-program/
July 21, 2020
yes, I dry the young leaves and flowers to use it along with green tea.
July 15, 2020
Is this garden project still active? Would Robby Pletcher reach out to me, please?
July 9, 2020
Spanish Needles (Bidens alba) is edible! Try a flower.
June 17, 2020
I really enjoyed over there.I have also attended this event.
June 11, 2020
Really enjoyed this article post.Really thank you! Great.
June 11, 2020
Thanks for sharing, this is a fantastic article post. Much obliged.
June 11, 2020
I think this is a real great article post.Really thank you! Keep writing.
June 11, 2020
Looking forward to reading more. Great article.Really looking forward to read more. Keep writing.
June 10, 2020
Having a no or low tolerance for a landscape would be the ideal way to enhance and get rid of my grass! Enjoyed your post.
June 8, 2020
Thank you for your kind words. We always appreciate the education too.
June 8, 2020
Hi there. We don't generally recommend septic system additives. Studies found septic system additives are not significantly effective to increase the bacteria or the sludge level in the tank.
May 31, 2020
Hi Yilin, thanks for sharing these. Do you recommend septic treatment chemicals? https://nodrippingsewage.org
May 26, 2020
Thanks for you interest. This is the map of the 2014 Florida Department of Environmental Protection verified list of impaired waters, which contained 2575 entries. Here you can find an updated list: https://floridadep.gov/dear/watershed-assessment-section/content/assessment-lists
May 25, 2020
What year was the map of 2,600 bodies of water impaired? was that map from 2018?
May 16, 2020
Hi, I would appreciate Non-chemical recommendation To control Corinespora Leaf spot Infestation on a young Papaya tree. I’m trying to do my small in-house papaya garden but I’ve notice these leaf lesions which I think is this fungal infection based on my own research. I’m using natural home made compost and even small trees are budding nicely but this new infection might ruin my papayas. I don't want artificial chemicals. Any suggestion will be greatly appreciated. This is a new hobby for me. Thanks
April 17, 2020
This is pretty cool! Makes me want to go out and try gardening veggies after several tries years ago. Thanks for the information!
April 16, 2020
Information given is very useful for us in India Weed management is very difficult here in India
April 3, 2020
I might wanna do this soon. Own weather station, plus web scraping of hourly data for comparison. Got my spidey senses riled up by something a few days ago.
April 1, 2020
What would we do without all these adorable pets? Thank you Caroline
March 31, 2020
Something positive, what a fun post!
March 31, 2020
LOL So funny to see all the critters.
March 31, 2020
Really fun and well done. Keep up the good work and thanks for making the day a little better.
March 31, 2020
Nice fun post Caroline Roper Warwick.
March 31, 2020
These were so cool! I had to laugh at some of these. So cute! Just what we need right now.
March 26, 2020
Thank you for making this clear. The packages should have clear printing so you know without searching for these warnings. We do not need clogged pipes added on to what we are facing now. Appreciate the education.
November 15, 2019
We had a great time on our tour and learned a lot! It's great work, we agree.
November 15, 2019
Awesome work!!!
July 8, 2019
its really beautiful very nice
July 6, 2019
thanks for sharing its really amazing
March 6, 2019
Nice to see that the "advanced scaffolding and lift system" that I designed and fabricated in 2004 is still being used today. Simple and basic in design it rolls along the overhead heating pipes giving access to the plants from one end of the facility to the other across the full width.
February 22, 2019
Thanks for reaching out! For more information about plants in the Tampa area check with the Hillsborough County Extension office: http://sfyl.ifas.ufl.edu/hillsborough/ To find plant suppliers, go here: https://www.plantant.com/ Click on 'plants' and search for the plant by name.
February 15, 2019
Your picture of maiden hair fern is not the Pedatum species ( or five finger fern) I would like to know if the Pedatum species can be grown in shady,sandy soil Tampa gardens. And, if so where can I buy sevreal? Thanks.
February 11, 2019
Nice post!
February 4, 2019
Joe's Nursery is located in Florida but the nursery ships items to South Carolina for clients. So unfortunately you would not be able to visit the business for future travels.
September 19, 2018
I just traveled thru SC. Where is Joe's Nursery located? I'd love to visit on my next trip. Renee Enlund, Master Gardener Bay Co. Fl.
August 19, 2018
That's a very motivated brilliant young lady.She is an asset to any lucky company.
August 19, 2018
That's a very motivated brilliant young lady.She is an asset to a very lucky company.
July 8, 2018
thank u for your site..very useful..Zahid
June 26, 2018
I recently met Dottie on the Native Landscape Tour at The Villages, sponsored by the Florida Assn. of Native Nurseries. A couple of weeks later, she visited St. Augustine to learn more about how I do business. She is passionate about her business and most of all - about the sustainability of our wildlife and food production through the utilization of native plants in our landscapes. Dottie and Kevin rock. Check out their website and visit their beautiful nursery.
June 6, 2018
Good work,very interesting,this can grow Texas climate conditions?
June 6, 2018
I loved this article It made me want to get my own fairy garden
June 2, 2018
I love what Dottie and Kevin are doing with their property and their lives. And they keep honeybees too!!!
May 28, 2018
Whoa this is awesome!
May 24, 2018
Impressive to hear about and see.
May 23, 2018
What a great example of a nursery enterprise working with natural processes and promoting environmentally friendly gardening! The demonstration garden looks intriguing.
Comments are closed.