More Than One Way to Catch a Fish: Effective Translation of Ocean Science for the Public

摘要

The understanding and use of information, especially scientific and technical information, is increasingly important for citizens and decision-makers. As more Americans live in coastal counties their understanding of the ocean's, coasts' and Great Lakes' influence on their lives and their local economies grows in importance. Yet a majority of Americans know little about the ocean and its impact on their livelihood and many have limited skills to understand the complexities of this environment. Surprisingly little is known about effective translation of complex scientific and technical information into information that is easy to understand, easy to use, and of interest to the public and educators. Information translation is one way to make science and technical information more accessible to the public and thereby, improve scientific literacy of many Americans. We present three information translation models that promote scientific and technical literacy.