IGN 3-8
Research ambassador program

Tuesday, August 6, 2013
101H, Minneapolis Convention Center
Aurora MacRae-Crerar, Department of Biology, PIRE Mongolia Project (http://mongolia.bio.upenn.edu/), University of Pennsylvania, PIRE Mongolia Project, Philadelphia, PA
Nalini Nadkarni, Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT
Amy Stasch, Scotts Bluff National Monument, Scottsbluff, NE
The Research Ambassador Program trains ecosystem scientists in communicating their research to environmentally unaware audiences in non-academic settings.  These include faith-based communities, day-care centers, senior care facilities and correction centers. This experience has a dual benefit. Not only do scientists become ambassadors to traditionally non-scientific communities, but the people in these communities become ambassadors, of their own unique culture and experiences, to the scientific community.  This mutual respect is necessary in order to galvanize environmental change for the better.