From the Lab to the Streets: A Field Report on Training for Synthetic Biologists in Public Engagement

• In Event: Studying Science Communication I

Abstract

Public engagement with science events that do not explicitly inform policy are garnering attention in STS literature with scholars arguing that such events are “sites of symmetrical individual or small-scale learning” that not only democratize science but also make it “more personally relevant” (Davies et al. 2009) and can be a valuable means to build citizen capacity (Selin et al. 2016). However, much of the STS literature has focused on engagement or two-way communication between established scientists or experts and the public neglecting how graduate students in science, or scientists-in-the-making, learn how to conceptualize the culture of science and the roles publics can play in science. Our research project begins to fill this gap by focusing on a cutting-edge and nationally-renowned university lab as a site for integrating societal implications and public engagement with graduate education. Combining perspectives from literature on public engagement with science and technology, responsible innovation, and experiential learning, we focus on how graduate students in synthetic biology think critically about public engagement and about societal and ethical issues related to synthetic biology. Based on a project at Concordia University that combined in-laboratory experiential learning activities with face-to-face and online public engagement activities designed and conducted in collaboration with laboratory scientists-in-the-making, we argue that just as it is important to engage the public early in a technology’s development, it is equally important for future practitioners of science to engage with the public early in their careers. Drawing on surveys, interviews and observational data, the paper demonstrates how in-lab experiential learning activities and early-career public engagement integrates science communication into normal scientific practice, and thus integrates public values into science.

Authors

• Matthew Harsh, Concordia University

• Brandiff Caron

• Ravtosh Bal, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada