7/17/2019 Interview for Social Media output

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/interview-for-social-media-output 1/1

Proessor Lester is the Head o the Department o Nuclear Science and Engineering at the Massachusetts Instituteo echnology. He is the author o “Te Productive Edge” and “Made in America” and more recently he co-authored

“Unlocking Energy Innovation: How America Can Build a Low-Cost, Low-Carbon Energy System”. Te book dealswith impactul issues, and culminates rom Proessor Lester’s involvement with projects where the use o scienceand technology has intense implications or productivity and society. I asked Proessor Lester about the NuclearScience and Engineering department’s use o tools or communicating science, especially because they deal withinnovation in nuclear research, a field ofen aced with unwarranted negative associations. “Tere are two questionsto consider…understanding where people’s perceptions come rom” and thinking about “ how to change theseperceptions”. Proessor Lester said that enrolment in the department is rising and most o the students considerthemselves to be environmentalists. Te department addresses the urgency o communicating science by integratinginto their program Science Communication lectures, such as the annual lecture series called “CommunicatingScience and echnology in the 21st Century”. Te series tackles issues related to communicating complex scienceand technology subjects in a clear and engaging way. Steven Pinker, a cognitive scientist and linguist, kicked off the

lecture series last September, and researchers across disciplines at MI have been engaging with these lectures.

Clear, Engaging, Effective

Communication: a conversation with Professor Richard Lester, MIT

Nada F. AlShammari   May 4, 2013