Conference: SAI: Strengthening Coastal Infrastructure through the Improvement of Science Communication

In this project, training in science communication is enabled for infrastructure-oriented researchers in a highly diverse region to promote effective two-way communication between researchers, local communities, and decision-making entities. This coastal region is at the junction of unique vulnerabilities, including an important border and the presence of several ports where large quantities of chemicals and fossil fuels are handled.

Sea level rise and the associated ground's surface settling downward (subsidence) and extreme weather such as hurricanes are further challenges to infrastructure, whether hard (built) or soft (natural, like oyster reefs or marshes). The vulnerability of the regional infrastructure has been highlighted dramatically by recent winter storms that brought down the power grid and access to potable drinking water.

This project’s focus is a conference that exposes infrastructure-oriented researchers to their infrastructure-focused counterparts from the social, behavioral and economic (SBE) fields. Broader impacts include the development of a science communication kit for participants.

Using evidence-informed communicative frameworks, the conference arms participants with skills to better convey their specific knowledge to non-expert audiences in their communities on decisions like understanding the impact of subsidence and sea level rise on building zoning decisions. The project lays the groundwork for infrastructure-focused scientists and engineers to better engage with community stakeholders and understand what knowledge and values they bring to the decision-making process.

The conference fosters convergence in areas of the built and soft infrastructure of coastal regions by bringing SBE scientists alongside natural and physical scientists and engineers. The common foci (such as flooding and groundwater quality, or hurricanes and extreme weather) integrate human- and-social-centered approaches to the infrastructure by concentrating on key issues, theories, and methodologies from SBE perspectives.

Situating the conference at a local Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) and recruiting participants from regional HSIs enhance communications on critical infrastructure issues between scientists and engineers and the coastal communities. The enhanced science communication skills fortify the dissemination of evidence-based policy to the region's industries, governments, and agencies.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.