
The Bren School of Environmental Science & Management
at the University of California, Santa Barbara
Presents
A COMMUNITY COLLOQUIUM
Richard Ladle
Professor
Department of Biological Science and Health
Federal University of Alagoas, Maceió, Algoas, Brazil
Senior Research Associate
School of Geography and the Environment
Oxford University, Oxford, England
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
11:30 - 12:30
Bren Hall 1414
"Scientists and the Media:
The Struggle for
Legitimacy in Climate Change and Conservation
Science"
Hosted by Sarah Anderson
Abstract
The Nobel Prize–winning physicist Nils
Bohr once quipped, “Prediction is very
difficult, especially about the future.”
Prediction is also dangerous if it results in
misdirected initiatives or paralyzes the
population into a state of collective inaction.
This presentation focuses on predictions about the
many possible negative effects of climate change
on natural environments, how they have been
communicated, and what the potential consequences
may be for public policy and the credibility of
conservation science. Using the public
representation of extinction as a case study, I
will demonstrate how competing actors have
polarized the debate on the impacts of climate
change on biodiversity loss. Such polarization is
representative of the "struggle for legitimacy’"between environmentalist and anti-environmentalist
groups, with potential negative consequences for
public trust in conservation science. I will
conclude by outlining the challenges facing
conservationists to effectively communicate their
predictions about the fate of the natural world to
an increasingly skeptical public
Biography
Richard Ladle is a Brazil-based
conservationist, ecologist, and environmental
consultant. He has a degree in zoology from
Newcastle University (UK) and a doctorate in
evolutionary ecology from Oxford University (UK).
In 2003, after spells lecturing in London and
Edinburgh, he became the first director of Oxford
University’s MSc in Biodiversity, Conservation and
Management. He moved to Brazil in 2009 to become
more actively involved in hands-on research,
consultancy, and capacity-raising. Professor Ladle
is currently a senior research associate at Oxford
University’s School of Geography and the
Environment and a visiting professor at the
Federal University of Alagoas. When he isn’t
traveling he lives next to a beautiful beach on
the northeastern coast of Brazil with his Brazilian
partner and their badly behaved dog.
NOTE: Community colloquia are generally talks of broad interest geared toward a diverse, sophisticated audience. Their purpose is not only to enhance knowledge and understanding, but also to bring people together and promote interaction that will strengthen the community.
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