Presentation overview

1
G S F C E a r t h S c i e n c e s D
i v i s i o n
David Herring 301-614-6219
dherring_at_climate.gsfc.nasa.gov

• Presentation overview
• Statement of the problem
• What is the picture today?
• About our content
• Some earlier assessments
• Brief summary of Excellence in Outreach
  Workshop
• Suggested approaches
• The who
• The how
• The why
• The what

O c t o b e r 5 , 2 0 0 6
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Part 1 The Problem
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The Problem Too many competing paradigms
Mass Media
Stakeholders
Informal Ed
Formal Ed
EPO
Flight Project
EPO
EPO
EPO
EPO
EPO
Flight Project
EPO
EPO
EPO
EPO
EPO
Flight Project
EPO
EPO
EPO
EPO
EPO
Flight Project
EPO
EPO
EPO
EPO
EPO
Flight Project
EPO
EPO
EPO
EPO
Flight Project
EPO
EPO
EPO
EPO
Myriad partners (in outside NASA)
Organization divisions/branches
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The Problem NASAs content is new, complex
overwhelming

• We must overcome both technical and cognitive
  barriers so we can effectively engage our target
  audiences

Technical barriers Access to data /or new
science results Bandwidth constraints Storage
constraints Tools for subsetting /or
manipulating data Tools for visualizing /or
extracting information from data Tools
techniques for integrating these data into
predictive models
Cognitive barriers Topics often seem abstract
/or irrelevant Chock full of jargon
intimidating Highly politically charged
subjects, hence myths misinformation are
perpetuated who to believe? Subject is
extremely complex, spanning across many Earth
science disciplines B/c our info is brand new,
our audience has no perspective on it
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The Problem Informal observations

• We have talented personnel working hard and doing
  good things (most would get an A for effort)
• Yet, our efforts seem largely fragmented and
  disconnected
• Too little synergy
• Most of us see ourselves as reaching out to
  almost every possible target audience, everywhere
  and all at the same time
• Decisions about priority, timing, method, and
  message are all relatively ad hoc
• Thus, we are effectively competing with one
  another for windows of opportunity
• In general, our focus seems to be on quantity
  at the expense of quality
• The net result is a kind of white noise among
  the public
• We almost completely fail to quantify our
  effectiveness
• We lack good feedback loops for iterative
  refinements
• We have competing paradigms
• We lack analogs to ground truth data and
  common theoretical bases

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The Problem Harmonic Internationals conclusions

• NASA has exceptionally high brand equity among
  the U.S. public
• The public is interested in NASAs programs
  (80)
• The public feels NASA is doing a good job (84)
• The public feels it is important for the U.S.
  and NASA to be 1 in space (80)
• The public feels their personal lives are
  better because of NASA (75)
• The public feels the country is better off
  because of NASA (86)
• NASAs brand equity is primarily rooted in
  memories from its Mercury and Apollo days
• The under 35 public reports shuttle accidents
  as primary shaping events for how they remember
  feel about NASA
• However, unprompted the public knows almost
  nothing specific about what NASA does!
• Less than 1 percent mentioned Earth and
  NASA in the same sentence, when unprompted

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Part 2 Summary of NASAs Excellence in
Outreach Workshop
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Outreach Workshop Goals

• To solicit observations, constructive criticisms,
  and recommendations from a well-rounded panel of
  science communications experts about ESD Outreach
  products programs
• To facilitate a series of discussions among all
  ESD outreach personnel about the panelists
  presentations
• To come away with ideas and recommendations to
  specifically address in future ESD EPO
  Announcements of Opportunity.
• To begin to achieve buy-in of unified cohesive
  public outreach strategy among NASA Outreach
  personnel.

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Eight SciComm Experts

• Well-Informed Team
• Rick Borchelt (Public)
• Johns Hopkins University
• Kendall Haven (Informal Ed)
• Scientist, Author, Master Storyteller
• Thomas Lucas (Media)
• Film Documentary Producer
• Jon D. Miller (Stakeholders)
• Northwestern University

• Less-well-Informed Team
• Jon Franklin (Public)
• University of Maryland
• Terrence McNally (Informal Ed)
• Radio Personality, Master Storyteller
• Gail Porter (Media)
• NIST Media Officer
• Susanna Priest (Stakeholders)
• University of South Carolina

• Two well-rounded, blue-ribbon teams of science
  communications experts one team was very
  familiar with NASAs ESD at the outset while the
  other team came in cold.

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Panelists Assignment

• Each spent 3 days conducting a qualitative
  assessment of NASA ESDs Outreach programs /
  products
• Candor was requested
• They were asked to make detailed notes as they
  answered the following
• Where did you look?
• What did you find?
• What did you learn?
• What attitudes opinions did you form?
• What didnt you find that you thought you
  would/should?
• What recommendations would you make to NASA based
  upon the aforementioned?

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Panelist Recommendations Stakeholders

• Place less emphasis on educators and students,
  while increasing the focus on stakeholder
  communities who may be more important to our
  mission and to our survival
• Stakeholders need the when, where, why, and how,
  not just the who and what and all in a style and
  format that is more commensurate with the
  audience
• One panelist said NASA appears to take it for
  granted that policy leaders will continue to
  support its Earth science community.
• Increase the effectiveness of the press
  information officers at the top 100 grantee
  institutions for Earth science research
• Miller said, Chances are, they dont know the
  context for the work their scientists are doing,
  and would like to feel more connected to NASA.
  The output would be better stories from the
  university side of the equation, which probably
  produces as much science writing as NASA does.

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Panelist Recommendations Stakeholders

• Focus mainly on programs / products that can be
  effectively extended and leveraged
• Utilize the scientific professional to help
  convey our main messages into the forums where
  policy leaders and decision makers converge
• Specifically purchase booths within the
  proceedings conducted by our professional society
  partners to demonstrate our relevance and our
  contributions to the science
• Ensure our partners can use our imagery
  information on our behalf

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Panelist Recommendations Messages and Branding

• Address the branding and accessibility problems
  facing the ESD
• Many messages going out from NASA about our Earth
  sciences missions / researcha plurality of
  voices within NASA makes it hard for folks to
  ascertain what are our main messages and where to
  go to find them.
• Surprisingly, one panelist said Google and Yahoo!
  searches on climate change turned up nothing
  that explicitly branded NASA as a leader in this
  field of research.
• Stake our own intellectual territory by
  concisely describing what we do that is unique
  and the benefits provided
• They zoomed in on our space-based planetary
  perspective as unique to NASA and establishes us
  as a leader.
• Provide reporters and public media a coherent set
  of messages and clearly defined points of contact
  locations for information.

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Panelist Observations Messages and Branding

• Panelists recognized that some of our
  communications issues may stem from the
  political climate in which the agency operates
  today.
• The NASA Portal seems to have a disproportionate
  emphasis on weather and hurricanes, and not
  enough on climate change or other ecological
  problems. (Goes back to our branding.)
• Panelists felt that Earth sciences is NASAs most
  important work and they felt that most U.S.
  citizens would agree with them

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Panelist Recommendations Content Accessibility

• The quality of the information available from
  NASA is generally good or excellent, however
  NASA should make it much easier to find and use.
• Accommodate various audiences different needs
  and methods of gathering information.
• Some audiences want actual data or conclusions
• Some want evidence of our per-dollar impact
• Some are looking for informative and entertaining
  narrative accounts of exciting new science
  results.
• Some panelists recommended NASA ESD use targeted
  portals / products for our multiple audiences
  others felt we should have one well-integrated
  portal with clearly defined sections for various
  audiences.
• All panelists but one found the NASA Portal very
  hard to navigate
• Either way, they all called for improvements with
  respect to target audience sensitivity,
  accessibility, and usability

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Panelist Recommendations Content Accessibility

• Establish a reporting mechanism that indicates
  the progress NASA makes toward its scientific
  goals.
• Branding and accessibility is a problem for the
  ESD
• One panelist said The information is dispersed
  into a large number of small packets and there
  are relatively few broad integrative pieces, so
  the user is left to his or her own resources to
  do the integration.
• Eventually, this mountain of disparate and
  disconnected information becomes intimidating and
  even overwhelming.
• For reporters and citizens seeking information
  about NASAs ESD, there is no coherent set of
  messages nor are there clearly defined points of
  contact or locations where to go to find
  information
• And worse, 6 out of 8 reporters with interest /
  need for Earth science info indicated some
  frustration in their ability to get it from PAO.

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Panelist Recommendations Communication Style

• Communicate the benefits of NASAs ESD. The
  public doesnt understand or care about NASAs
  structure.
• NASAs org chart and mission portfolio are too
  complex and convoluted, yet this seems to drive
  how we present ourselves.
• Use less lingo. Many NASA Web sites and printed
  products suffer from overly bureaucratic language
  and use of acronyms that are uninteresting or
  challenging to the public.
• Earth Observatory was the most commonly found and
  was generally favorably regarded among NASAs
  Earth Science Web sites however, not all
  feedback about the EO was positive. Franklin,
  for example, said EOs stories lacked the
  psychology. Miller Priest said other
  audiences dont want stories, just the facts.
• Talk the talk. One panelist said we dont toot
  our own horn enough, and that our writers are too
  modest understated
• Haven said, The science is better and more
  consistent than the writing.

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Panelist Recommendations Communication Style

• Add inspiration and emotion to the information.
  When branding the Earth Sciences Division for the
  public, NASA should be sure to
• Tell compelling stories and put emphasis on the
  people in those stories
• Its not No bucks, no Buck Rogers. Rather, it
  is No Buck Rogers, no bucks.
• Dramatize NASAs contributions to the great
  themes of climate research
• Make it clear why the audience should care now

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Panelist Recommendations Testing Evaluation

• Active feedback is essential to successful
  outreach.
• Panelists asked and were surprised to learned
  that we lack mechanisms to test the effectiveness
  of our products / programs as a function of
  target audience.
• Fund research about our target audiences and
  understand their needs, wants, expectations for
  NASAs Earth science information
• Fund and establish methods for quantifying our
  communications effectiveness as a function of
  target audience

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Panelist Recommendations Internal Structure
Process

• Find ways to overcome negative inertias of
  organization charts funding flows
• Adopt an approach more focused on target
  audience, with strategies matched to audiences
  needs, wants, expectations
• Build virtual teams cutting across
  organizations flight missions to synthesize
  programs / products by target audience
• At the HQ and managerial level, change the flow
  of funding to reward internal collaboration and
  partnerships while minimizing internal
  competition
• Get senior manager buy-in, it is critical for
  success

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Panelist Recommendations Internal Structure
Process

• Host a follow-on workshop with NASAs senior
  scientists, managers, and attendees from our
  Outreach Workshop to discuss the panelists
  recommendations
• Refine outreach oversight, management,
  production, and coordination of our programs and
  products to ensure our main messages are heard.
• They felt we do a poor job of cross-linking our
  Web sites.
• Th e ESD would benefit by better tailoring our
  Web sites for particular, target audience
  segments
• Find ways to incentivize outreach by offering
  credit and/or rewards for those who do exemplary
  work
• Eliminate issues pertaining to stove-piped task
  assignments and/or full-cost accounting or at
  least provide workarounds

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Part 3 Suggested Approaches
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Four Main Communications Axes
4. Process medium (the how)
1. Audience (the who)
Successful, effective message delivery hinges on
clarity of thought about when/where the audience
is most likely to be receptive, and how many
times must it be delivered before it penetrates.
Messages rarely penetrate the first time.
Audience selection influences all subsequent
decisions about communication strategy. Be
specific! There is no general public. Start at
the public interface and reverse engineer the
strategy from there.
2. Objective (the why)
What is your purpose in communicating to a given
audience? Purpose is suggestive of the medium(s)
that would be most appropriate. Purposes can be
to Inspire Raise awareness (passive
consumer) Engage Dialogue, interact (active
consumer) Educate Guided inquiry, exploration
(educator / learner) Employ Participation
(Content development design)
3. Message (the what)
Message is the information we have to share. But
it is far more important to share the benefits of
our information in ways that resonate with the
audience.
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The Who Stratified Model of Audiences
Decision Makers
Science Policy Leaders

• Moving up the pyramid, these audience segments
  decrease in size while increasing in science
  policy influence.

NASA Internal

• Audiences in red play a role in setting public
  policy about NASA. No others.1

Scientists Data Users
Public Media

• Audiences in green are those who are, by far,
  NASAs main EPO emphases today.

Educators Students
Underrepresented publics

• There is typically no wider participation in
  science policy process than top two strata.
  Appeals sometimes made to science attentive
  public when top two strata cannot agree.1

Museums, Science Centers, and After
School Community-based Programs
Science Attentive Public, Citizen Scientists
Public Continuum
Science Interested Publics Residual Public
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The Why Outreach objectives and anticipated
outcomes

• 1. Improved Earth science literacy among our
  target audiences
• 2. Increased awareness of and support for NASAs
  Earth Sciences Division
• Convey the importance and uniqueness of our
  missions, data sets, new science results, models,
  and the ways NASA benefits society
• 3. Workforce development a more engaged and
  robust generation of scientists and engineers
• 4. Learn to communicate better with our target
  audiences (start at the interface, evaluate our
  effectiveness, and establish feedback loops)
• 5. Contribute to the development of applications
  and decision support systems using NASA data
  products and models
• 6. Enable and empower our communications partners
  (e.g., museums science centers, media
  providers, professional societies) to help
  broaden amplify exposure to our messages

outcomes
objectives
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The Why More about purpose objective

• Some audiences want to be information consumers
  ...
• There are fish!
• Give people some fish
• Teach people to fish
• Equip people to fish

• Inspire (raise awareness)
• Engage (dialogue, interact)
• Education (inquiry, exploration)
• Employ (professional development, participation)

and some want to be information designers.
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The What Earth Sciences Divisions main messages

• NASA is the U.S. planetary science agency,
  critical to our ability to answer key questions
  about our home planet and others
• Earths climate system is an inter-connected and
  dynamic system
• NASA produces new insights into our changing
  planet and our changing sun
• Earth science is important and useful for our
  future
• Earth science improves quality of life
• Earth science is a dynamic profession, done by
  real people
• Earth science is a viable career path
• NASA supports Earth system science education
  (formal informal)
• NASA collects and shares unique data sets
• NASA observes the whole globe and global changes
  from the unique perspective of space
• To understand global change, we need NASAs
  ability to provide a global perspective
• There are limits to Earths natural resources
  that we are able to observe
• NASA data are used in 12 major operational and
  commercial applications areas that benefit society

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The What Earth Sciences Divisions main messages

• NASA drives development of new technologies that
  enable modern science and exploration
• NASA scientists and mission data help drive the
  refinement of computer models that help us to
  understand and predict change
• NASA technologies are essential to observing
  understanding changes in the Earths climate
  system
• NASA designs builds state-of-the-art new Earth
  observing systems that often transition into
  operational and/or commercial use
• To understand changes in the Earth-Sun system we
  need NASAs ability to provide a global,
  space-based perspective
• NASA also observes the Earth from aircraft-based
  and surface-based platforms as well

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The How Suggested model for work process
3-legged stool model Audience expert scopes
the interface analyzes the feedback Subject
expert provides content ensures accuracy
Medium expert builds the interface ensures
extensibility All three retain approve/veto
power External partners allow us to scale up
well beyond what NASA can do alone
Target audience
Audience Expert
External Partners
Subject Expert
Medium Expert
3-legged stool
Amplification
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The How Suggested annual EPO review/development
cycle

• Inventory/review EPO programs products
• Characterize audience needs, wants expectations
• Perform gap analysis
• Develop new programs/products if needed
• Implement fixes refinements to existing
  programs products
• Work with our partners to scale up
• Measure results audience testing/surveys

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Toward Better Synergy
Formal Education
Informal Education
Public Media
Stakeholder Communities
Target Audiences
Cross-cutting Work Groups
Earth Science Divisions EPO Science Personnel
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Audience-focused programs/products
In-reach / Outreach Moderated by Jennifer Brennan
David Herring
Public Media Moderated by Stephen Cole Sarah
DeWitt
ESD Editorial Review Board The SVS NASA
Science Updates Press releases image
advisories Live shots TV tours
ESD Weekly Updates The SVS
SMD Exhibit Booth All Printed Materials
Earth Sky ESMA NEIs In-reach Portal
ESD EPO Committee
Formal Ed Moderated by Ginger Butcher John Leck
Informal Ed Moderated by Maurice Henderson
Wade Sisler (?)
GLOBE Landsat Grow Smart Imagers
Program (Echo Amelia) NYCRI Image
Composite Explorer NASA Explorer Schools
EdGCM
Science on a Sphere / Magic Planet Earth
Today Smithsonian Lecture Series The
SVS GIOVANNI ViewSpace Earth
Observatory / Visible Earth / NEO