Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Christel van Eck

Environmental Information: Use and Influence (Dalhousie Univ.) @eiui.bsky.social · Aug 8

Scientists are changing their normal #communication practice of only giving facts, esp. re climate change. @christelvaneck.bsky.social‬ & @tonivdmeer.bsky.social‬ tested whether stories & affective expression affect scientists’ credibility & found context & consistency matter doi.org/10.1177/0963...

Title, authors’ names, abstract, and keywords from a paper about the effect of communication strategies by climate scientists on their credibility

2 4

Reposted by Christel van Eck

Hendrik Meyer @hendrikmeyer.bsky.social · May 20

New in Social Media + Society:
How do (non-)disruptive #climate #protests shape social media debates?
We analyzed ~5M Twitter/X posts on #FFF & #LetzteGeneration: Disruptive protests generate more engagement—but also more polarization, driven by right-wing/conservative users: doi.org/10.1177/2056...

1 17 28

Reposted by Christel van Eck

Katharine Hayhoe @katharinehayhoe.com · Apr 13

Was not expecting to open the main CBC page this morning and see this!

In today’s climate, I feel our message is even more relevant than even just a few months ago when the interview was recorded.

www.cbc.ca

@christelvaneck.bsky.social @lydiamessling.bsky.social

A screen capture of the science article on the CBC homepage today, which features a picture of me and a title reading “prominent climate scientist argues it’s time to ditch the myth of neutrality in science.”

37 290 1.2K

Christel van Eck @christelvaneck.bsky.social · Apr 1

Thanks so much for the warm welcome! 🙏

UZH Department of Communication and Media Research (IKMZ) @ikmz.bsky.social · Apr 1

We're happy to have @christelvaneck.bsky.social as a visiting researcher at #IKMZ! Christel is an Assistant Professor at @ascor.bsky.social and an expert on #climatechange #communication, science communication, and #polarization. Thanks for being with us, we hope Zurich will be treating you well! ☀️

2

Christel van Eck @christelvaneck.bsky.social · Mar 18

Thanks for this summary Aaron! Sad that I couldn’t join. @anne-urai.bsky.social were you there? This is relevant input to our Academic Green Deal 🙏

1 2

Christel van Eck @christelvaneck.bsky.social · Feb 14

4️⃣🤩 Together with @tonivdmeer.bsky.social. Read our study, open access, in Public Understanding of Science: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

journals.sagepub.com

2

Christel van Eck @christelvaneck.bsky.social · Feb 14

3️⃣
✅ When sharing facts, a neutral tone is most effective.
✅ When sharing personal stories, expressing emotion—whether optimistic or pessimistic—resonates best.

1 6

Christel van Eck @christelvaneck.bsky.social · Feb 14

2️⃣ Our results suggest when climate scientists incorporate emotion or personal anecdotes into their messaging, their credibility remains largely intact. But message consistency is key...

2 1 1

Christel van Eck @christelvaneck.bsky.social · Feb 14

1️⃣ More and more, we see scientists openly expressing emotions—moving away from the traditional norm of "rational", "neutral" communication. But what are the consequences of this shift? Does showing emotion compromise a scientist’s credibility? In our latest publication, we explored this question 🧵👇

1 9 25

Christel van Eck @christelvaneck.bsky.social · Feb 11

Gefeliciteerd!! 🤩🤩🤩

1

Christel van Eck @christelvaneck.bsky.social · Feb 4

Thanks so much, Lydia—you know this is genuinely mutual! I think it's about time we meet up! 😊🎉

Christel van Eck @christelvaneck.bsky.social · Feb 4

8️⃣Let’s keep the conversation going—what are your thoughts on the role of scientists in advocacy? 🌍

Christel van Eck @christelvaneck.bsky.social · Feb 4

7️⃣👏 Also, a big thanks to @yuyaolu.bsky.social, whose work on analyzing the results made this research (and her first published article!) a great achievement.

1

Christel van Eck @christelvaneck.bsky.social · Feb 4

6️⃣🤩 Huge shoutout to Dr. Lydia Messling for inviting me into this project—it’s been an amazing experience. Our discussions were invaluable, as she challenged my thinking & brought clarity to this complex debate.

1

Christel van Eck @christelvaneck.bsky.social · Feb 4

5️⃣I invite you to read the article 📖, published open access in Public Understanding of Science, and explore all the fascinating quotes! 👉 lnkd.in/gZhMuQDW

This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn

lnkd.in

1

Christel van Eck @christelvaneck.bsky.social · Feb 4

4️⃣In essence, protecting the integrity of science is used as an argument both for and against advocacy. But there’s a caveat! Scientists often hold multiple, sometimes conflicting views—so this framework should not be seen as a binary tool.

1

Christel van Eck @christelvaneck.bsky.social · Feb 4

3️⃣At the same time, preserving scientific integrity was also an argument in favor of advocacy. Many scientists saw it as their responsibility to defend science from misinterpretation (F1) 🛡️ and to ‘sound the alarm’ as experts & citizens (F2) 📢.

1

Christel van Eck @christelvaneck.bsky.social · Feb 4

2️⃣Our framework reveals key reasoning. Advocacy was seen as a threat to scientific integrity, either by creating (or raising suspicion of) biased science (A1) 🤔—where political values shape research—or by scientists overstepping their expertise & misusing authority (A2) 🤐.

1

Christel van Eck @christelvaneck.bsky.social · Feb 4

1️⃣ There’s much debate about the role of scientists in climate advocacy, but we often overlook the core concerns behind their arguments.

In our latest publication 🔍, we map these concerns based on interviews with 47 climate scientists! journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

1 3 9

Reposted by Christel van Eck

Lydia Messling @lydiamessling.bsky.social · Feb 3

📣NEW PAPER: ‘Advocacy - defending science or destroying it?’ Our interviews with 47 climate scientists provide detailed explanations on all the good things about policy advocacy and the legitimate concerns with threats to the integrity and credibility of science. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

2 18 33

Reposted by Christel van Eck

Linden Ashcroft @lindenashcroft.bsky.social · Jan 29

I used to think science was completely objective, free from human values and biases.

Obviously, that is bollocks. We are humans who make value informed decisions every day!

So I ❤️ this from @christelvaneck.bsky.social @katharinehayhoe.com @lydiamessling.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s44...

Challenging the neutrality myth in climate science and activism - npj Climate Action

We argue that Büntgen’s (2024) claim that climate science must be separated from activism is fundamentally flawed. Activism does not inherently lead to biased science and striving for value-free scien...

www.nature.com

1 1 13

Christel van Eck @christelvaneck.bsky.social · Jan 21

Open access link to article: www.nature.com/articles/s44...

Challenging the neutrality myth in climate science and activism - npj Climate Action

We argue that Büntgen’s (2024) claim that climate science must be separated from activism is fundamentally flawed. Activism does not inherently lead to biased science and striving for value-free scien...

www.nature.com

2

Christel van Eck @christelvaneck.bsky.social · Jan 21

Excited to see our recent commentary featured on CBC! In this piece, our co-author @katharinehayhoe.com brilliantly unpacks why climate science communication cannot be and should not be neutral 👏 👇

Denis Gilbert 🌎 @denis-gilbert.ca · Jan 20

Quirks and Quarks host Bob Macdonald interviews @katharinehayhoe.com on the role of scientists in society. She argues that climate scientists need to be more transparent about their personal values in communicating with the public.

Link to text and 20-minutes interview ⬇️

www.cbc.ca/radio/quirks...

Prominent climate scientist argues it's time to ditch the 'myth of neutrality' | CBC Radio

Climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe talks to Bob McDonald about the polarization of science and why she thinks scientists should stop pretending to be neutral when it's our planet at risk.

www.cbc.ca

2 22 74

Reposted by Christel van Eck

Viktoria Cologna @colognaviktoria.bsky.social · Jan 20

Our global study on the state of trust in scientists is now out in Nature Human Behaviour! 🥳

With a team of 241 researchers, we surveyed 71,922 people in 68 countries, providing the largest dataset on trust in scientists post-pandemic 👇🧵https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-024-02090-5

25 390 910

Reposted by Christel van Eck

Dr. Genevieve Guenther (she/they) @doctorvive.bsky.social · Jan 19

Super fascinating climate-communication study making the rounds today, thanks to @katharinehayhoe.com.

Skeptics who changed their minds went through a three-step process, which began with a "distancing from their ideological community." 👇

🧵

In changing their opinion, most participants' experiences followed a general process of (1) distancing from their ideological community,
(2) a desire to seek out information, leading to
(3) a gradual or epiphanic realization that solidified their shift in opinion.

14 130 370