Dr. Peggy Fong believes that during her career, she has witnessed what she calls "a revolution" throughout the
country, as scientist participation in public education and outreach has become far more accepted. She believes that
there are a number of reasons behind this change - one being scientists realizing that they need to "get out of their lab
and out into the public."
"If everyone had experience doing research they might trust scientists more." |
In addition, Peggy's research focus on human impacts on coastal marine ecosystems lends itself particularly well
to outreach connections. "The incontrovertible fact that we are having huge impacts on the sustainability and
maintainability of coastal ecosystems suggests that we need to become very active," she says. "The next generation
is hugely environmentally conscious and passionate about making a difference."
Peggy recognizes the urgent need to educate the public about how research gets done. "Everybody who reads a
newspaper needs to know a little bit about experiments and environmental statistics," she says. "If everyone
had experience doing research they might trust scientists more."
Peggy's outreach efforts have touched many people through several avenues. Here are just a few:
