Before the dawn of agriculture, human beings have manipulated their environments to better suit their needs. As our power to engineer built environments has increased, so too have unintended consequences. Non-human communities of life are being disrupted and vital ecosystem services degraded. Some argue that modern science and technology provide our best means of reversing these impacts, such as genetic engineering, solar radiation management, and “smart” urban design. Others call these “techno-fixes” that treat the symptoms of runaway technological development rather than the disease. To live more sustainably, they believe, we must reduce reliance on post-industrial technologies. Those in the middle look to scientific and technical experts for guidance, but worry if their advice might be biased by economic or interests. What features of scientific communication about the environment is contributing to these worries? What kind of reporting about the environmental impacts of current and emerging technologies might improve openness and accountability and so restore trust?

 

John Ives, Professor, Director of Institute of Prairie Archaeology
Areas of Teaching and Research:  Plains, Subarctic, Great Basin & Northeast Asian prehistory, Archaeological theory, Paleoindian Studies, Public Archaeology

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Corinne Langinier, Associate Professor