Discussion Post 2

Keep the Discussion Post guidelines in mind as you complete this assignment.

This discussion post has two parts:

1. Project Topic

Please briefly discuss a few topics you are considering for your semester project. We are not at the point of developing a research question yet (or finding an answer, which would be a thesis), so discuss some subjects that are interesting and what you would like to know about them.

2. Readings

Answer at least one question below about usable science and let us know which number(s) you are addressing.

1. What to you think about the concept of usable science?
2. What, from your experience and perspective, makes scientific knowledge valuable?
3. The first sentence in Coen's article asks: "Can we count on science to fix the climate crisis?" (1). Whether your science is environmental or not, this idea it can be trusted to fix problems is a major premise present in the broad enterprise of scientific work. What do you make of it? Is such a claim helpful? Accurate? Would you alter the premise?
4. Coen quotes Dr. Jill Jaeger, writing, "I haven’t been doing the modeling myself; I haven’t actually been doing the scientific analysis. I’m taking that and then making it usable. And that’s a continual thing” (13). What does Jaeger mean by continual? If it is continual, what does that look like and how might we in situations like we are here (a university setting) better prepare for such work?
5. Coen's argument challenges the way we validate and institutionalize science, especially in the academy. Coen writes, "In the context of usable science, however, research is primarily a form of care: care for data and its analysis, and care for people and their relationships. When the mark of success is not the approval of experts but the functionality of the research community, research is about sustaining the interactions that build trust. Making science usable means institutionalizing research as care" (15).
   • Has care always been included in science research? Is big of a difference is there between "pure" science and "usable" science?
   • What does Coen mean by "relationships" and "interactions that build trust"? What does this look like?
   • What does Coen's point mean for us as writers of science?
6. What insights do you draw from Canon, Boyle, and McAfee's visualizations? Is there anything surprising to you?
7. Do you agree with Sobel that the only usable climate science is oriented toward adaptation?
8. Do you agree with how Camponeschi frames vulnerability and resilience?
9. What's a key point that you want to remember from Montgomery and why?