This piece is authored by David Poulson, Associate Director of MSU's Knight School of Environmental Journalism. It was originally published on July 2, 2013 at http://j-school.jrn.msu.edu/kc/2013/07/02/workshop-helps-scientists-and-journalists-improve-climate-change-communication/. This workshop was a collaboration between the Knight School, the KBS LTER, and the Society of Environmental Journalists. __ Susan White peered through her Skype hookup in Brooklyn at the journalists and scientists gathered on the other end of the connection in West Michigan. “Can I first say hello to
New tools to measure greenhouse gases
KBS LTER volunteer and retired journalist Bill Krasean reports on new tools we are using to measure greenhouse gases from agricultural lands. His piece was published today in the National LTER Newsletter and reprinted here. When the plants and microbes exhale on the 1,700-acre W. K. Kellogg Biological Station’s hundreds of plots, Sven Bohm, Kevin Kahmark and a team of fellow researchers sniff their breath. Not literally, of course. Rather, using the latest and fastest instruments and software -- much of it based on their own ingenuity -- the team continually samples and analyzes gases
KBS LTER participates in Carbon, Energy and Climate Conference
Last fall, the KBS LTER had an exciting opportunity to collaborate with the North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education, or NCR-SARE, program to address issues related to agriculture and global change. An extensive, 2 ½ day Carbon, Energy and Climate Conference was held on September 26-28, 2012 at the W.K. Kellogg Biological Station (KBS). NCR-SARE is organizing a two-year professional development and training initiative around carbon, climate and energy issues, and September’s conference launched the initiative. One-hundred and thirty-three speakers and participants
New fact sheet – Climate Basics
The KBS LTER and Michigan State University Extension (MSUE) have published a new fact sheet, Climate Basics (Extension Bulletin E-3151), as part of a Climate Change and Agriculture fact sheet series. Julie Doll, KBS LTER Education and Outreach Coordinator, and Claire Layman, MSUE Public Policy Specialist, have worked together to engage producers, scientists and other decision-makers in discussions about the relationship between climate change and agriculture. As a result, a series of informational fact sheets have emerged as outreach components of projects funded by Project GREEEN,
Guest blogger Bill Krasean on climate
Contributed by Bill Krasean If computer models of changing climate are accurate -- and they get better all the time -- Michigan's weather in less than a century may be similar to Oklahoma's today. With little question summers will be hotter and there will be far fewer -- if any -- bitter cold spells in winter. Although predictions about precipitation are less reliable, there may be longer periods of drought and short, intense periods of heavy rain and snow. That according to Dr. Perry Samson, professor of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences at the University of Michigan and noted
Climate Change Resources Now Available in Spanish
This spring the KBS LTER has translated a series of climate change fact sheets into Spanish. Julie Doll, KBS LTER Education and Outreach Coordinator, and Claire Layman, MSU Extension Public Policy Specialist, have worked together for three years with the intent on finding ways to engage farmers, scientists, and decision makers in discussions about the relationship between climate change and agriculture. As a result, a series of informational fact sheets have emerged as outreach components of a research projects funded by Project GREEEN, Michigan’s plant agriculture initiative at MSU, and a
KBS Provides Climate Change Communication Training for Working Professionals
Why is it that a vast majority of climate scientists agree that the climate is changing and that human activity plays a part in it, yet the American public continues to argue about it? How can the working professionals that LTER sites interact with talk to their stakeholders about climate change – and listen respectfully to their point of view – given the topic's polarizing nature? Julie Doll, KBS LTER Education and Outreach Coordinator partnered with Claire Layman, Michigan State University (MSU) Extension Public Policy Specialist, to create a two-day informational session and interactive