Interview: Darlene Cavilier

Darlene Cavilier, Science Cheerleader

 

You were a professional cheerleader for the 76ers, but now you cheer for a different team- Science! What is about science that you love? 

I love that science and engineering belong to everyone. We are born curious creatures. Exploration defines us as humans and it's the premise of science. But science is not immune from the same politicization that wiggles into most cultures. As a result, many adults feel, rightly so, disenfranchised from an institution that once was their own. For example, my older brother is one of the smartest people I know. His circumstances prevented him from going to college. He's a self-taught engineer but, apart from citizen science projects, there are very few opportunities for him and millions of adults like him, to become part of today's science culture. At the very least, he should be invited to learn about and weigh in on key science policy matters, particularly because citizens' taxes fund more than half of the basic research in this country. For the past 20 years, other nations have developed successful ways to enlighten the public and provide a platform that allows them to share their local knowledge, values and insights. This information can be used to help legislative bodies anticipate societal reactions to emerging technologies. The U.S. scientific establishment seems to be prepared to move in this direction but it's time to take one giant leap forward for  mankind in this realm. Restoring the Office of Technology Assessment and making public participation and major focal point of this agency can be that leap forward. Stay tuned!

ScienceCheerleader.com encourages Citizen Science - why is it important for people to get educated and engaged in scientific areas?

Citizen Scientists aren't waiting for an invitation to get involved. They are literally changing the way science gets done and the researchers who value their participation are seeing their dwindling budgets stretched, to put it mildly. It would be virtually impossible for an ornithologist, for example, to create an army of 48 million birdwatchers to observe and log data into a database so critical, ecological patterns can be uncovered. But Cornell University decided to harness the power of already established citizen scientists (birders) and their researchers, and more importantly the human population, ultimately reap the benefits.   NASA, through Yale's GalaxyZoo project, turns to amateur astronomers to help sort through millions of star formations and galaxies; the EPA depends on citizen scientists to monitor the health of water ways. All of this increases the public's science literacy rates and creates a shared value experience. It's important that the citizen scientists get something out of the project and for that to happen researchers must believe that the public is capable of more than just data entry. Volunteers should be given the opportunity to ask questions and draw upon the data. In its most successful forms, citizen scientists even help shape science policy.

Your Project Finder can match individuals to science projects based  on their interests. What are some examples of things regular people can do to get involved ?   

Tag butterflies to help track their migratory habits, count fireflies to help researchers better understand why they appear to be diminishing in some places but not others (talk about a fun family project; my kids and I learned how to differentiate between males, females and stealth predators!), sort through galaxies, help meteorologists predict weather patterns, record earthquakes, help project flu outbreaks, you name it!

Only 7% of the adult American population are Science Literate, according to your website. What exactly do you mean by Science Literate and what can be done to improve that percentage? 

That figure comes from Professor James Trefil of George Mason University. For so long, the term "science literate" was, well, elusive and impossible to define, no matter how many books I read on this subject. Then I came across a few of Trefil's. He wasn't afraid to say: "Hey, if we want people to be science literates, we need to tell them what they need to know." He came up with 18 broad but specific "big science ideas" and determined that once a person grasped these ideas, they could be consider a science literate. I was skeptical at first but came to believe there's no other option out there. Either we keep spinning our wheels and hope for the best or we start to share these ideas with the adult population in a way that's not off-putting or overwhelming and in a respectful manner that takes into account busy schedules. Hence, my partnership with Trefil and the 76ers Cheerleaders, aptly titled "Brain Makeover!"

You’re changing policy, raising scientific awareness to the public and writing for Discover- anything new things on your plate in the future?

Yes. Readers will start to see more first-person citizen science video reviews. I'd like to see more user-generated content on sciencecheerleader.com so folks should contact me if they're interested in producing content. And, I'm working on a full-functioning Mother-of-all-Citizen-Science websites that will match curious volunteers with appropriate citizen science projects. Stay tuned for that!

Thanks for your time! I think the Current community will be really interested in this and you are doing a great service to science and human progress!

Delia: thank you for the opportunity to participate in this interview!