John,
I was interested in your comments about the readers of Scientific American and your point that there are a number of people who are interested in science who might not accept or agree with the findings of scientists. What can we do to be more effective reaching a wider range of people? Those that do NOT read the New York Times, and do NOT listen to NPR? It seems that scientist say we want to reach the public but we really mean reach the public who are most like us. And, how can we be more effective in presenting our work on the wide range of topics that are socially constructed and viewed as truth by scientist but as open to debate by the public?

How do we open-source synthesis using social networking apps, collaboration and web page? For money? A small user , subscription fee to access all the data, tools, and networking capabilities of NCEAS 2.0.

I’m a science writer and former editor in chief of Scientific American; these days I also write a blog, “The Gleaming Retort,” for PLoS Blogs and the “Savvy Scientist” column for SmartPlanet.com. My interests are diverse but certainly many ecological and environmental topics are highly placed among them. If you’re curious about my background, you can learn more at
http://www.johnrennie.net

I’ll also cite this one recent piece that I wrote that may touch on some of the themes that will most likely come out in our panel discussion:
http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/savvy-scientist/climate-disasters-quibbling-over-causes/122?tag=mantle_skin;content

I won’t be talking about it today, but perhaps people might enjoy this 1997 story about the young NCEAS:
Ecology: Center Seeks Synthesis to Make Ecology More Useful
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/275/5298/310.summary

Erik

Here is a link that tells you a bit about COMPASS
http://www.compassonline.org/

and my book: Escape from the Ivory Tower
http://www.escapefromtheivorytower.com/

Looking forward to this.
Nancy