This is the first installment of a collaborative, student-led seminar series hosted by T-RUST (Transformative Research in Urban Sustainability Training) at WSU and GLIER (Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research) at the University of Windsor. The seminar series is titled Transformative Change in Environmental Sustainability and occurs biweekly on Fridays at 10am.

Title: Bridging the gap between science and management: A decade of research, experience and reflection

Speaker: Dr. Vivian Nguyen, Carleton University

When: Friday, September 25, 10am

Where: Virtually on Zoom, register here: http://bit.ly/WindsortoWayne. The Zoom link will be sent to the email used for registration two days before the seminar.

Science has always been portrayed as molecules, beakers, lab coats and math symbols. We often don’t think about how people actually interact with scientific information, and where the ‘science’ goes after it’s done in the lab or field. Today, most research is funded by public money, so it is fair to expect that the work will eventually benefit society and people. Sadly, this is not always the case, and the reasons why are not always clear. This mystery is often called the ‘science-action’ or ‘knowledge-action’ gap. We know the traditional way of communicating science through peer-review and hoping it is picked up and used is not working. But, why is that? what has worked? how can researchers maximize the benefits of their work to relevant users? Dr. Nguyen will discuss some of these questions in the context of how new knowledge generated by fish telemetry technology (i.e. remote tracking of fish) has or has not informed fisheries management. Lessons learned will be discussed based on almost a decade of research, experience, observations and reflections.

Vivian Nguyen is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Environmental and Interdisciplinary Science and the Department of Biology at Carleton University. Her research focuses on the interface of science, society and policy within the themes of environmental change, natural resource management, and food insecurity. Dr. Nguyen also has expertise in the human dimensions of environmental issues and mobilizing ecological knowledge into decisions, policy, and practice. Learn more about Dr. Nguyen’s research here: https://viviannguyen18.wixsite.com/serac