Connection: The Common Denominator Shared by Art and Science

The transformation necessary to preserve biodiversity can only come from a meeting of science and the public.

Regular people must connect with the science if we are to drive the necessary change. It can only happen together.

We are all in the knowledge transfer business, approaching it in different ways. Some use data from the NASA Aqua satellite, orbiting 705km above the earth. Others paint, or sing, or photograph.

Either way, we are all collecting, digesting, adding value, and then re-sharing what we know. Using examples from more than three decades of work with corporations, nonprofits, and foundations I will share what we know works to engage people at an emotional level.  This could provide a roadmap biodiversity scientists can use to effectively share, engage, and motivate people.

As humans we are multisensory creatures and the choices we make are informed as much by emotions as by rational thought.

While scientists may stand back, careful not to interfere with experiments or observations, a lump of clay without a sculptor is just a lump of clay.

Scientific data alone will not preserve the planet’s biodiversity. We need to learn how to sculpt knowledge so it speaks to people.

I will engage participants by describing connections, communications, and change as they could apply to the field of biodiversity science.  We will learn together how the arts can facilitate massive shifts in understanding the fundamentals of biodiversity.

Using images, short video clips, and sound I will demonstrate how valuable the arts are in explaining tremendously complicated scientific issues. And we will explore the interplay between what scientists discover and what the arts can explain.

Using an example from participating members of the audience, we will sculpt a powerful narrative and story to bring a scientific discovery to life. How to effectively share the tremendous knowledge the scientific community has about biodiversity. How to touch people emotionally.  So that broad swaths of the public learn to care – and take care of our world, together.