Science on the fray? Climate scientists navigating the public sphere

With the climate crisis becoming more complex and public trust in (climate) science decreasing, climate scientists find themselves and their discipline to be contested and at the center of debate. How do these changes affect the practices and experiences of communicating climate scientists?

Through conducting interviews with climate scientists that are active in the public domain, we have gained insights into how these scientists view their role in the climate debate. We identified two dimensions along which the scientists’ perceptions of their roles differed, namely a degree of societal interaction and a degree of advocacy. We find that the challenges and motivations expressed by these scientists can be plotted along axes representing these dimensions, suggesting that their role perceptions influence their experiences in/of the public sphere.

Interestingly, scientists that refrain from both advocacy and public participation share concerns about the loss of credibility of science. Various scientists were hesitant about the level of advocacy they deem appropriate: some refrain from debate due to a sense of loss of objectivity and scientific authority, while others experience the same doubt yet are motivated by the urgency of the climate crisis. Additionally, we found that while 'distanced’ scientists share concerns about (a lack of) public knowledge, scientists that aim for more interactive forms of research wish to hear public views and have a less polarized view on the role of science. In other words, entering into more participatory forms of engagement holds the potential to depolarize climate scientists while protecting their credibility.