NASEM Publishes Follow-Up on State of Science Address

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) recently published an update to President Marcia McNutt’s State of Science address in which they reemphasized her main points from the speech, and brought in guest authors to expand on what is needed to improve the U.S. research enterprise (see previous COSSA coverage). This collection of articles includes: “K-12 Education” by Alexandra Fuentes; “Addressing Red Tape” by Matt Owens; “Bidirectional Collaboration” by James Manyika; “Cultivating Trust” by J. Marshall Shepherd; and “Learning to Listen” by Stephanie Diem.

In McNutt’s State of Science address, encouraging innate childhood curiosity was linked to strengthening the STEM workforce. To this point, Fuentes advocated for the enhancement of classroom experience through after school and summer programs, and strategic cross sector coordination to improve K-12 education.

Next, Owens expanded on McNutt’s call to reduce red tape by suggesting the White House establish a position for associate academic research enterprise to report on regulatory issues that are imposing a challenge for scientists.

Shepherd recommended training scientists on authenticity and empathy to improve trust in science, asserting this is the key to understanding social context and communicating more effectively with the public. On a similar note, Diem’s article emphasized the importance of communicating to the public, and suggested breaking down siloes among researchers and the public to communicate in a real, two-way conversation fashion that increases engagement and trust.

The collection of articles can be found on the NASEM’s website and the State of Science Address can be viewed here.

This article was contributed by COSSA Intern Paige Kirkham.