NSF Director Lane Extols Role of “Civic Scientist”

During the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, NSF Director Neal Lane spoke to the science community about its role in explaining the importance of science. Excerpts from his February 9 remarks, entitled “Science and the American Dream: Healthy or History?” are quoted below. The "//" indicates that selections from separate paragraphs have been combined in the interests of space.

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“I particularly appreciate this chance to speak with you because I believe that we need to have a dialogue about the future of science in America and the critical role of the science community in determining that future.”

“Substantial funding and major mobilization of science toward national goals dates primarily from World War II.// What a difference five decades can make.... The ballooning of the budget deficit in the 1980s along with the economic drain from interest on the federal debt have energized the electorate to demand greater accountability of all government investment, including science and technology.// In this new environment, leadership from you, the science community, requires a much more public and civic persona. You are needed more than ever to be visible and vocal in your communities. This requires your presence, as scientists, outside the walls of your laboratories and the gates of your universities to a much greater extent than in the past.”

“Now...science can only be funded if the electorate and their representatives remain convinced of its value and contribution. These understandings and necessary explanations are not well suited to crash efforts in times of a budget crisis. They need to be routine parts of a community discourse on the goals and values of various investments that the national could or should make. Only then will science and technology’s fundamental contribution be inherently valued in today’s climate of accountability. Without this understanding among citizens and policy makers, science and the American dream may only be a memory from the past and not a part of our future.

“In the early years, science helped protect us from our enemies. But today when it comes to science, the American people could be their own worst enemy.... There is very limited public understanding of science and, more important, how science and technology contribute to our lives, our aspirations, and our national goals. Perhaps the public’s lack of understanding says more about us than about them.// I believe that the new leadership needed from the research community is to carry our understanding of science and its value into the life of our own communities through our teachings, to be sure, but in many other ways as well.// I would argue that scientists are the only genuinely credible people to deliver the message. I understand that some of you may have neither the desire nor will to do so, but I have little doubt that if you do, the experience will be fulfilling and the results successful.”

“The public likes science, but do scientists like the public? I think we need to ask this question of ourselves as a community. We may then better comprehend the discrepancy between public interest and public understanding.”

“The exercise to balance the budget in seven years will be a test of national restraint and endurance under difficult circumstances -- with or without cutting federal research and development. But cutting the very components that are growth creating and enhancing at such a time seems counterproductive.// When we dramatically reduce science, technology, and education, we are shaking the very underpinning of our societal structure.”

“Damage or destruction to any part of this intricate system could eventually undermine the whole structure. It is the system in all of its complexity and uniqueness that generates knowledge and national wealth far greater than the sum of its parts.// I believe the American people and many of their elected representatives do not understand this. It is up to us to convey that concept, that understanding, and its value to America’s progress and the American Dream.”

“What we need, I think, is the science community’s leadership to educate the nation about the value of science and technology to our national well-being. This may seem an impossible task!// I grant you that these things happen slowly and imperceptibly at the grassroots. They are not about staged visits to Washington representatives but rather about the collective influence of singular forays into local community life.”

“An important part of our work as scientists is to present our findings in scientific papers for journals and conferences. At the other extreme, however, there are opportunities for talks at community meetings like the Kiwanis Club and the League of Women Voters (I share your angst because I have a pending date with the Arlington Rotary Club.)// I will argue that such meetings as these are increasingly important, even though I’m afraid they don’t contribute significantly to tenure or other professional advancement, at least not yet.

“Two weeks ago, I gave a speech in Texas in which I spoke of the perception in Congress of the science community’s stony silence in the wake of major cuts, actual and projected, in R&D. This relative silence was taken as a negative sign for lawmakers who were fighting to hold the line against deeper cuts in science. It provided ammunition for those policymakers intent on offering up `science funding’ for budget-balancing.

“I am speaking of the kind of leadership that only this community -- which I am privileged to know so well -- can deliver.// We have a civic role to play for the nation. Science and technology are integral to all our lives as citizens, perhaps so integral that we often take them for granted like sunlight or rain. However, nobody understands better than we who are scientists what it takes to build a strong science and technology presence.”

“In closing, I want to remind you that as scientists, you know from experience that being accountable and being creative and visionary are not mutually exclusive.// I am not unaware of your reluctance and perhaps even feelings of awkwardness to step forward in a new and uncharacteristic pose -- the civic scientist.// I would like to challenge all of us, myself included, to find our own personal path to bring this message to our citizenry.”