Engaging Scientists in Public Discourse

     Dr. Ellen Cowan is a distinguished geology professor here at Appalachian State University. She teaches two introduction to physical geology classes and one oceanography course. She received her undergraduate degree in biology and geology at Albion College in Michigan. She does most of her research in the summer when she is not teaching and she usually does her research in polar regions like the north arctic and other remote places. After returning from her two month research trips she collects all of her data and gets it peer-reviewed after it is all put together.

Since Dr. Cowan works outside with the environment and physical changes impacting the environment I asked her about her views on climate change. She said that when she started studying glaciers about twenty years ago the glaciers were huge but now they are rapidly declining and she saw it first-hand. Her area of research is glacial-marine sedimentology and sediment transport of coal ash, so while climate change isn't her main focus she still has some very strong opinions about it. She attempts to disprove climate change in her teaching here at the university and while it can be tough she has to keep trying. Her suggestion for climate change prevention is to keep documenting/researching the information and getting the information out there, anything that has happened in the past can happen again.

She chose to be a Geology professor, because it pays the bills but also because students bring new perspectives on her research and her ideas. With her teaching she can keep science going through the next generation. Her research is still ongoing and always being tweaked and updated to her liking. Dr. Cowan's future plans involve an extension of her work into ancient glacial deposits exposed in Canada, she's broadening her scope. She plans to continue her research and continue teaching for the years to come.

source: Dr. Ellen Cowan

https://earth.appstate.edu/faculty-staff/dr-ellen-cowan

Bad Data, and Good Data Turned Bad

     The internet is a great place and brings information to everyone around the globe, to include wrong information. Most people tend to believe in what their parents and friends tell them to be true without further questioning. You have a friend that repost an article on Facebook, you see the headline and nothing else, you don't question it or check its validity, you trust that your friends read it and know whats going on.

     Influenza kills between 12,000 and 56,000 people per year in the United States and as of 2018 there is no fool-proof way to 100% prevent contracting it. There are flu vaccines that can help prevent contracting the flu, but they don't work all the time, which most Americans know to be true. In current years, there has been rumors (bad data) floating around that flu vaccines cause mental deficits such as autism. You would think that most people would know this to be untrue just by the sound of it or just knowing basic information, but thats giving too much credit to the public. But don't blame the public, blame the people who give the public information, such as Donald J. Trump; the current leader of our free country.

 

     Donald Trump tweeted this before he was elected president in 2016 and it has over 13,000 retweets. Besides that fact that President Trump is not a doctor and has probably never opened a medical textbook in his life, people full-heartedly believe in him and trust him. This is an example of bad data, there are no facts or citations, no accredited people backing it up, terrible grammar, and it is located on a website that is 110% opinion. Don't get me wrong, I love twitter just as much as the next millennial but it is not a good place to get information on important issues that are causing people to die. 

     A more proper place to gain knowledge and information on a medical issue would be your doctor (not web m.d.), CDC website, WHO website, anywhere that is accredited. The power of unlimited knowledge is right before each and every one of us but we need to use it properly and responsibly, don't believe everything your friends, parents, or colleagues tell you and definitely don't believe everything you read on the internet.

     These are two more examples of good and bad graphs. If you cannot accurately read the information provided on a graph or if the data isn't added up correctly, chances are you are looking at a bad graph. If you feel like you are looking at a bad graph, take the time to find a new, better, more accurate graph that you can cite. These graphs aren't for anything specific, but they are good representations of what to look for.

 Bad Data Graph

image 1 - https://davidbridge.wordpress.com/2011/08/02/looking-for-suspicious-data/

Good Data Graph

image 2 -https://people.uwec.edu/ivogeler/w111/3-proj1.htm

Credible websites:

http://www.who.int/en/

https://www.cdc.gov