Woven throughout the SILA project is a special component in Environmental Civics: training in communications, leadership, civic engagement and public service. SILA aims to create a model for civic engagement and outreach as a core competency for research science. PhD students working on the project began this component with a skills course, Science, Narrative and the Greater Good, focused on storytelling for non-science audiences. They will also take a course in leadership training; perform educational outreach in their local community; and weave such public civic engagement into their Greenland research. The P.I.s are equally committed to elevating these skills. Our team’s foray into Environmental Civics has ranged from meeting with a former U.S. Senator and Florida’s Chief Science Advisor on best practices for communicating with lawmakers, to a Greenland book and film club that keeps us grounded in the humanities even as we pursue research science.
