Statistics for Outreach and Communication

Despite countless scientific studies and institutions devoted to global climate change, Americans, the leaders of per capita output of greenhouse gas emissions, are unaware of fundamental scientific information. Every type of media has attempted to educate the public. My conclusions from looking at these broad forms of communication is that

1. people do not understand fundamental issues
2. emphasis on potential threats does not work because the public distrusts scientists and does not invest in the future
3. communication on this topic needs to be simplified and distributed widely

In the Field

During my studies at Duke University I worked under Dr. Dan Rittschof, investigating the life cycles of the commercially important blue crab species Callinectes sapidus. Tagged crabs are recaptured through a coordinated effort by the scientific research team at the Duke Marine Lab in Beaufort, NC and by cooperating fishermen. Looking at spreadsheet and GIS patterns, I have been analyzing the movement of the crabs from embayments to open oceans by looking at females egg stage development. Females bear a clutch of eggs called sponges that change color with maturation. By looking at the stage of the eggs and the location of the crabs, we are able to approximate the migratory patterns of these highly mobile creatures.

This study realizes the importance of basic natural history investigation for the management of commercially important species. As with many fisheries, the crab fishery in North Carolina is under threats from overfishing. Knowing spatial trends, such as the preferred habitat of ovigerous females could be used to avoid fishing in areas that would deplete the next generation of larvae.