Communication of Environmental Information and Stakeholder Engagement - 575.753

This course provides students with the skills for communicating scientific environmental data and sustainable engineering design to stakeholders, including scientists in different fields, policy decision makers, and the interested public. The course covers the importance of clear communication of complex scientific information for the development and acceptance of technologies, public policy, and communitybased environmental initiatives. The key stakeholders for environmental engineers, scientists, and managers are specified. Methods of engagement and designing key messages are defined for global, national, and local issues of student interest. Major types of communication media are covered, including written communication and graphics, online communications in short- and long-form new media, and interactive communications such as surveys and citizen science to involve stakeholders in the creation and analysis of big data and dispersed information. The emphasis of the course is from the point of view of an environmental professional (not a marketing professional) and developing an effective sciencebased communications portfolio to share complex scientific information with a broad range of interested parties.