“Current Literature” is a recurring feature highlighting recent publications of interest on the science-policy interface. Despite the fact that Canada has had a formal environmental assessment (EA) process since the 1970s, it remains highly criticized by academics and practitioners alike (MacKinnon, 2017). Currently, the federal government is undertaking a review of the Canadian Environmental Assessment […]
Information Use & Influence
Ocean Connectivity – EIUI Researcher Conducts Study in Falmouth, Massachusetts
What does the ocean mean to residents of coastal communities? What information informs their views about the ocean? How do these views relate to oceanographic and coastal data? How can citizens’ views about their connections to the ocean inform public policy? These questions underlie a research project being conducted by Simon Ryder-Burbidge, a graduate student […]
Gulf of Maine Council and Working Group Meetings, Portland, ME, 7-8 June 2017
The Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment (GOMC) meeting was held in Portland, Maine, 7-8 June. Peter Wells, a long-time Council Working Group member and EIUI co-lead, attended to represent the EIUI Research Program (a long supporter of the Council’s work); the Bay of Fundy Ecosystem Partnership (BoFEP), an NGO member of Council; […]
EIUI Book Chapter Post: What Good are State of the Environment Reports?
“The Science-Policy Interface in Coastal and Ocean Management” is a series of posts highlighting the chapters in the new book: Science, Information, and Policy Interface for Effective Coastal and Ocean Management, edited by Bertrum H. MacDonald, Suzuette S. Soomai, Elizabeth M. De Santo, and Peter G. Wells, published by CRC Press (Taylor & Francis). Is […]
EIUI Book Receiving Positive Reviews
EIUI’s new book Science, information, and policy interface for effective coastal and ocean management is receiving positive reviews that emphasize key features of the volume. Writing in Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management, Agnieszka Hunka of Halmstad University, Sweden stated: “The overall take-home message of Science, Information, and Policy Interface for Effective Coastal and Ocean Management […]
EIUI Team Member Publishes Two Papers on the Science-Policy Interface in Fisheries Management
Dr. Suzuette Soomai, Postdoctoral Fellow with the EIUI research program, is the author of two new papers that discuss communication of information at the science-policy interface. These papers are based on Suzuette’s doctoral research, which examined the information pathways – production, communication, and use of scientific information – at the operational level in the Canada […]
The 2017 AAAS Conference – “Serving Society through Science Policy” – Highlights and Key Messages
This year’s conference of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) took place in Boston, MA, 16-20 February, with the theme: “Serving Society through Science Policy.” The full program and other information are available at this link. The sessions that I attended illustrated the numerous dimensions of current research and discussion on the […]
Black Leads to Grey – the Influence of Oil Pollution Information in the Grey Literature
The impact of oil pollution of the marine environment by petroleum oil and its refined products has been recognized for many decades. Hence, oil is an internationally regulated pollutant under the MARPOL 73/76 Convention and the London Convention and Protocol (Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter 1972), […]
Informational Governance Sheds Needed Light on Decision-Making Processes
The complex functions that scientific information, and research-based evidence in general, fulfill in decision-making processes receive less attention than they could or should. These functions seem to be invisible to most, probably in part due to the massive volume of information available today. Like the air we breathe, the importance of information and its use […]
EIUI Book Chapter Post: More Information Matters
“The Science-Policy Interface in Coastal and Ocean Management” is a series of posts highlighting the chapters in the new book: Science, Information, and Policy Interface for Effective Coastal and Ocean Management, edited by Bertrum H. MacDonald, Suzuette S. Soomai, Elizabeth M. De Santo, and Peter G. Wells, published by CRC Press (Taylor & Francis). Positive […]