Effective communication is a popular phrase within many institutions. At a basic level, communication involves purposeful exchange of information among parties. Failure to successfully transfer knowledge within this transaction can result in misunderstanding, misuse of time, and inappropriate or lack of action. Within a governmental context, this situation could result in wasted resources, ineffective policy, […]
Science-Policy Interface
Information Flow Frameworks: Communication of Research-Based Information into Policy
The demand for usable scientific information is increasing along with a greater need to understand how research-based information flows in pathways into both policy and practice settings. Yet, a number of issues with respect to the pathways, through which information is obtained, can impede the use of research in decision-making. The literature on this subject […]
New EIUI Book about the Science-Policy Interface to be Published in May 2016
The EIUI Research team is very pleased to announce that Science, Information, and Policy Interface for Effective Coastal and Ocean Management will be published by CRC Press (division of Taylor & Francis) on 16 May 2016. This volume, edited by Bertrum H. MacDonald, Suzuette S. Soomai, Elizabeth M. De Santo, and Peter G. Wells, brings […]
EIUI Team Member Publishes a Paper on Assessing Public ‘Participation’ in Environmental Decision-Making
Elizabeth De Santo, Department of Earth and Environment at Franklin & Marshall College, Pennsylvania, and Adjunct Professor at Dalhousie University, recently published a new paper about public consultations regarding marine protected areas in the UK. The paper provides an assessment of public consultation processes and outlines implications resulting from the erosion of public confidence in the […]
EIUI Team Members Speak about their Research
EIUI team members, Suzuette Soomai, Lee Wilson, and Ian Stewart, recently spoke about their research in several academic and professional settings. Suzuette Soomai, Post-Doctoral Fellow, spoke about “Elucidating the Role of Scientific Information in Decision-making for Fisheries Management” in the Ocean and Ecosystem Science Seminar Series at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Dartmouth, Nova […]
EIUI Team Member Participates in Course in China
Peter Wells, a member and co-lead of the Environmental Information: Use and Influence research team, and a senior research fellow at the International Ocean Institute (IOI), travelled to Haikou, Hainan, China, in late January 2016, with an IOI team (Figure 1) to attend and participate in the Inaugural Program of the China-Asean Academy on Ocean […]
SSHRC Five-Year Insight Grant Awarded to the EIUI Research Team
The Environmental Information: Use and Influence (EIUI) research team is very pleased to announce that an application for an Insight Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) has been approved. The five-year (2015-2020) funding of $371,575.00 will support the team’s continuing research on questions about the use of information in […]
Suzuette Soomai Completes her Doctoral Research on the Role of Fisheries Information
Suzuette Soomai, Interdisciplinary PhD student with the EIUI research program, successfully defended her doctoral dissertation on 30 October 2015. Her research focused on the role of fisheries scientific information in policy- and decision-making for fisheries management. She studied the information pathways – production, communication, and use of scientific information – at the operational level in […]
EIUI Participates in the 41st IAMSLIC Conference
Suzuette Soomai, PhD Candidate and a member of the EIUI research program, participated in the 41st International Association of Aquatic and Marine Science Libraries and Information Centers (IAMSLIC) Annual Conference, “Blue Growth: Motivating innovations in aquatic information management,” hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in Rome, Italy, on September […]
New EIUI Paper on How Information in Grey Literature Informs Policy and Decision-Making
A new paper published by members of the Environmental Information: Use and Influence (EIUI) research team emphasizes that simply advocating the use of information without understanding the contexts of its use will likely be ineffective in closing the gap between research and policy-making. As the growing number of studies on the science-policy interface demonstrate, the […]