Sheila Colla, Ph.D

(This thread is commentary, not criticism!)

The "anti-science" label is tricky, because the attacks on science are being framed in the rhetoric of good science: transparency, rigor, objectivity, open debate

How can promoting these values be *anti* science? 1/

If science is understood narrowly as the pursuit of truth, it's hard to explain what's wrong with any of these things, because they self-evidently promote the pursuit of truth

In the jargon of #philsci, they're all clearly epistemic ("truth-promoting") values 2/

Screenshot from the original piece: For me, silence has never been a comfortable option. My work addresses climate change and the extensive challenges associated with freshwater resources, including the failure to provide universal safe water and sanitation, the links between water and energy, the human right to water, and the growing risks of water-related violence

But notice that Gleick's science isn't aimed narrowly at the pursuit of truth. His aims are much broader, addressing important threats to human health and the environment. 3/

Frontiers | Impacting Capabilities: A Conceptual Framework for the Social Value of Research There is widespread interest in evaluating the social impacts of research and other scholarly activities. Conventional metrics for social impacts focus on ec...

I've argued that this is true in general. Most scientific fields don't just have epistemic aims, like truth and understanding. They also have pragmatic or practical aims. 4/

www.frontiersin.org/articles/10....

And members of the general public think so too! In my survey work (still under review), we've found that even political conservatives tend agree that a primary aim of science — along with truth — is to improve our understanding of threats to human health and the environment. 5/

osf.io/ks2ta_v1/

Non-epistemic values and scientific assessment: an adequacy-for-purpose view - European Journal for Philosophy of Science The literature on values in science struggles with questions about how to describe and manage the role of values in scientific research. We argue that progress can be made by shifting this literature’...

Because science typically has practical aims, the standards of good science need to go *beyond* truth. Just exemplifying those epistemic values at the top of the thread isn't good enough. Science should be "fit-for-purpose." 6/

link.springer.com/10.1007/s131...

Bacoh

Scientists have often been trained to adopt value-free, politically nonpartisan positions in social controversies. (See Marcia McNutt's comments this morning.) But this posture is itself anti-scientific, when it enables the weaponization of purported scientific values. 13/

Frontiers | Values disclosures and trust in science: A replication study While philosophers of science generally agree that social, political, and ethical values can play legitimate roles in science, there is active debate over wh...

Instead, I think scientists should be explicit about the values that motivate and influence their work. In my survey work on this — which has been published! — disclosing values like protecting human health seems to *increase* trust relative to value-freedom. 14/

www.frontiersin.org/articles/10....

Take home message:

Science and advocacy aren't mutually exclusive, because most science are *already* advocates. They just don't present themselves as *partisans*. Scientists should be explicit that their work is about making a better world. 15/15

Being a scientist means taking sides Mary H. O'Brien; Being a scientist means taking sides, BioScience, Volume 43, Issue 10, 1 November 1993, Pages 706–708, https://doi.org/10.2307/1312342

YESS to everything you share in this amazing thread. It was @savewildbees.bsky.social who I first learned about this article from, and I find it resonates with students at my tech school since it's from a fellow scientist
academic.oup.com/bioscience/a...

www.instagram.com/reel/DJ4UiSB...

#HappyWorldBeeDay

www.instagram.com/p/DJ4QK3eNw7...

#HappyBeeDay

Mmmmer33tmƙmyỳ

Canadian Blood Services | Canada's Lifeline There are many ways to join Canada's Lifeline. Discover how you can make all the difference for someone in Canada today.

if you are feeling helpless, a simple but incredibly valuable thing that many of us can do after a catastrophe is sign up to donate blood and plasma. www.blood.ca/en

In some ridings, it may make more sense to vote for another party like the NDP to get the conservative out.

Bumblebee foraging on goldenrod

Every day is ##EarthDay.

#SaveWildBees

"If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you." - President Lyndon B. Johnson

I hope people are still interested in habitat gardening. It should not be a fad to support the ecology that supports us.

Euro HBs came here with colonists and continue to extract pollen and nectar from native pollinators. Canadian bees don't make honey. The HB industry is for sure capitalist. Worst analogy ever. Flies are critical pollinators, esp. in Northern Canada. Go to school.

Euro HBs came here with colonists and continue to extract pollen and nectar from native pollinators. Canadian bees don't make honey. The HB industry is for sure capitalist. Worst analogy ever. Flies are critical pollinators, esp. in Northern Canada. Go to school.

Euro HBs came here with colonists and continue to extract pollen and nectar frome native pollinators. The HB industry is for sure capitalist.

This guy needs a biology lesson but yes wild bees pollinate. Euro HBs make honey & pollinate at a smaller scale than wild bees would if we took care of ag-lands. Flies (depending on which) have their own benefits whether its pollinating, esp in the north, parasitism (keeping populations in check).

Thank you!

Congratulations to @savewildbees.bsky.social, a recipient of the NSERC Awards for Science Promotion. I’ve learned so much about pollinator conservation and ecology from Dr. Colla over the years @csee-scee.bsky.social 🧪🌎 #WomenInSTEM

www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/Prizes-Prix/...

Meghan Markle's new @netflix show sure isn't going to help with this.

The difference is chickens are contained and don't feed off of natural resources like flower nectar. So they are a bigger threat to wildlife bees.

Thank you!