1. Climate Change Communication for the
Conservation Professional
Amanda Staudt, Ph.D.
National Wildlife Federation
staudta@nwf.org, 703-438-6099
June 6, 2013

3. Provide HOPE

4. TAILOR your
communication

6. Consider your FRAME

7. Frame 1: Emphasize
Preparedness

8. FRAME 2: Build on
Conservation
Expertise

9. Frame 3:
Make it
Personal and
Local

10. Junk the jargon
Scientific
term
Public
meaning
Better choice
Enhance Improve
intensify,
increase
Positive
feedback
good response,
praise
vicious cycle,
self-reinforcing
cycle
Uncertainty Ignorance Range
Bias
distortion,
political motive
offset from an
observation
Excerpted from Somerville and Hassol (2011).

11. Be ready
for
skeptics

12. Stick to science basics
• Lead with what we DO know,
rather than the uncertainties
• Link events to trends and
other recent events
• Point to the scientific
consensus
• Return to
common ground

13. Top tips for effective communication
about climate-smart conservation
• Balance the science with hope
• Tailor communications to your audience
• Emphasize preparedness, risk reduction
and a healthy future
• Build on conservation expertise
• Make it personal and local
• Junk the jargon
• Be ready for skeptics

14. For more information:
www.nwf.org/extremeweather
http://blog.nwf.org/author/staudta/
twitter @amanda.staudt
Thank you!
Flickr (mahalie)

15. References (1)
• CCSP, 2008: Weather and Climate Extremes in a Changing Climate. Regions of
Focus: North America, Hawaii, Caribbean, and U.S. Pacific Islands. A Report by
the U.S. Climate Change Science Program and the Subcommittee on Global
Change Research. Department of Commerce, NOAA’s National Climatic Data
Center, Washington, D.C., USA, 164 pp.
• Climate Nexus, 2012. Connecting the Dots: A Communications Guide to Climate
Change and Extreme Weather. Available at: http://climatenexus.org/wp-
content/uploads/2012/05/connectingthedots.pdf
• CRED (Center for Research on Environmental Deci-sions). 2009. The
Psychology of Climate Change Communica-tion: A Guide for Scientists,
Journalists, Educators, Political Aides, and the Interested Public. New York.
• Diez, J., et al. 2012. Will extreme climatic events facilitate biological invasions?
Front Ecol Environ 2012; 10(5): 249–257
• Hansen, J., M. Sato, R. Ruedy. 2012. Perceptions of Climate Change: The New
Climate Dice. Submitted for publication to the Proceedings of the National
Academy of Science, PNAS. http://arxiv.org/abs/1204.1286
• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2001. Climate Change
2001: The Scientific Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Third
Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY,
USA, 881 pp.

16. References (2)
• IPCC, 2012. Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to
Advance Climate Change Adaptation.
• National Research Council (NRC), 2011. Climate Stabilization Targets:
Emissions, Concentrations, and Impacts over Decades to Millennia.
http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12877
• Staudinger, MD, NB Grimm, A Staudt, SL Carter, FS Chapin III, P Kareiva,
M Ruckelshaus, BA Stein. 2012. Impacts of Climate Change on
Biodiversity, Ecosystems, and Ecosystem Services: Technical Input to the
2013 National Climate Assessment. Cooperative Report to the 2013
National Climate Assessment.
• Tebaldi, Strauss, and Zervas, 2012. Modeling sea level rise impacts on
storm surges along US coasts. Environmental Research Letters, 7 014032
• USGCRP 2009. Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States.
Thomas R. Karl, Jerry M. Melilo, and Thomas C. Peterson (eds.).
Cambridge University Press.

17. A few good sources for climate science
information and communication resources
• http://realclimate.org – blogs authored by climate
scientists providing rigorous analysis of climate science
issues
• http://www.skepticalscience.com/ – website focused on
“Explaining climate change science & rebutting global
warming misinformation”
• http://climatecommunication.org/ -- good summaries of
science on climate extremes
• http://globalchange.gov – portal for National Climate
Assessment reports and data from federal agencies