New research suggests that politicians systematically misperceive constituent perspectives on a range of issues. Lawmakers and their legislative priorities are remarkably unpopular with the public as a result. How can politicians and government organizations better understand and represent citizen perspectives?…

How can researchers engage the public on complex, profoundly important science and technology issues? First, throw out the deficit model of science communication and listen to the concerns of everyday citizens. Kettering Foundation research has long found that there is…

New technologies present mind-bending possibilities for human “optimization.” But should we use them? From self-driving cars to the recent Equifax cyberattacks, headlines about emerging technologies remind us that the world is quickly changing in complex and unpredictable ways. The biomedical…

Over the summer, Nich Weller wrote about the “power of conversation,” reflecting on a public forum in Boston that brought together public participants and facilitators and staff from the Museum of Science to discuss the challenges of sea level rise…

Held annually during the United Nations General Assembly week, the Social Good Summit unites global citizens and progressive thought leaders around technology and new media’s impact on human progress. This year I had the opportunity to serve as a United…

Before Hurricane Harvey made landfall on Aug. 25, there was little doubt that its impact would be devastating and wide-ranging. Unfortunately, Harvey delivered and then some with early estimates of the damage at over $190 billion, which would make it…

Scientists are often wary of engaging with the messy business of politics for a variety of reasons. But their understanding of and participation in the policy-making—and hence political—process is necessary if they wish to provide their important perspectives on some…

I’m here to give an update on my first eight months as a Presidential Management Fellow in Washington, DC. Check out the eight tips below: 1. Be thoughtful about building your network. If you dread networking events as much as…

A couple of weeks ago, Bret Stephens, the new columnist for The New York Times, wrote a fairly anodyne inaugural essay about the dangers of complete certainty, particularly certainty based on data-dependent predictive modeling. “We live in a world in…