Meteorologists at CSU Seek Social Science Integration

A new project is underway this year at Colorado State University that aims to develop more effective ways to communicate to the public in matter related to the weather and atmosphere.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are collaborating with CSU on the project with the ultimate goal of expanding their studies into social sciences in order to answer many questions about human behaviors during calamities.

Manning the project is former meteorologist and returning Psychology major, John Weaver.

"I'm essentially trying to study and understand why people panic...and why people think out of passion, and apply those to promote more effective communication between meteorologists, the media and the public," said Weaver, a retiree from the Regional And Mesoscale Meteorology Branch that works alongside the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere, another institution that studies the atmosphere.

CIRA and RAMMB were established in Fort Collins in 1980, starting out with only six personnel and a director; Weaver was among them. That number quickly grew to 150 members; by Weaver's retirement 25 years later, the federal institution gained thousands of employees and students in tow, as well as several new branches throughout the world.

Occasionally, RAAMB enlists Weaver to help with lectures, or to do research for projects such as this one.

Weaver, along with PhD candidates in Social Psychology whom also work for CIRA, hope to bring together both aspects of the researchers' expertise in order to find new results and make new innovations in communication.

According to Weaver, it is frequently reported by various media outlets that the United States has maintained a steady decrease in carbon dioxide emissions, without mentioning the increasing emissions levels due to rapid factory output in other parts of the world, such as China.

Another example involved reports of atmospheric level test results that were only a culmination of data from a few areas on the earth, leaving the conditions of the rest of the earth's atmosphere a mystery.

The project ultimately seeks to end reports like those and to find a way to keep facts from becoming too sensationalized.

"This is just a seed, and we are trying to find water," said Weaver, "It is mainly a matter of getting rid of the bad science and the biased facts."