An ecosystem health report of the Upper St Lawrence River – communicating science to our community

Session: Beyond Peer Review: Why You Must Connect Your Science to Stakeholders (and how to do it) (4)

Leigh McGaughey, The St Lawrence River Institute, [email protected]
Pam Maloney, The St Lawrence River Institute of Environmental Sciences, [email protected]
Matthew Windle, The St Lawrence River Institute of Environmental Sciences, [email protected]
Jeff Ridal, St. Lawrence River Institute of Environmental Sciences, [email protected]

Abstract

Scientific findings for the Upper St Lawrence River region have been presented at conferences, recorded in reports, and published in peer reviewed journals and books. While effective for monitoring and research purposes, these methods for communicating science have not been accessible to the general public. The product of this initiative is an ecosystem health report (“The Great River Rapport”), which aims to connect science to stakeholders and deliver scientific findings in a way that is informative and engaging to the public. To facilitate stakeholder engagement, community consultations through meetings, workshops and surveys have been used to determine their interests and concerns and provide a community-based mandate to drive the focus of the report. Results in terms of the processes and outcomes of these public consultations will be presented as well as the project framework, datasets, and proposed ecological indicators that will be used to communicate the health of the ecosystem. Best practices and recommendations for effective stakeholder engagement, communication methods, knowledge transfer, and collaboration will be discussed.