March on Washington: USU Researcher Brings Message on Climate Change

Utah State University researcher Zhao Ma headed to Washington, D.C., this month with a daunting assignment: to talk with legislators about climate change. Among a select group of scientists chosen for the task, she realized how you communicate science may be as important as the message you communicate.

“In the short amount of time we had, we learned that our job wasn’t to convince legislators to accept our point of view,” says Ma, assistant professor in USU’s Department of Environment and Society. “Rather, our role was to ‘put a face’ on climate scientists and start a conversation with members of Congress and their staffers.”

Ma was one of about 30 scientists from across the nation selected for participation in the second annual Climate Science Day on Capitol Hill Feb. 1, 2012. This year’s event, designed to expose members of Congress and their staffs to accurate climate science from a variety of experts, was sponsored by 10 scientific societies and organizations, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Chemical Society, the American Geophysical Union, the American Meteorological Society and more.

Ma was among four academicians selected to represent NEON, the National Ecological Observatory Network funded by the National Science Foundation. USU is a member organization in the massive coast-to-coast network set to begin construction this summer. Jim MacMahon, dean of USU’s College of Science, chairs NEON’s board of directors and was an author of the original NEON proposal submitted to the NSF.

“It was an honor to be selected and, as the only social scientist, I felt I had a lot to contribute,” Ma says. “It was very interesting to hear varied points of view and share ideas across disciplines.”

Prior to meeting with legislators, she and other participants spent two days in intensive communications training.

“Climate change is such a controversial issue — people get so fired up about it,” Ma says. “Our goal, as we talked with each other and met with legislators, was to not get caught up in debates, but to build relationships. Most people agree that some kind of climate change is taking place, though they might not agree on the causes. We tried to focus on what we could agree on and our next course of action.”

Meeting with legislators and their staffers was a highlight of the experience, she says.

“It was really interesting sitting in on the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and visiting with legislators,” Ma says. “That’s where you start to understand the political realities.”

During her visit, she met with U.S. Rep. Jim Matheson of Utah’s second congressional district, as well as senior staff members of U.S. senators Orrin Hatch and Mike Lee and U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, who represents Utah’s third congressional district.

“Everyone was very receptive and particularly interested in the research I’ve been doing with Utah farmers and ranchers,” she says.

For the past two years, Ma has been conducting a research project with USU colleague Layne Coppock, funded by the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station, which includes surveys of Utah ranchers and farmers about the value of carbon sequestration on private land. She also conducts research focusing on climate adaptation strategies in her native China.

“The ranchers and farmers my students and I have interviewed and surveyed, along with agricultural professionals, are very concerned about drought, changing precipitation patterns, the challenges of weather prediction and water supplies in our state,” she says. “Regardless of their diverse views on climate change, everyone agrees that it’s important to have ways to share information.”

Ma hopes her participation in Climate Science Day opens the door to an ongoing relationship with legislators and the state and federal agencies with which they work to formulate policies.

“Everyone appreciates the research and access to useful information,” she says. “Utahns tend to be wary of federal government intervention and more trusting of state and local agencies. I hope we can all work together to share knowledge and address critical issues that affect all of us.”

Related links:

• USU Department of Environment and Society
• USU College of Natural Resources
• Utah Agricultural Experiment Station
• National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON)

Contact: Zhao Ma, 435-797-9180, zhao.ma@usu.edu

Writer: Mary-Ann Muffoletto, 435-797-3517, maryann.muffoletto@usu.edu