One of the greatest challenges in addressing environmental issues is that simply communicating the science is often insufficient to inspire action. How might visual artists, photographers, and videographers more effectively create and use images or video to overcome apathy towards species and ecosystems? The goal of this RFP is to advance the field of science communication by determining a more effective way to market nature and inspire action. We seek proposals from around the world that advance the science of nature communication by systematically testing visual communication and education methods; visualizing complex data; communicating about an environmental issue; or developing new education methods for reaching learners of all ages.
DETAILS
Priority will be given to projects that aim to do one or more of the following:
- Propose an interdisciplinary collaboration of a scientist (including social scientists) and a visual artist, photographer, or videographer to quantify impact of visual communication via different channels (e.g., Instagram)
- Engage students in identifying and implementing effective strategies for communicating about nature
- Use social marketing principles to inform the approach
- Study how the human brain responds to nature imagery
- Measure audience engagement and test the effectiveness of different communication approaches as part of a storytelling proposal
- Demonstrate increased engagement among target audiences (e.g. decision makers, students, etc.) on the chosen topic
Typical proposal requests should be less than $30,000. Applicants may request up to $50,000, of which up to 20 percent of the total can be used as a stipend for the applicant or team members (please see the How to Apply page regarding stipend eligibility and other budgetary guidance). All applications should explicitly review what has already been accomplished on the topic and state the plan for evaluating the impact of the work.
UEL Research, Innovation and Impact 