sjinnah
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Sign up for new symposium on communicating climate solutions
Amid polarized discourse on climate change and science, trusted communicators in communities may be key to discussing solutions
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The sticky study of sunblocking a warming planet
Secrecy about solar geoengineering breeds disinformation, said Sikina Jinnah, an environmental studies professor at UC Santa Cruz. “We don’t want to have a potential tool in our toolbox excluded from consideration because people misunderstand what it is,” she said.
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Researchers quietly planned a test to dim sunlight. They wanted to ‘avoid scaring’ the public.
“It’s absolutely imperative to engage with both local communities and broader publics around not just the work that is being proposed or is being planned, but also the broader implications of that work,” said environmental studies professor Sikina Jinnah.
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Geoengineering could be crucial in the fight against climate change. But first scientists need to learn how to talk to the public about it.
Environmental Studies Professor Sikina Jinnah shared her insights from working to help the geoengineering sector incorporate governance and public-engagement best-practices documented by social science research. “It’s really, really hard to be taken seriously,” she said. “There’s a handful of scientists who I think bend over backwards to support social science and to advocate for the inclusion…
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China Is Ready to Take Advantage of Trump Trashing Clean Energy
Environmental Studies Professor Sikina Jinnah discussed how backtracking on climate change affects America's standing with Europe and the rest of the world. “They’re probably thinking, ‘Oh god. Not again,’” she said. “[Trump’s win] signals to not only Europe but the rest of the world that we’re an unreliable partner in multilateral negotiations — not only in…
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UC Santa Cruz professor helps set national research agenda for atmospheric methane removal technologies that could help fight climate change
Environmental Studies Professor Sikina Jinnah was a co-author on a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) that recommends a national research agenda for atmospheric methane removal technologies and assesses potential atmospheric removal tools.
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To slow global warming, could methane be stripped from the air
Science interviewed Environmental Studies Professor Sikina Jinnah about a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine that recommends a two-phase approach for studying the need and potential for methane removal technology in the United States. Jinnah was a member of a special committee formed by the organization to help develop a research agenda…
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Silicon Valley Renegades Pollute the Sky to Save the Planet
Environmental Studies Professor Sikina Jinnah explained the harms of unregulated and uninformed solar geoengineering efforts, like the group Make Sunsets. “They are a couple of tech bros who have no expertise in doing what they’re claiming to do,” she said. “They’re not scientists and they’re making claims about cooling credits that nobody has validated.”
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Will regulators OK controversial effort to supercharge ocean’s ability to absorb carbon?
Given the controversy surrounding geoengineering experiments, it’s important for scientists to do public outreach before experiments happen, Environmental Studies Professor Sikina Jinnah told Science. Although scientists might be inclined to stay in the lab and focus on the technical questions, they need to engage with the public, she says. “Until scientists take this seriously, we’re…
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A controversial experiment to artificially cool Earth was canceled — what we know about why
Environmental Studies Professor Sikina Jinnah, who co-chaired the advisory committee for Harvard University's SCoPEX solar geoengineering experiment, talked to The Verge about some of the lessons learned from that process. “One of the core messages that comes out of this is that public engagement is necessary even when you don’t think that the impact of the…
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The hard lessons of Harvard’s failed geoengineering experiment
Environmental Studies Professor Sikina Jinnah, who co-chaired the Advisory Committee for Harvard's proposed SCoPEX solar geoengineering experiment, told MIT Technology Review that the need for early public engagement in future research proposals is one of the major take-home lessons from the project.
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UC Santa Cruz expert helps to weigh costs and benefits of controversial research on a high-risk technology to fight climate change
Environmental Studies Professor Sikina Jinnah recently wrapped up almost three years of work co-chairing Harvard University’s SCoPEX Advisory Committee, one of the world’s first efforts to design and implement a governance framework for an outdoor solar geoengineering experiment.