Check out the course webpage for more details!

Climate change, artificial intelligence, water and air pollution, gene technology, earthquakes, infectious disease, vaccines… whatever the risk, scientists, regulators, companies and communities are often at odds. Communities are at a disadvantage when it comes to sharing their perspectives on risk, because the information available can be highly technical.

But while the science may be complex, the basic concepts are not. 

This course will translate the terminology, untangle the numbers and face the outrage. We will dig beneath the layers of jargon to expose why we have such different views about risk. With this knowledge, we will prepare ourselves and our communities to have more effective conversations about the risks we all face, and how to manage them.

Instructor

Melanie Newfield spent more than 25 years in government agencies assessing, prioritising and communicating about the risks of pests and invasive species, as well as the risks of controlling them. She has also assessed and communicated about invasive species risks in some of the world’s hottest and coolest places, from Mauritius to Antarctica. More recently, she researched biosecurity decision-making for the Bioheritage National Science Challenge. She now works as a science communicator and writer, making the science behind important issues accessible.

Zoom sessions
20 February - 10 April 2025

NZDT: Thursday 12:00 pm

EST : Wednesday 6:00 pm

PST: Wednesday 3:00 pm

Course Outline

Week 1 Why do we have different views about risk?

This session will consider the factors which influence individual risk perception. We will look at research from the Sustainable Seas National Science Challenges, which identified worldview, disciplinary training and positionality as key factors in risk perception. We will also look at the influence of regulatory focus. We will reflect on our own perspectives and some of the risks which are important to us.

Week 2 How do risk assessors look at risk?

This session will translate the jargon, including terms such as likelihood, impact, uncertainty, bounded and asymmetric. We will cover types of risk assessment, such as qualitative, semi-quantitative and quantitative, and different ways of describing, measuring and visualising risk.

Week 3 Why do some risks outrage us more than others? Guest Speaker Peter Sandman

This session will look at the distinction Peter Sandman makes between hazard and outrage, and why the risks which are most likely to kill us aren’t necessarily the ones that we worry about the most. We will explore the different paradigms of risk communication, and what is needed for effective conversations in the different paradigms.

Week 4 What do the numbers mean? Guest Speaker Andrew Robinson 

This session will cover the kinds of numbers people may encounter when professionals are talking about risk, and the questions they should ask about those numbers.

Week 5 What is a good risk management decision?

This session will cover decisions about managing risk, and consider what is needed to make good decisions about risks. It will also look at the areas where conflicts can arise over decisions about managing risk, and holding decision-makers to account using principles of good decision-making. This session is based on research from the Bioheritage National Science Challenge on biosecurity decisions and will use biosecurity as a case study.

Week 6 Case study – artificial intelligence

Week 7 Case study – TBC speaker and topic

Week 8 Case studies from course participants

We will discuss a couple of case studies from the risks identified by participants at the start of the course. We will practise articulating what it is we are concerned about and what we would like to see happen to manage these risks.