Science has a communication problem. This week on Possibly we’re taking a look at an audio-storytelling organization, called Transom, that’s trying to help fix it.

Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly. Where we take on huge problems, like the future of our planet, and break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall.

Science has a communication problem. It can be hard for everyday people to understand what scientists are saying about their research..

Juliana Merullo and Nat Hardy are here to tell us about a science storytelling workshop trying to help solve this problem.

Juliana Merullo: Hiya!

Nat Hardy: Hey Megan!

Megan Hall: So why is it hard for scientists to tell stories in the first place?

Juliana Merullo: We were wondering that too! So to find out, we talked to one.

Kathleen Savage: I am Kathleen Savage. I’m a senior research scientist at Woodwell Climate Research Center.

Nat Hardy: Kathleen studies how climate change affects forests in the Northeast. And she says,

Kathleen Savage: Scientists aren’t trained to create a story. We’re trained to give every little detail of what we did so that it can go through a peer-reviewed process.

Juliana Merullo: But in recent years, people have been paying more attention to how we talk about scientific research. Especially as there have been more attacks on science, and scientists.

Megan Hall: And there are people working with scientists to help them do this?

Nat Hardy: Yes! Including one organization in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, called Transom.

Juliana Merullo: Transom was started 25 years ago as an organization that focuses mostly on audio storytelling. They hold workshops and have a website with tons of resources.

Nat Hardy: Yeah, I took a class with them this summer.

Juliana Merullo: But after the Trump administration threatened to pull funding from science research institutions, including ones in Woods Hole, Transom decided to hold a storytelling workshop for scientists in their community, free of charge.

Nat Hardy: 11 scientists participated in a two-day storytelling workshop that built towards a live storytelling event, open to the public.

Juliana Merullo: Sophie Crane, the executive director of the Transom Story Lab, says that at the beginning, she wasn’t so sure it would work:

Sophie Crane: Scientists are so experienced in communicating in a completely different way. And I had this moment of panic of, oh my gosh, are these stories gonna work, are they gonna come together in time?

Megan Hall: So what kind of things did they teach in the storytelling workshop?

Juliana Merullo: Each of the scientists came with a story they wanted to tell.

Nat Hardy: They learned how to structure that story, shared their stories in small groups, and got feedback. Kathleen says,

Kathleen Savage: My story was pretty long and had a lot of nuance to it, and so a lot of detail had to be condensed. And as a scientist, that’s really hard.

Nat Hardy: Sophie says they helped the scientists focus on the human side of their stories, more than their facts.

Sophie Crane:  I think there’s almost been sort of a stigma within the scientific  community of, you know, we need to sort of seem quite perfect all the time. I actually think it’s maybe the opposite, that if you understand that scientists make mistakes and are human just like the rest of us, it might actually be easier to understand what it is they’re doing.

Megan Hall: So what was Kathleen’s story about?

Juliana Merullo: She started by talking about how frustrating it is for her when people don’t believe the overwhelming scientific evidence that climate change is real, and is caused by humans. But then she got a little more personal. Here’s a clip from the live speech:

Kathleen Savage: 15 years ago, I was sitting in the office of a cardiologist and he said to me, it is not a matter of if, it is a matter of when you’re going to need open heart surgery.

Juliana Merullo: For a long time she refused to believe what the doctors told her about her heart.

Kathleen Savage: I’m a scientist and I’m also a science denier.  So now, when I meet people who question climate change and push back on the evidence, I present facts, but given this experience and how comfortable it is to be in denial about hard choices, I respond with more empathy towards their position.

Megan Hall: Wow! It sounds like the event was a big success.

Nat Hardy: Totally. But Sophie says that for them, it’s not really about big successful storytelling events.

Sophie Crane: It’s the skills that the scientists will take with them from the workshop that they’ll bring back to their labs, that they’ll talk about over lunch with their colleagues.

Juliana Merullo: They’ve got another workshop planned in DC in the fall, and they’re hoping to take this model to scientists and researchers all across the country.

Megan Hall: Got it! Thanks, Nat and Juliana.

That’s it for today. You can find more information, or ask a question about the way your choices affect our planet, at askpossibly.org. You can also subscribe to Possibly wherever you get your podcasts or follow us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Bluesky at  “askpossibly”

Possibly is a co-production of Brown University’s Institute for Environment and Society, Brown’s Climate Solutions Initiative, and the Public’s Radio.

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Megan Hall: Welcome to Possibly, where we take on huge problems like the future of our planet and break them down into small questions with unexpected answers. I’m Megan Hall.

Last week we talked about why individuals should use less water. It turns out, that conserving water at home is mostly about saving energy and reducing emissions. But where does most of our water go? And why should the people in charge of it save water too?

Meg Talikoff and Juliana Merullo from our Possibly team are here to explain.

Juliana Merullo: Hiya!

Meg Talikoff: Hey, Megan!

Megan Hall: So, who’s really using up all of our water, if it’s not people like me who take long showers? 

Meg Talikoff: Well, the big water users in high-income countries like the US are the agriculture and industry sectors. Together, they use more than 80% of our water! 

Megan Hall: And I assume if they use less water, they’ll also save energy?

Juliana Merullo: Definitely. But unlike us, they can run into other issues if they use too much.

Megan Hall: What do you mean by that? 

Meg Talikoff: Well using up too much of the total water supply can cause a whole host of issues. 

Megan Hall: Does that even happen in the Northeast? It always feels like we have plenty of water to go around.  

Juliana Merullo: Sadly, yes. Our East Coast attitude towards water is called the “myth of abundance” according to UNC Greensboro professor Dr. Sarah Praskievicz –

Sarah Praskievicz: In climates that are generally wet, like in the Eastern US, there is a widespread perception among the public and even among many water managers that water is abundant. And, there are a couple of places where the myth of abundance starts to break down.

Megan Hall: In what ways does this myth break down? 

Meg Talikoff: First, businesses and farms absolutely can overuse water in wet places.  Sometimes big farms take too much water out of small local rivers or lakes. That threatens the wellbeing of all the plants and animals that live there.  

Juliana Merullo: And if industries on the coast pump too much groundwater, saltwater can start seeping into underground places where freshwater used to be. That ends up contaminating whatever freshwater is left.  

Meg Talikoff: Pumping too much groundwater in one area can even make land start to sink! New research shows that Boston is sinking at almost 4 centimeters per decade, in part because of groundwater extraction. 

Juliana Merullo: And another issue is that if we use too much water, we could eventually lose the ability to be resilient in times of drought. 

Megan Hall: I thought drought was mostly an issue in much drier climates. 

Meg Talikoff: Well, dry places are definitely on the front lines. But the idea that the East Coast doesn’t have drought is part of the myth of abundance. 

Sylvia Reeves: It’s periodic in nature. It’s not the continuous drought that you see and hear about from out West, but, very localized drought is possible, very widespread drought is possible in New England…

Meg Talikoff: That’s Sylvia Reeves, NOAA’s Drought Information Coordinator for the Northeast.

Juliana Merullo: Our East Coast droughts are usually manageable if we have enough water stored up to draw on when things start getting dry. 

Meg Talkoff: But if we don’t, we can run into water scarcity. Sylvia told us about three counties in Western New York that started having a drought in the summer of 2023. By Thanksgiving, more than 100 homes had wells dry up.

Juliana Merullo: Drought can also make it so we can’t grow much as food as usual. One study found that farms without access to groundwater lost 13% of their crop value during dry years. 

Megan Hall: If we don’t own farms, or big industries, what can we do about all this?

Meg Talikoff: Well, there are a few things to think about! 

Juliana Merullo: You can eat less red meat, because cattle use a lot of water. 

Meg Talikoff: You can also plant things in your yard that match well with our climate, or that don’t need watering.  

Megan Hall: Alright, sounds good!

That’s it for today. For more information, or to ask a question about the way your choices affect our planet, go to thepublicsradio.org/possibly Or subscribe to us wherever you get your podcasts. 

You can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn or X at  “askpossibly”

Possibly is a co-production of The Public’s Radio, Brown University’s Institute for Environment and Society, and Brown’s Climate Solutions Initiative.

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