AusSMC CEO Dr Susannah Eliott joins the Climate Commission
February 2011
In February 2011 the Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, Greg Combet, announced the establishment of an independent Climate Commission, appointing the leading science communicator, Professor Tim Flannery, as Chief Commissioner.
AusSMC CEO, Dr Susannah Eliott, has been appointed to the Commission alongside Professor Tim Flannery, Mr Roger Beale, Mr Gerry Hueston, Professor Lesley Hughes and Professor Will Steffen. Between them these Commissioners have expertise in a range of areas including climate change science, science communications, business, public policy and economics and they will be supported in their work by a Science Advisory Panel.
The aim of this Climate Commission is to provide information and expert advice to the government and the Australian public; in particular on the science and impacts of climate change, the level of international action to address climate change, and the role of carbon pricing. The Commissioners will work together to help build the consensus required from all sectors and regions to move to a clean energy future.
The full AusSMC media release issued on 10 February 2011 can be found here. For more information on the Climate Commission and its latest activities please visit www.climatecommission.gov.au.
Inspiring Australia’s Expert Working Group chaired by Dr Susannah Eliott publishes Science in the Media: From Ideas to Action
March 2011
Science influences virtually every aspect of our daily lives and plays a huge role in informing many of the challenges we face as a society from water resources, climate change and energy to influenza outbreaks, cancer and vaccinations. As such, the need for greater scientific engagement and an ability to critically assess the credibility of scientific information couldn’t be more compelling.
Inspiring Australia is a national strategy for engagement with the sciences and in contribution to this a diverse group of experts from the research, entertainment, news, magazine, new media, education and science communication sectors have developed a series of recommendations to strengthen the media’s role in communicating science.
As part of recommendation 10 of the Inspiring Australia report, a diverse group of experts from the research, entertainment, news, magazine, new media, education and science communication sectors developed a series of recommendations to strengthen the media’s role in communicating science. 
The culminating report, Science in the Media: From Ideas to Action, chaired by AusSMC CEO Dr Susannah Eliott analyses the current opportunities and challenges of increasing, improving and diversifying science content for the public in the context of today’s rapidly evolving media, educational, social and political landscape. The report goes on to suggest a number of practical ways in which the different sectors can collaborate in order to strengthen the position of science in the media and the quality of its reporting, and maximise its positive impact on public engagement and understanding.
As part of the research for this report an online survey of science journalists was conducted between December 2010 and January 2011 with the aim of assessing the state of specialist science reporting in Australia. The survey was sent to 80 science journalists working for mainstream Australian media outlets and was answered by 32 journalists, a response rate of 40%. Full results from this survey including respondent comments and feedback can be found as an appendix to this report.
You can download the full report here
Further information and a copy of the submissions can be found at: www.innovation.gov.au/Science/InspiringAustralia/Pages/default.aspx