The third talk of the Fall 2013 semester as part of George Mason Observatory’s ‘Evenings Under the Stars’ series (where you’ll also get to look at awesome galaxies, stars, planets and more through our 0.8 meter telescope!) will be ‘The Debate over Fracking‘ by Prof. Chris Clarke.  As always the event is free and everyone is invited (details about the event: Monday 23 September 2013: 1st talk at 8PM, same talk at 8:45PM, observing starts at 8:30PM until 10PM.  Arrive at the lobby of Research Hall. )! Just keep an eye out for weather – the event may be postponed or cancelled due to bad conditions – updates will be available here – Observatory Twitter

About the talk:

An “Unconventional” Challenge –

Communicating about Energy Development and “Fracking”

The last decade has seen increased interest in “unconventional” oil and natural gas drilling using hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”). These issues have created considerable controversy in term of potential health, economic, environmental, and social impacts. Media images of people lighting water on fire and talk of new energy “boomtowns” are but a few of the impacts being debated. In this context, effectively communicating about this issue is challenging.

In this talk, Dr. Chris Clarke will take the audience on an exciting journey to the heart of one of the most important controversies in the country today. He will explain the process of “unconventional” energy development and “fracking”; what we know about potential impacts; and current research on what people think about this issue and why. He’ll conclude with implications for effectively communicating about this issue.

And the speaker:

Chris Clarke, Ph.D., specializes in the strategic communication of health and environmental risk. He is particularly interested in how people become informed and inform others about risk issues; designing effective messages to communicate about risk; and how news media cover health and environmental risk. Case studies have included natural gas drilling and vaccination, bioterrorism, and infectious diseases.

Chris holds a BS in health and environmental policy from Rutgers University and an MS and PH.D. in Communication from Cornell University. At GMU, he is also affiliated with the Center for Climate Change  Communication.

Directions to GMU and Research Hall here: http://eagle.gmu.edu/map/fairfax.php  Zoom in to find Research Hall next to engineering building and York River Rd