Faculty and staff at the UF/IFAS Center for Public Issues Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources conducted focus groups with stakeholders in the agricultural and natural resources sectors to discuss perceptions and best practices when it comes to communicating about climate change.
Ricky Telg, Phillip Stokes, and Cassie Wandersee from the PIE Center attended the Cattle and Climate Conversations Workshop with specialists from Cooperative Extension and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) on October 11, 2016 in Denver, Colorado.
The workshop was designed to provide Extension and NRCS personnel from Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, and Oklahoma with insights on public opinion and how to address the needs of cattlemen and other stakeholders related to the cattle industry.
While at the workshop, PIE Center staff facilitated several focus groups to discuss what participants felt was the most effective way to communicate about climate change. These focus groups provided participants with the opportunity to discuss what they learned during the workshop on issues including climate beliefs and public perceptions, framing tactics for climate conversations, and climate science and science communication.
Extension specialists and NRCS personnel in attendance left the workshop better equipped to teach and inform their constituents about climate trends and projections and how that impacts their region.
