When I was in college, I had an opportunity to spend a week in Louisville working in the newsroom at the FFA National Convention. It was thrilling. It had the hustle and bustle of a press room covering an event with 60,000 attendees. I had a badge. I got to meet and interview some super... Continue Reading →
As a colleague and I wrote back in 2015, “Believe in better.” Better nutrition. Better health. Better taste. Better farming practices. Better land use. Better cow care. Better milk. Coca-Cola’s new dairy product, Fairlife, brings with it these great promises, hoping to fill a perceived void in a market of consumers increasingly interested in healthy... Continue Reading →
I just need to quickly vent: Conversations around the safety of pesticides are really complicated. Science communication often unintentionally oversimplifies and overstates these claims, opening space for more misunderstanding and distrust. When the court decision in the Pilliot v. Monsanto case came down last week, the jury ultimately chose not to trust Monsanto’s (now Bayer)... Continue Reading →
At one time in the not too distant past, I dreamed of working in communications for Monsanto. There is something so appealing about a stable, corporate job that would allow me to advocate for a technology I believed in, from the front lines; I could put my passion for food security and my belief that... Continue Reading →
Almost exactly 3 years ago, I was enthralled by the coverage of the George Zimmerman trial. Not because I was outraged that an unarmed black kid was shot, but because I couldn't understand why people weren't accepting that the law as written requires a higher burden of proof than that which the prosecution was able... Continue Reading →
After watching the National Research Council’s recent webinar on Social Science Research on GE Crop Adoption and Acceptance, I am quite puzzled and disappointed by the high degree of criticism it received in the Genetic Literacy Project's follow-up feature story, “Anti-GMO sociologists mute attacks on biotech, urge greater sensitivity to cultural impacts” on February 6. If... Continue Reading →
I forever believed that there existed two types of people: Those who were anti-science, and those who advocated for GMOs as a necessary food production tool. I was a happy member of the pro-GMO camp, and saw educating the public as a means of solving this “debate.” But, transitioning from an undergraduate agriculture program into... Continue Reading →
In January, I had the opportunity to participate in the National Academies' Public Interfaces of the Life Sciences workshop, "When Science and Citizens Connect: Public Engagement on Genetically Modified Organisms." I served as a case presenter for the breakout discussion sessions on the second day, where I presented the case of the American Chestnut Tree.... Continue Reading →
Rebecca A. Harrison 