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TIEE

Teaching Issues and Experiments in Ecology - Volume 12, March 2017

Presentation of synthesis product

You are being asked to bring together data, evidence and arguments from all of the expert groups from class in order to better understand whether poultry farming has an impact on the health of the Chesapeake Bay.

You will present your synthesis product (position paper, documentary, vlog, presentation) on whether poultry farming has an impact on the health of the Chesapeake Bay. If it does have an impact, then suggest a recommended action using both natural and social science approaches. Your presentation should only be 10 minutes in length and all group members should be involved in the delivery.

Your product and presentation should include the following:

  1. A synthesis of the primary data, evidence, and readings from all expert groups that is relevant and important to addressing whether poultry farms have an effect on the health of the Chesapeake Bay. Think about and address the following:

What evidence is available from all of the experts you considered that were important for understanding the role of poultry farming?

What ideas from these experts provide the rationale or reasoning for why this evidence is applicable to the problem?

What are some typical normative statements (values, goals, hopes, fears) from the different experts that need to be considered?

What are the standards of evidence and argument from the discipline of the expert that must be met when addressing the role of poultry farming?

What are the limits of the evidence and arguments and how do these limit conclusions you can make about poultry farming and suggestionsyou may make to pursue additional work in the area?

  1. Recommendations for actions needed to address the issue.

What is required to make the science and scholarship you synthesized “actionable?”

Who will benefit or lose from your recommended action? What are the trade-offs?

How much data or evidence was used from your expert in the final recommendation for action?

  1. Graphics and other forms of communication targeted at two audiences: a) decision makers or the general public (i.e., people with limited background in the topic), and b) scholars interested in the problem but without expertise in all of the fields involved.

What do people – other scholars and non-scientists (decision makers) need to know in order to better understand and act upon the problem?

TIEE, Volume 12 © 2017 – Caroline M. Solomon, Khadijat Rashid, and the Ecological Society of America. Teaching Issues and Experiments in Ecology (TIEE) is a project of the Committee on Diversity and Education of the Ecological Society of America (