On Saturday morning 18 September Kim Hill interviewed Baroness O’Neill about the Sense About Science Charity – an independent charitable trust promoting good science and evidence in public debates. It does this:
“… by promoting respect for evidence and by urging scientists to engage actively with a wide range of groups, particularly when debates are controversial or difficult.”
Like the SPCS it seeks to promote public debate in controversial or difficult areas relating to standards.
The Baroness will deliver the inaugural Royal Society Aronui Lecture Series in Auckland (15 & 17 September), Hamilton (16 September), Palmerston North (20 September), Wellington (21 September), Christchurch (22 September), and Dunedin (23 September).
The Sense About Science Charity of which she is on the Board of Trustees, works with scientists to
- respond to inaccuracies in public claims about science, medicine, and technology
- promote the benefits of scientific research to the public
- help those who need expert help contact scientists about issues of importance
- brief non-specialists on scientific developments and practices
http://www.senseaboutscience.org.uk/index.php/site/about/6/
Baroness Onora O’Neill is a professor of philosophy at the University of Cambridge, President of the British Academy until 2009 and chairs the Nuffield Foundation. She was formerly the Principal of Newnham College, Cambridge, and has held the positions of President of the Aristotelian Society, Chair of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, and Acting Chair of the Human Genetics Advisory Commission.
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