The Plover Rovers are a newly established science communication charity focusing on bringing marine science and coastal communities together.
Their 2021 “Talking the Coast” project will have members of the UK Marine Scientific Community walk stretches of the English Coast Path and present their relevant research to local communities in towns and villages along the way, beginning in April 2021.
“We want to enable knowledge exchange between science and local communities”, says founder Scott Xavi Gudrich, a marine scientist with a special interest in coastal processes and stakeholder involvement. “We want to bridge the gap between science and society – we believe science can play an important part in empowering communities by giving them the broader knowledge to understand what is happening locally, what affects them in their day-to-day life, like flooding, collapsing fish stocks, pollution, or offshore energy installations; to put it all into a bigger context. At the same time, we believe that scientists need to regularly talk to people outside of academia, people who deal with the effects of the issues the scientists are researching.” With the Talking the Coast project, the Plover Rovers hope to help establish lasting direct links between marine scientists and local communities and help make marine science accessible for a broad demographic. “Our events will not just be pure science. We want to collaborate with local partners to provide some hands-on outdoor activities, with artists and sustainable businesses, for example, local micro-breweries or small-scale fisherfolk, to design events which appeal to a wide audience”, says Scott Xavi, who used to be a professional rock musician before going into academia.
The Plover Rovers’ 70+ volunteers are currently working hard to get everything set up and ready to go for April 2021. You can follow the charity on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. More information on their website: www.plover-rovers.com
If you would like further information on hosting a talk or event, becoming a Walker Talker, or anything at all, please do get in touch with [email protected].
