Shirley Malcom: Helping the Public Connect with Nanotechnology

It is a challenge that accompanies many major, modern scientific advances: When a breakthrough brings rich potential rewards, substantial ethical and social concerns, and a high-risk of hype, how do scientists build a connection with the public to provide trustworthy education and to address concerns?

Shirley Malcom, the head of Education and Human Resources at AAAS, has confronted the dilemma before—and has been part of a successful public engagement plan around the Human Genome Project in the late 1990s. Now, with nanotechnology emerging as a field of extraordinary promise, Malcom believes scientists and other nanotech leaders should undertake public engagement today if they want public understanding and acceptance in the future.

Malcom was one member of a panel of experts who spoke recently to the Congressional Nanotechnology Caucus.

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