Community Project
Paint Rock Research Center
The overarching goal of this project is to increase trust in and support for science through meaningful community engagement. The first step is to assess the current community-engaged scholarship and outreach efforts of Paint Rock Research Center within surrounding communities. Building on that assessment, the project will explore ways to create genuine, two-way conversations between Paint Rock scientists and local community members, providing opportunities for scientists to listen to community perspectives, concerns, and questions while sharing relevant scientific knowledge (Druckman et al. 2025).
Community
✳︎
Science
✳︎
Science Communication
✳︎
Collaborative Inquiry
✳︎
Shared Action
Community ✳︎ Science ✳︎ Science Communication ✳︎ Collaborative Inquiry ✳︎ Shared Action
Why is this important?
Although public trust in scientists declined during the COVID-19 pandemic, trust in scientists has remained relatively high and stable over the past 50 years. However, substantial differences in trust persist among demographic groups, and trust has become increasingly polarized along partisan lines (Schulman et al., 2026). Trust in scientists is associated not only with perceptions of scientific expertise, but also with whether people perceive scientists as concerned about their interests and well-being and as having integrity; representation and perceived similarity can strengthen these perceptions among groups that historically report lower trust in scientists (Druckman et al., 2026). One of the communities that has the lowest trust in science is rural areas, where they do not perceive scientists as understanding their lives or representing them. These findings suggest a need for science communication approaches that reduce the distance between scientists and rural communities by creating opportunities for meaningful, sustained interaction. Community-engaged approaches that bring community members together with scientists, local leaders, and government officials may provide opportunities for communities to identify locally relevant concerns and participate in shaping research questions (Garlick & Fallon, 2023).
One of the challenges is finding scientists who are open to the co-creation of science with local communities. Scientists themselves face barriers to community-engaged research, including limited time and funding, a lack of established relationships with communities, and insufficient knowledge or experience with community-based collaboration (Boucher et al., 2020). Paint Rock Research Center has an advantage in addressing some of these barriers because it already has a network of scientists working at the site and can help identify researchers whose expertise aligns with research needs identified as priorities by local communities. Co-production also requires scientists to assume roles beyond traditional knowledge production, including facilitating relationships, integrating different forms of knowledge, and navigating competing expectations among stakeholders (Kruijf et al., 2022). Because Paint Rock Research Center is situated in rural Alabama and has established relationships with scientists, it has the potential to serve as an intermediary between scientists and surrounding communities.
What I am going to do.
This project will examine how Paint Rock Research Center currently engages with surrounding communities and identify opportunities to strengthen relationships between local communities and scientists. Rather than focusing solely on communicating scientific findings to the public, the project will explore ways to create genuine conversations in which scientists can learn about the experiences, concerns, and priorities of local communities. These conversations could also provide opportunities for community members to help identify locally relevant environmental and scientific questions. Because Paint Rock already brings together scientists from different institutions and disciplines, it has the potential to serve as an intermediary that connects community-identified needs with scientists whose expertise and research interests align with those needs. Ultimately, the project seeks to develop a model for sustained community engagement that strengthens relationships and trust between scientists and the rural communities surrounding Paint Rock.
The organization sees my role as a science communicator with a strong background in science and ecology who can help facilitate connections between scientists and the local community. Paint Rock Research Center sees me as helping move this project forward by developing the conceptual and theoretical foundation for community engagement and identifying ways to create meaningful, multi-way interactions between scientists and community members. The goal is to use this work to develop a plan that Paint Rock can move forward with to better connect surrounding communities with the science being conducted at the Research Center, while also creating opportunities for scientists to listen to and learn about the interests, concerns, and priorities of local communities.
How I will do it.
This project will use a qualitative, community-engaged methodological approach informed by the ECO framework of Engagement, Collaborative Inquiry, and Outreach (Garlick & Fallon, 2023). The first step will be to assess Paint Rock Research Center's current community-engagement and science-communication activities, including existing programs, partnerships, outreach efforts, and communication materials. Conversations with Paint Rock scientists and stakeholders will also help identify current strengths, barriers, and opportunities for greater community engagement. The next step will focus on listening to members of surrounding communities through facilitated conversations or listening sessions to better understand what scientific and environmental issues they identify as important in their daily lives and how they would like to engage with scientists. This approach is consistent with knowledge co-production, which emphasizes bringing researchers and stakeholders together to develop relevant questions and integrate different forms of knowledge (Djenontin & Meadow, 2018).
A qualitative approach is more appropriate than relying primarily on quantitative surveys because the goal is not to measure predetermined attitudes or concerns, but to understand community perspectives and allow participants to identify issues that may not have been anticipated by the researchers. Open-ended conversations can provide a better understanding of community experiences, priorities, and concerns while creating opportunities for genuine two-way communication. Ultimately, this approach will help determine how Paint Rock can serve as an intermediary between local communities and scientists and develop sustained community-engaged collaborations.
The primary conceptual lens guiding this project will be the ECO framework of Engagement, Collaborative Inquiry, and Outreach developed by Garlick and Fallon (2023). The framework is particularly appropriate because it was designed to integrate meaningful public engagement into environmental research organizations rather than treating science communication solely as the dissemination of scientific information. Engagement emphasizes building relationships and creating opportunities for two-way communication; collaborative inquiry provides opportunities for scientists and communities to learn from one another and potentially develop questions together; and outreach provides mechanisms for sharing scientific knowledge and research findings with broader audiences.
The project will also incorporate principles of knowledge co-production. Co-production recognizes that researchers and community members bring different but valuable forms of knowledge to environmental problems and emphasizes developing research questions and knowledge collaboratively rather than relying exclusively on researcher-defined priorities (Djenontin & Meadow, 2018). Together, these concepts will guide my assessment of Paint Rock's current community engagement and the development of recommendations for future engagement. The intended outcome is a framework for sustained interactions in which community members can communicate locally relevant environmental concerns, scientists can contribute their expertise, and Paint Rock can help connect community priorities with appropriate researchers. Over time, these relationships may create opportunities for community-informed or co-produced research while strengthening relationships and trust between scientists and surrounding communities.