Scientists need to be better advocates of their work, says Wells.

Question: What scientific initiatives would you like to see from the next President?

Spencer Wells: You know, I think we’ve got a lot of scientists working in the United States certainly already, would we like to have more funding, of course, everybody wants more funding for their particular area, you know, if I were in the theater I’d demand more government funding for, you know, theater productions. So yeah more money would be nice but I think that the real role that the President can play in this broader kind of theme of science literacy is in education, using the Presidency as a bully pulpit to get out the message that science is important. It’s not just something that’s done by the scientists for the scientists, it’s done by the scientists who are citizens for everybody else in the country and with the collaboration of everybody else in the country because at least in terms of government supported science it’s paid for by the rest of the country. So, you know, I think scientists have a role to play as well, I think scientists should perhaps make more of an effort to communicate with the public at large about the work they’re doing and the implications and why it’s important, you know, it’s perhaps easier to ask for more money than it is to explain to people who don’t have a scientific background why you need more money. But I think the latter is at least as important and, you know, these days in my opinion part of being a scientist, a responsible scientist.

Recorded on: 5/22/08