If you had asked me ten years ago how science policy works, I might have guessed that science experts inform decision-makers, who then make the policy, without any other consideration.

If you had asked me again, six years and an honours degree in biology later, I wouldn’t have had the time or energy to answer. That was my second year working at the Halifax Victoria General Hospital, and it was spent trying (like all the hospital staff) to deal with the chaos brought by each new wave of the pandemic. My experiences there showed me how influential policy was in both saving and improving the lives of patients.

However, the pandemic brought a lot of uncertainty and exhaustion, and the voices of experts were sometimes drowned out by misinformation or tuned out by sheer fatigue. The facts didn’t always speak for themselves, you needed more than just logic to comfort people and help them understand. And so, it was there – in those hectic hospital wards – that my interest in science policy was born.

One of the things I most like about science policy is its power to resolve shared societal challenges and overcome differences. There are all sorts of issues facing us every day which can combine to become complicated and overwhelming. As individuals, these problems may be unique to our circumstances, but as a community, province, or nation, there are many challenges we face together: housing, infrastructure, healthcare, social development, economy, and environment, to name a few. We share these challenges, but we can also share their solutions; as hard as it might be to believe some days, we’ve gone this far as a species because we cooperated.

To me, science policy is one of the greatest tools at our disposal for facing some of the biggest challenges today and in the years to come, like climate change. The oceans to our west, north, and east have all gotten increasingly warmer, higher, and more saturated with carbon, endangering the lives and livelihoods of communities, damaging infrastructure, and leading to the loss of important biodiversity. To address these issues, we need to know what exactly we’re dealing with. How high is the water? How warm? How much higher or warmer will it get, and where, and when?

Good science helps us to know what we’re dealing with, so we know what to expect, and we can figure out what to do. Good science policy is to have our solutions rooted in all of that gathered information.

But science is only one of the perspectives used when making policy, along with things like social, economical, cultural, or geopolitical factors. With all these different voices at the table, scientists can sometimes struggle to make their case appealing to policymakers, especially when facts might be unpleasant. Ignorance is bliss, after all.

How then, can we make sure science is better received?

We sell it better.

In a busy marketplace, even the best product needs a good sales pitch. Good science policy advocacy is that sales pitch, one that can bridge the gap between people of all walks of life and show them how the work of researchers and experts can help solve their problems. One of the best aspects of science is that it works well—but it still needs to be sold well.

In my view, we have to clearly explain how science can solve the problems we face, and advocate for it passionately. Just because someone doesn’t have the same background or expertise as I do, doesn’t mean they can’t understand it. After all, there was a time when I didn’t understand it either!

The biggest thing I learned about science advocacy is that the most important part isn’t to speak, but to listen. Listen to the problems and questions and concerns of others, try to understand where they’re coming from. Offer your ear before offering your solutions. The past few years have taught me that it isn’t all that difficult to do, but it never fails to be rewarding.

Now in Ottawa for a Master’s degree, I’ve had great opportunities to work with passionate advocates like those at the Ottawa Science Policy Network. The OSPN recently published a fantastic study on the challenges faced by graduate students in Canada and how it affects their career decisions. That study showed how our country’s researchers aren’t supported well enough here, so they are increasingly choosing to take their skills elsewhere (a concept known as “brain drain”). This increased awareness played an important role in a significant victory: a substantial increase in federal funding for researchers! There’s always more to be done, but it’s easier for researchers to discover solutions when they aren’t worrying about making rent or going hungry.

If you ask me today how science policy works, I’d say it’s a fight for a better future, a rewarding challenge, and a cool workplace full of cool people. I’d also tell you we’re always looking for more salespeople.