Program on the Environment

The state of public trust in American federal government institutions has become an increasingly hot-button topic. This project aimed to investigate how much American citizens trust the work of U.S. federal institutions and their scientists, with a focus on environmentally related agencies (e.g., NOAA). Data for this project was collected via a survey of Seattleites and complemented by observations from my experience as an intern at NOAA Fisheries’ Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC). A literature review was performed in an attempt to gather past work and knowledge connected to this issue. The survey results suggested that the Seattle public sees a lack of transparency when it comes to how federal institutions conduct scientific research. Additionally, there is a considerable subgroup of people who do not trust the work put out by federal institutions such as NOAA, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The survey results identified several methods seen as viable by the Seattle public. These results suggest that greater transparency is needed. Relevant methods for establishing a greater level of transparency include (but are not limited to): live Q&A sessions, newsletters, and TV programs/YouTube. Additionally, there was a large subgroup that did not indicate any interest in proposed communications strategies for increasing trust. This work adds to the discussion around understanding the sizable number of American citizens distrustful of scientific work published by the government, and how to potentially regain their trust.