Welcome

Our interdisciplinary research group combines expertise from Earth and environmental sciences (Peter Dietrich), data visualization (Michael Pelzer) and transdisciplinary teaching (Solmaz Mohadjer) to explore the communication of scientific uncertainty through research, teaching and public engagement activities. Below are summaries of our main projects:

Research

The project focuses on improving communication of scientific uncertainties associated with earth and environmental data, models and predictions. We do this by applying different methods to sample datasets to quantify uncertainties. We then compare, evaluate and improve these methods for communication with experts and non-experts using different approaches such as eye-tracking, decision-making tasks and survey questionnaires. The knwoledge gained will be used in the development of a learning module on the topic of scientific uncertainty for teaching at universities. This project was awarded the Dr. K.H. Eberle Prize in 2024.(Read more)

Training Early Career Scientists

We are offering an in-person training workshop to equip Early Career Researchers with knowledge and skills needed to effectively account for and communicate uncertainty in geosciences with their peers and the public audience(s). The workshop is motivated by a need for achieving meaningful insights from geosciences outputs (e.g., maps, models, simulations, time series) which are used for decision-making, but often presented unaccompanied by uncertainty estimates. The content focus will be on uncertainty communication related to global challenges (e.g., disaster risk and climate change) for which geosciences have an essential role to play in finding solutions. The workshop will be held at the University of Tübingen (Germany) on March 17-19, 2025. This workshop is sponsored by the European Geosciences Union Training Schools. Apply Now

Public Engagment

We organized a series of activities and events as part of the Tübingen Science & Innovation Days 2024, which have the motto “Besser streiten” (argue better). The aim was to raise awareness of the challenges of visualizing uncertainties and promote a transparent dialogue between science and society. Activities included an interactive eye-tracking station, a World Cafe discussion depicting uncertainities in graphics, and a panel discussion exloring scientific data in everyday visual communication.(Read more)

Scientific Discussion

We are organizing a scientific session at the 2025 European Geosciences Union titled 'How to communicate uncertainty to non-expert audiences'. This session encourages scientists to share their work and join a community of practice to inform and advance the effective communication of uncertainty in Earth and space science. Abstract deadline is January 15, 2025. Read more here and consider submiting an abstract.

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