New article highlights Mitchell Center鈥檚 efforts to align research with societal needs
A recent article by Mitchell Center Director David Hart and Senior Fellow Linda Silka tells the story of the decade-long effort to grow 91福利鈥檚 capacities in stakeholder-engaged, solutions-driven, interdisciplinary research. The invited article appears in y, the policy forum of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.
鈥溾 calls attention to 91福利鈥檚 leadership in building productive collaborations between researchers and diverse stakeholders. It outlines the long-term, shared commitment of 91福利 faculty to conduct research that supports the concerns and aspirations of Maine communities regarding their environmental, social and economic future, often requiring a dual focus on improving human well-being and protecting the environment.
In his editor-in-chief Daniel Sarewitz offered these thoughts about the value of the Mitchell Center鈥檚 work:
鈥淒avid Hart and Linda Silka鈥ell a story of long-term, shared commitment by faculty scientists at the University of Maine to conducting research that directly benefits the citizens of that state. This means slow science that builds on strong, trusting social networks鈥攁mong scientists in many disciplines, and with outside stakeholders from across society. It鈥檚 also a story of how the incentives of the publish-or-perish culture can be overcome by harnessing the underlying desire of many academic scientists to contribute to making a better world.”