What climate scientists teach us about research communication

Universities are under increasing pressure to demonstrate research impact, yet communicating complex evidence beyond academic audiences is not always straightforward. Climate scientists have been grappling with this challenge for decades.  

Public understanding of climate change depends not only on the quality of the science but on the ability to translate complex evidence into messages that people can understand, relate to and act upon. Here are three ways researchers can make their work resonate.

1. Start where people are

As researchers and communicators, we are trained to value evidence, accuracy and detail. Most audiences start somewhere else. Their first question is usually much simpler: why does this matter to me?

In an increasingly crowded and personalised information environment, people are constantly deciding what deserves their attention. Before they engage with evidence, they need to understand its relevance to their own lives, communities, work or interests.

One reason climate communication has become more effective is that abstract concepts are increasingly linked to everyday experiences. Rather than leading with temperature records or climate projections, we might ask: 

• Have you struggled to sleep during periods of extreme heat? 
• Are you paying more for food? 
• Has severe weather disrupted your journey? 
• Have your hay fever symptoms become worse?

These questions work because they help people connect large-scale challenges to their own lives. They transform climate change from something distant and abstract into something immediate and recognisable.

The same principle applies across higher education. Before describing methods, data sets or theoretical frameworks, try answering a different question: what problem does this research help solve? How might it improve people’s lives, influence practice or inform decisions?

Audiences rarely connect first with data. They connect with what that data means for them.

2. Translate complexity without losing rigour

Many academics worry that making research more accessible risks oversimplifying it. But accessibility and academic rigour are not competing goals.

One of the most compelling examples from climate communication emerged from an unlikely source. The Climate Stripes were inspired in part by temperature blankets, a predominantly women-led crochet tradition that renders the temperature over the course of a year of a child’s life into coloured crocheted stripes.

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One such blanket was created by Ellie Highwood, a professor at the University of Reading, as a gift for a colleague’s child. Professor Ed Hawkins later adapted the concept to illustrate the rate of global temperature change between 1961 and 2010, creating the Climate Stripes, now recognised around the world. The stripes transform decades of complex meteorological measurements into a visual message that is impossible to misunderstand.

For us, the story is a reminder that effective communication often comes from looking beyond our disciplines. Some of the most powerful ideas emerge when scientific evidence is combined with creativity and visual storytelling.

The success of the Climate Stripes also highlights another important lesson: people do not always need more information. Sometimes they need a new way of seeing existing information.

Good communication is not about dumbing ideas down. It is about helping people see what matters.

3. Move people from understanding to action

Perhaps the most important lesson we have learned is that understanding a problem is only part of the journey.

We have seen a shift in climate communication over time. Early reporting focused on explaining weather and extreme weather events. As climate science became more visible in public conversations, attention shifted towards helping audiences understand why these events were occurring and what they meant. More recently, conversations have increasingly focused on what individuals, organisations and governments can do in response.

We have also seen the importance of partnerships in helping climate science reach wider audiences. Researchers, educators, broadcasters, policymakers and community organisations all contribute to how knowledge is understood and used.

The same is true across higher education. Too often, impact stories focus on principal investigators alone. In reality, successful engagement depends on teams. Communications specialists, technicians, public engagement professionals, knowledge exchange colleagues, teachers and external partners all help research travel, often reaching communities and networks that academics alone cannot.

For researchers, this is a useful reminder that communication should be linked to intended outcomes. Some projects are primarily exploratory or descriptive. Others might inform policy, professional practice or public behaviour.

People are more likely to engage when they understand both the issue and their potential role within it. This does not mean every project needs a call to action but it does require careful thought about how different audiences might use knowledge.

If we want to inspire change, give the public information – and the agency to act upon it. 

Andrew Charlton-Perez is professor of meteorology and head of the School of Mathematical, Physical & Computational Sciences at the University of Reading. Laura Tobin is a broadcast meteorologist and weather presenter for ITV’s Good Morning Britain.

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This article draws on a conversation between Andrew Charlton-Perez and Laura Tobin in Reading Ahead, a podcast hosted by University of Reading chancellor Paul Lindley. The series brings together University of Reading academics and leaders from beyond academia to explore how universities can help society respond to the challenges of the century ahead.

Listen on Spotify or watch on YouTube.