Social and Political Dynamics of Lab-Community Relations

This project focuses on the social and political dynamics between large US scientific facilities and neighboring communities. The project begins with events after 1976, when the Department of Energy (DOE) began operating US national laboratories. It will study the flow of expertise in social controversies involving scientific knowledge and public concerns. It will contribute to public understanding of national laboratories, the training of national laboratory workforce and local and national scientific facilities decision-making. The project will advance knowledge of lab-community relations at large scientific facilities. The research will include historical research, interviews and document analysis to study stakeholder-science relations. It aims to find the differences in the interplay between the labs and neighboring communities by tracking the historical backgrounds of the labs, the media coverage, the political support, community groups, and other factors. The outcome of this project may affect how community groups and scientific facilities structure their communications, relationships, and interactions. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.