Nancy Baron, the communications specialist for COMPASS (the Communication Partnership for Science and the Sea), wrote the book reviewed here, giving it the subtitle of “A guide to making your science matter.” The last two words in the subtitle are critical and were also used in a special evening panel at the 2008 Ocean Sciences meeting—there, our subtitle was “does science really matter?” We, as environmental scientists, can be dedicated to our research and teaching, and be passionate about their importance to society. But, maybe our science does not really matter unless we can communicate our findings and their importance to the general public and decision makers.

Sharp, J.H. 2011. Review of Escape from the Ivory Tower: A Guide to Making Your Science Matter, by N. Baron. Oceanography 24(2):216–218, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2011.47.

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