By Sally James

Volunteer President of the NSWA Board of Directors

Contributing Blogger

The two presidential candidates have answered a list of science questions created by leading science institutions at Sciencedebate.org and a collaboration of Northwest groups hope to ask candidates for governor to do something similar.

Brian Grant, MD, founder of MCN, is one of the luminaries who is asking for science issues to get a more prominent place in public policy discussions. Grant is joined by Lisa Graumlich, Dean of the College of the Environment at the University of Washington, and Ed Lazowska, a distinguished professor of computer science and engineering.

Leaders of Northwest Science Writers Association, a nonprofit devoted to science literacy, are partnering with ScienceOnlineSeattle, as well as the national Sciencedebate.org to try to get some questions to the campaigns and get them answered. The list of questions has been approved but had not been sent to the campaigns as of late September.

In advance of sending the questions to the campaigns, this group is also asking people to answer a quick survey www.surveymonkey.com/s/BBBTH7C about this issue.

Stay tuned for more information on this, as there are several public debates scheduled between the candidates for governor in October. Science might be on the agenda.

NW Science Writers is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that works on science literacy and improving the profession of science writing. It has about 200 members who are writers, journalists and communication professionals in Oregon, Washington and Idaho. ScienceOnlineSeattle holds monthly meetings about science and is affiliated with national online organizations.