Bettina Schaefli

Public engagement in science: how to position ourselves?

Bettina Schaefli May 30, 2024

Back of my laptop, conveying some of my values

The recent student protests against the war in Gaza reminded all of us that being a member of the academic community requires us to reflect upon our role in society. In Switzerland, the university occupations (see SwissInfo) led to several open letter-type reactions from academic staff, either supporting the protests or on the contrary, recalling that scientists should abstain from activism. This ...[Read More]

Communicating science to the public – an example after the recent floods in Germany

Bettina Schaefli January 25, 2024

Extensive flooding in the Emsland flood area, photo: Flugschule Dankern

After the wet December 2023, the year 2024 started with widespread flooding in parts of Europe. Flooding during winter times is not unusual but brings particular challenges in terms of spatial extent, and the impact on people can be exacerbated when flooding comes with very low temperatures. The exceptionally wet and warm winter necessarily triggers questions from the public about how this links t ...[Read More]

May the year-end be Exceptional, not only hydrologically!

Bettina Schaefli December 21, 2023

Generated with DreamStudio, "beautiful rainy christmas in a river catchment"

What a hydrological year it has been! From the winter drought and flash floods detailed in Matano and Avanzi‘s blog post to the remarkably warm and wet November 2023, Europe has witnessed a range of extraordinary weather phenomena. In the Alpine region, the convergence of warm and wet weather resulted in numerous rain-on-snow events (see eg. the streamflow recording below), offering valuabl ...[Read More]

How far can we take the DORA rules?

Bettina Schaefli October 5, 2023

DORA stands for Declaration on Research Assessment, also known as the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment. The declaration was developed back in 2012 during the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology in San Francisco and has become a worldwide initiative since then. The country where you are currently reading this post has most probably signed the declaration (the cou ...[Read More]