Meet the PCAPS SG: Reflections from PCAPS SG member Jelmer Jeuring about social science research for Polar services
We continue our monthly PCAPS highlight blog post series, where we feature each month one of the PCAPS SG members and the exciting work they are undertaking for PCAPS. PCAPS SG member Jelmer Jeuring is a social scientist based at the Norwegian Meteorological Institute. He reflects on how PCAPS aims to benefit from, and strengthen, social science-based knowledge with the aim to enhance the actionability of Polar forecast information services.
I work as a researcher at the Bergen office of the Norwegian Meteorological Institute. With my background as a social scientist - to be more specific, in social psychology and cultural geography - it is very exciting to be working in an environment where scientific data is key, but where there is also a clear need to translate that data into information and knowledge that has a societal relevance.
My daily work is spread out over several research projects. Generally speaking, my job is to identify and study user contexts that shape preferences for, and use of, weather and climate information. In my work, I use both quantitative methods, such as questionnaires, and qualitative methods, such as interviews, workshops and serious gaming. I typically employ approaches from behavioural sciences, to study in particular risk perceptions and information seeking. In the qualitative research I conduct, I apply principles of co-production and co-creation, especially where there is a need to bring together people with different types of knowledge, expertise or interests. Some of the projects that I am part of have a specific focus in the Arctic, while others are oriented to user contexts on the Norwegian mainland. I also have some ongoing work that takes place in an African context, especially in Malawi.
Illustration about discussing pathways to risk regulation in the Arctic: Illustration based on photo by: Fabienne Mannherz.
One of the Arctic projects that I work on is SUDARCO (Sustainable Development of the Arctic Ocean). This is a large Norwegian project that is funded by the Fram Centre, and aims to identify and collect the core observations needed to understand the newly accessible marine environment and ecosystem, and to synthesize and communicate the knowledge needed to ensure safe and sustainable use of these areas. Observations include not only environmental conditions, but also about human activity patterns. In the Work Package that I am involved in, we have been using a combination of AIS data analysis and qualitative social science methods to explore the implications of new regulations, such as in the Polar Code, on weather and sea-ice information needs. One of our conclusions was that the Polar Code needs refinement through the integration of maritime warning systems and a broader description of hazardous conditions.
Next to PCAPS, I also am part of two other WMO-related activities. I am leading the Nordic Node of the WMO Arctic Regional Climate Centre Network. I have also recently joined the WMO SERA working group (see also this PCAPS blog post).
One of my goals for the years ahead is to create synergies between these different, but complementary, WMO activities. PCAPS’ objectives, in my opinion, provide very good guidance for that.
Together with Vicki Heinrich from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, I am co-chairing the PCAPS Services & Actionability task team. The goal of this task team is to initiate and support a range of activities that improve knowledge about how to effectively provide and communicate forecasts, as well as how and why forecast products are being used by the wide variety of user groups across the Polar regions.
Some specific themes we aim to focus on are:
1. Polar safety management and warning systems
2. Interactions between forecast providers and users across various Polar regions (both within research and operational contexts)
3. Behavioural factors that affect when, how and why forecast information is used in different decision contexts (such as maritime operations, research expeditions, marine harvesting, and reindeer herding)
We have been able to bring together a great group of Task Team members, who I very much look forward to working with in the years ahead. The team has a strong inter-disciplinary background. In addition, with many members working at various national meteorological institutes across the globe, it will be possible to work in a close cooperation between research and operations. This is a great opportunity that should also help the broader PCAPS project by building bridges between the more disciplinary-based research that will take place under PCAPS and the potential added value for improving actual services for the benefit of the Polar regions. More details about the Task Team members will be coming soon!
One very promising activity that will be prioritised by the Task Team (together with several others from the PCAPS SG) in the short term is a so-called Horizon Scan, with the aim to identify key social science research questions around Polar forecast services. Such a scan is extremely timely, since there is a huge scope of various societal issues that need to be studied in more detail around Polar prediction research, service provision and information use.
One challenge I experience is that the narrative about how social sciences can be involved in this field often remains relatively shallow. However, the social sciences are broad, with a large diversity of theories, methodologies and ways of looking at the world.
In his free time, Jelmer is often to be found running in the mountains around Bergen. Photo credits: Jelmer Jeuring.
How can we use this large multi-disciplinary potential? l advocate strongly for crystallising how the various social sciences are currently represented in the field, but even more so, how their diversity can be built on to develop a multi-disciplinary research agenda that supports the aims of projects like PCAPS. The weather and climate research community is continuously growing in size and diversity. There are many social science researchers out there that do relevant work, but who are not in contact with one another.
In other words, there is a huge networking opportunity for PCAPS, and the Horizon Scan surely will surely contribute to that. We plan to have the first stage of the Horizon Scan ready in the early (northern hemisphere) spring of 2025.
Thumbnail photo information: In his free time, Jelmer is often found running in the mountains around Bergen. Photo credit: Jelmer Jeuring