Presentation Slides

Abstract: How we 'do' science in the United States, which is emulated in much of the rest of the world, is proving insufficient for the major challenges facing society:  sustainable energy, sustainable food production practices, a healthy planet and a healthy population.  The focus of production of knowledge through 'the scientific method' as currently embodied, is a culmination of a 2000 year history (the university structure), a 400 yr history (Descartes and the age of reason) and a 70 yr history (Vannevar Bush and the post-WWII growth of academic research departments).

The hierarchical basis for all of these structures may be insufficient for creating robust models of dynamic, self-organizing systems in a highly complex universe.  Both knowledge production and who is doing the producing are under stress. It is estimated that a full 60% of current PhD students and post-doctoral scholars in the sciences will have to leave science altogether for lack of suitable career opportunities after their years of study have completed - yet this group of knowledge workers constitute approximately 50% of the research basis of the US.  The 'product' of scientific inquiry - knowledge considered bedrock to our scientific world - is also undergoing major reassessment. Internal inconsistencies in large domains of scientific knowledge indicate major changes are ahead.  What we consider reliable, consistent and faithful models for reality are up against a growing list of small and large anomalies.  A true Kuhnian paradigm shift is underway. 

The incremental additions to knowledge produced by the current pyramid structure of science, with extreme competition married to a kind of conservatism of thinking, will be insufficient to harness the growing demand for impactful work.  This demand comes most strongly from the next generation of scientists, who are impatient and eager to address the largest issues facing humanity.  What sort of changes, both in structure and in mindfulness, might be necessary to keep up with this demand?

Biography: Kennan is the ‘initiator’ for forming the Yámana Science and Technology tribe. She's a Ph.D. biochemist, and has worked at two national labs (both Los Alamos and Livermore National Labs), was on the faculty of the Chemistry Department at Georgetown University for a handful of years, and worked for Celera Genomics during the completion of the human genome project (a very rewarding experience).

In 2013, she was doing research in the field of genomics at Åbo Akademi in Finland, looking at evolutionary patterns as a follow up from her recent work finishing and annotating the soil microbe Dechloromonas aromatica. Most of the time, she works full-time on projects for Yámana Science and Technology.

Her best ‘experiment’ was having children. One graduated from Prescott College and now teaches science at Mile High Middle School in Arizona; the other just finished his bachelor degree in physics from UCBerkeley. They are very much part of her scientific narrative, as Cassandra was born during her fourth year of graduate school, and Nick came along during the third year of her post-doctoral studies. She has always juggled career and family, seldom elegantly.

Contact: Kennan can be reached by e-mail at kennan@yamanascience.org for additional information about this session.

Website: www.yamanascience.org

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/kennansalinero