We report on the Teaching Responsible Communication of Science project at Iowa State University. This NSF-supported work will produce nine case studies focusing on the ethical challenges that arise when scientists communicate with the public. These case studies promise to add a normative dimension to the practical communication training offered to scientists, while at the same time contributing a rhetorical perspective to the interdisciplinary scholarship on science communication.

Leaders of the science establishment are seeking help with communicating science to the public. Rhetoricians of science are eager to respond. The two communities, however, continue to have mismatched expectations of each other; while scientists are looking for quick communication fixes, rhetoricians want to make everything more complicated. These essays, originally presented at the 2013 preconference of the Association for the Rhetoric of Science & Technology, explore a variety of exemplary projects bringing scientists and rhetoricians into full collaborations with substantial benefits on both sides.