Why Scientific Literacy Matters with Eric Eitrheim

"It's almost like there's this fight or flight instinct associated with new information. Either you can dismiss it, if it challenges your previously held ideologies, that's the flight, or you fight it, where you come up with all the reasons that it can be incorrect... This is called the backfire effect and its terrifying, because if you confront someone with a fact, there's a chance they dig their heels in more."Eric Eitrheim is currently beginning his 3rd year as a faculty member at the University of Central Oklahoma (Oklahoma City, OK) working in various areas of environmental chemistry and radiochemistry. His previous work at the University of Iowa (Iowa City, IA) includes characterization of liquid and solid wastes from unconventional drilling (i.e. hydraulic fracturing.) Notably, he explored TENORM (technologically enhanced naturally-occurring radioactive materials) from flowback water and bit cuttings that are produced in large quantities at each well site. He has previously been to Holden Village as a student at Luther College in Decorah, IA studying Environmental Ethics and later a summer kitchen volunteer. During the Environmental Ethics class, he met his wife Sarah, who also has fond memories of hiking and fellowship at Holden.To learn more about Holden Village, visit: www.holdenvillage.org or to listen to more audio recordings visit: http://audio.holdenvillage.orgTo contact the podcast author, [email protected]