Public trust in science is essential to ensure public health and safety, sustainable behaviour changes and support for evidence-based policies. This trust has been consistently high but has begun to break down in some settings.
Recent years have also seen a surge in research and academic interest into public trust in science, stimulated at least partly by scientist involvement in popular climate movements.
Much of this literature focuses on the role of scientists and the potential risk to public trust if scientists engage in advocacy or activism. However, the rationale, motivations and evidence used by scientist activists themselves are often neglected in these discussions.
Here we briefly share some of those perspectives, reflecting on what critiques around the relationships between science, activism and public trust often miss.
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