“If your science gives you a result that you don’t like, pass a law saying the result is illegal. Problem solved.” – Stephen Colbert

What role, if any, should scientists play in the increasingly contentious landscape of public policy?  Are we beyond the point of even asking this question as science has become politicized on topics ranging from global climate change to vaccinations to gun violence? How can objectivity and advocacy go hand in hand as the scientific community seeks to continue informing public debate with data and facts? This panel will address these very questions from multiple disciplinary perspectives, and it will attempt to situate these conversations in a broader context of the cultural moment in which expertise and scientific method are being met with public skepticism and private interests.