Between public and brand engagement: communicating an ecological crisis

Despite its prominence for research endeavours, there is scarce agreement about what constitutes ‘public engagement’ (Davies, 2013) or, relatedly, how engagement practices do or should shape the framing of scientific research. To contribute to the crucial task of building evidence-based knowledge for research institutions seeking to engage the public, we conduct a comparative frame analysis of one prominent example: a research project led by Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) called Swarm Sensing but better known as ‘Bees with Backpacks’. As the research was promoted, firstly, by a scientific body, CSIRO, and, secondly, by a corporate sponsor of the research, Intel, this presents an opportunity to analyse two practices of public engagement that are seldom considered comparatively: public engagement with science and technology, and consumer brand engagement. We are thus able to map opportunities and liabilities regarding the incorporation of branding strategies in the communication of science.