Nobel Intent: How do we get scientists to do outreach?

John Timmer at Nobel Intent (link above) promotes the idea of “outreach faculty”: people in an academic institution who could, proposes Dr Timmer, work in the institution’s public affairs office to improve the quality of press releases and other often-muddled output; who would visit schools and other local community organizations; help to train graduate students so that they themselves will be better able to interact with the public, and so on.

The end result, writes Dr Timmer, would “provide benefits for the two most important constituencies—the institutions, which receive better outreach, and the departments that provide the faculty, which receive better-trained graduate students. Provided [ he adds, cynically but probably with reason ] that the academic community does not attach stigma to these positions, it can provide a rewarding experience for those inclined to become outreach faculty.”

There is a discussion of these proposals in the comments section at Nobel Intent. We also welcome your views in the comments here. How can journals such as those published by Nature Publishing Group help in this process?