Science, Health, Risk, and Environment

Researchers in this area are concerned with the role of communication in the areas of science, health, risk, and environmental sustainability. Our research leads to both new theoretical insights and more robust communication practice across the areas of science, health, risk, and environmental sustainability. It enables the development of strategic campaigns/messaging to promote healthy behavior and health policy, environmental sustainability action, public understanding of science, health interventions, and similar topics.

Some topics that our research addresses include:

• The communication of scientific uncertainty
• Public engagement and decision-making
• Public opinion dynamics and processes
• Media coverage of science, health, risk and the environment
• Prevalence, spread and impacts of misinformation
• Social networks and social support
• Patient-provider interaction
• Literacy, inequalities and communication
• The role of technology
• Theory and design of effective communication campaigns
• How government struggles to communicate statistics