#7 – Dominique Brossard – Why We Should (Still) Care About Communication and Genetics

GES Center Lectures, NC State University

Dominique Brossard, PhD, Professor and Chair in the Department of Life Sciences Communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

Website | Twitter @brossardd

In an age of rapid advancements in genetic research and technology, it’s more important than ever to understand the impact of communication on how we perceive, understand, and engage with publics about genetic information.

Related links:

• Brossard, D., & Scheufele, D. A. (2022). The chronic growing pains of communicating science online. Science, 375(6581), 613-614. DOI: 10.1126/science.abo0668. PDF (*Unity ID required)

Speaker Bio

Dr. Dominique Brossard is professor and chair in the Department of Life Sciences Communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an affiliate of the UW-Madison Robert & Jean Holtz Center for Science and Technology Studies, the UW-Madison Energy Institute, the UW-Madison Global Health Institute, the UW-Madison Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, and the Morgridge Institute for Research. Her teaching responsibilities include courses in strategic communication theory and research, with a focus on science and risk communication.

Brossard’s research agenda focuses on the intersection between science, media and policy with the Science, Media and the Public (SCIMEP) research group, which she co-directs. A fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and of the International Communication Association, Brossard is an internationally known expert in public opinion dynamics related to controversial scientific issues. She is particularly interested in understanding the role of values in shaping public attitudes and using cross-cultural analysis to understand these processes. She has published more than 100 research articles in outlets such as Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Science Communication, Public Understanding of Science, the International Journal of Public Opinion, and _Communication Research _and has been an expert panelist for the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) on various occasions. She currently serves on the NASEM Climate Communication Initiative Advisory Committee as well as on the Executive Committee of the Societal Experts Action Network (SEAN), which aims at facilitating rapid and actionable responses to social, behavioral, and economic-related COVID-19 questions. Brossard is a member of the Board on Life Sciences of the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine. She is also on the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences and she is the Chair of the Advisory Committee for the Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences at the National Science Foundation.

Brossard has a varied professional background that includes experience in the lab and the corporate world. Notably, she spent five years at Accenture in its Change Management Services Division. She was also the communication coordinator for the Agricultural Biotechnology Support Project II (ABSPII), a position that combined public relations with marketing communication and strategic communication. Her family worked dairy farms for many generations.

Brossard earned her M.S. in plant biotechnology from the Ecole Nationale d’Agronomie de Toulouse and her M.P.S and Ph.D. in communication from Cornell University. You can find a list of her publications on Google Scholar.

GES Colloquium (GES 591-002) is jointly taught by Drs. Jen Baltzegar and Dawn Rodriguez-Ward, who you may contact with any class-specific questions. Colloquium will generally be live-streamed via Zoom, with monthly in-person meetings in the 1911 Building, Room 129. Please subscribe to the GES newsletter and Twitter for updates.

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