Matthew Nisbet – Page 2 – Communication, Culture & Politics In a Runaway World

The science literacy paradox: Why really smart people tend to have the most biased opinions

September 1, 2016 —When presented with contradictory evidence about a politically contentious issue, it’s easy to fall into the trap of reacting emotionally and negatively to that information rather than responding with an open mind. We may not only discount or… Continue Reading →

2016/09/01 0

Climate change communication, energy politics, and journalism: Syllabus and schedule

September 1, 2016–In this advanced seminar, students apply research and best practices to communicating about and reporting on climate change and energy issues. Course work prepares students for careers in journalism, advocacy, government, and strategic communication. Students analyze major debates over… Continue Reading →

2016/09/01 0

Partisan pandemics: Political divisions likely to impact U.S. perceptions of Zika threat

August 1, 2016 —In the lead up to the 2016 Olympics in Brazil, global news attention has focused on the impact of the Zika virus in the country, including efforts to halt the spread of the mosquito-borne virus across Latin America,… Continue Reading →

2016/08/01 0

Don’t fear a Franken public: The surprising reasons why we should label genetically modified foods

May 1, 2016—In January 2016, Campbell Soup generated headlines by announcing that it would voluntarily label its products containing genetically modified (GM) corn, soy, beets, and other crops. Like most food industry leaders, about three quarters of Campbell Soup products… Continue Reading →

2016/05/01 0

Will the health dangers of climate change get people to care? The science says: maybe

April 7, 2016 —Climate change is a major public health threat, already making existing problems like asthma, exposure to extreme heat, food poisoning, and infectious disease more severe, and posing new risks from climate change-related disasters, including death or injury. Those… Continue Reading →

2016/04/07 0

Shifting the conversation about climate change: Strategies to build public demand for action

March 1, 2016 —Late last year at the United Nations climate change summit in Paris, world leaders reached a historic accord committing their countries to lowering greenhouse gas emissions over the next two decades and beyond. The combined commitments by countries… Continue Reading →

2016/03/01 0

The X-Files effect: Research suggests we shouldn’t worry so much about the impact of the hit TV series

January 1, 2016 —The X-Files returns January 24 to Fox Television in a special six-episode revival of the popular series. Actors David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson reprise their iconic roles as FBI agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, investigating a collection… Continue Reading →

2016/01/01 0

MIT rejects fossil fuel divestment but is still a leader on climate change

October 23, 2015 —The Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced this week a new climate change action plan that rejects calls from activists to divest its endowment from the fossil fuel industry. The best way for the university to tackle climate change,… Continue Reading →

2015/10/23 0

Pope Francis climate advocate: Reframing the debate

January 15, 2015 —Warning of “unprecedented destruction of the ecosystem,” Pope Francis in an encyclical to be released this week (and already leaked) calls for aggressive action to combat climate change and other environmental problems. In the special papal letter addressed… Continue Reading →

2015/06/15 0

A call for greater diversity of thought in Environmental Studies courses

May 15, 2015 —Even before Jacqueline Ho enrolled in her first environmental studies course at college, her thinking about climate change had been shaped during her years growing up in Singapore reading books by the environmental writer and activist Bill McKibben…. Continue Reading →

2015/05/15 0

Ecomodernists spark rhetorical heat as views clash over nature, technology, and progress

May 11, 2015 —For the first time in earth’s long history, human activities threaten not just local ecosystems but the global environment through climate change, ocean acidification, and other urgent problems. We have so much impact on the planet today that… Continue Reading →

2015/05/11 0

Universities in the Anthropocene: Engaging students and communities

January 28, 2015 —There is a growing movement among writers, scientists, and scholars to pin a new label on our modern era. According to these thinkers, pressing environmental problems like climate change are a sign that we have crossed a major… Continue Reading →

2015/01/28 0

Republican Charlie Baker’s win in liberal Massachusetts offers path forward on climate change

November 4, 2014 —On an urgent mission to shift the political debate over climate change, environmental groups spent an unprecedented $85 million in the 2014 U.S. midterm elections, focusing their efforts on a handful of contested Senate seats. Following the failure… Continue Reading →

2014/11/04 0

Can people power drive action on climate change?

Oct. 21, 2014— Humans have so much influence over the global environment today that we have crossed a major threshold in Earth’s long history, entering a new stage in geological time which some scientists call the Anthropocene – the “Age… Continue Reading →

2014/10/21 0

Naomi Klein or Al Gore? Making sense of clashing views on climate change

October 15, 2014 —Earth is “fucked” and our insatiable growth economy is to blame. So argues Naomi Klein in her intentionally provocative best-seller This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate. Klein is the latest among an influential network of like-minded authors… Continue Reading →

2014/10/15 0

Engaging in science policy controversies: Insights from the U.S. debate over climate change

August 4, 2014 —Nearly forty years ago, sociologist Dorothy Nelkin commissioned a series of case studies examining the nature of controversies over science and technology (1978; 1984; 1992). In the decades since, research inspired by these original studies has identified a generalizable… Continue Reading →

2014/08/04

Beyond partisanship in biopolitics: Reservations about science transcend political boundaries

February 13, 2014 —During the next decade, advances in the life sciences are likely to generate intense political debate in the United States and around the world. Even as conflict over human embryonic stem cell (hESC) research has largely subsided, controversies… Continue Reading →

2014/02/13 0

Opinions about scientific advances blur party-political lines

Reading about the rapid pace of advances in biomedicine, you may have wondered why more politically liberal countries like Germany and Canada have stronger restrictions on embryonic stem cell research than the politically conservative US. History and happenstance play a… Continue Reading →