Matthew C. Nisbet

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Matthew C. Nisbet

Associate Professor of Communication, Northeastern University

Matthew C. Nisbet, Ph.D. is Associate Professor of Communication Studies, Public Policy, and Urban Affairs  at Northeastern University. Nisbet studies the role of communication and advocacy in policymaking and public affairs, focusing on debates over over climate change, energy, and sustainability. Among awards and recognition, Nisbet has been a Visiting Shorenstein Fellow on Press, Politics, and Public Policy at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, a Health Policy Investigator at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and a Google Science Communication Fellow. In 2011, the editors at the journal Nature recommended Nisbet's research as “essential reading for anyone with a passing interest in the climate change debate,” and the New Republic highlighted his work as a “fascinating dissection of the shortcomings of climate activism."

Everything Videos Articles
Researchers Say Holding Public Meetings on Science Policy Could Backfire
The news service for the College of Life Sciences at the University of Wisconsin has a good summary of a recent article at The Scientist by several colleagues who spotlight […]
Matthew C. Nisbet
The Anti-Vaccine Debate: When False Beliefs Risk Public Health
–Guest post by Erin Brett, American University graduate student. Last month, in advance of April Fools Day, CBS Morning News correspondent and satirist Mo Rocca met with the cast of […]
Matthew C. Nisbet
“Sugar: The Bitter Truth” and the Reframing of the Obesity Debate
–Guest post by Nicole Federica, American University student. News reports tracking the obesity epidemic in the United States offer a range of possible explanations for the problem.  These include government […]
Matthew C. Nisbet
Localizing Environmental Communication
–Guest post by Alyssa Martori, American University graduate student. People around the world working toward environmental preservation, conservation, and sustainability are often described as part of a global environmental movement. […]
Matthew C. Nisbet
Science Journalism in an Evolving Media Ecosystem
–Guest post by Josephine Chu, graduate student at American University. In the last ten years, the rise of a variety of web-based and social media platforms has dramatically changed the […]
Matthew C. Nisbet
What Scientists Can Learn from Actors
— Guest post by Emma Waldman, American University student. Scientist-turned filmmaker Randy Olson argues that it takes more than literal-minded facts and information to communicate about topics like climate change to […]
Matthew C. Nisbet
Andrew Revkin on the Super Wicked Problem of Climate Change
–Guest post by Amanda Frank, graduate student at American University. Contemporary debates over climate change reveal the inherent complexity of the issue, which the New York Times’ Andrew Revkin refers […]
Matthew C. Nisbet
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