john e. ross professor
department of life sciences communication
college of agricultural & life sciences
university of wisconsin-madison

affiliate appointments
center for european studies; nelson institute for envirnmental studies; neuroscience & public policy; robert f. and jean e. holtz center for science and technology studies


education
b.a. equiv., johannes gutenberg-
universität mainz
publizistik (nebenfächer:
politikwissenschaft, betriebswirtschaftslehre)

m.a., university of
wisconsin-madison
journalism & mass communication

ph.d., university of
wisconsin-madison
mass communications
(ph.d. minor in political science)
 

 
dietram a. scheufele


short bio

Dietram A. Scheufele [DEE-trum SHOY-full-uh] is the John E. Ross Professor in Science Communication at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and Co-PI of the Center for Nanotechnology in Society at Arizona State University. Currently, he also co-chairs the National Academies' Roundtable on Public Interfaces of the Life Sciences.

His most recent research examines the role of social media and other emerging modes of communication in our society. An elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters, Scheufele's work puts him among the ten most cited communication researchers worldwide.

Scheufele has been a tenured faculty member at Cornell University, a Shorenstein fellow at Harvard University, and a DAAD Visiting Professor at the Technische Universität Dresden. His consulting experience includes work for PBS, the World Health Organization, the World Bank, and other corporate and public sector clients in the U.S., Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.

 

research

Scheufele has published extensively in the areas of public opinion, political communication, and public attitudes toward emerging technologies, including nanotechnology, synthetic biology, stem cell research, (nuclear) energy, and GMOs.

His work has been supported by multi-year grants from the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Department of Energy and other funding agencies, and is cited widely across disciplines.

His article on Framing as a theory of media effects, for instance, is identified by Thomson Reuters Web of Science as the most frequently cited article in Journal of Communication since 1999 and by Microsoft Academic Search as one of the 10 most cited articles ever in the communication discipline.

 

academic honors

Scheufele is one of only two mass communication scholars to have won both early career awards in the discipline, the Young Scholar Award for outstanding early career research from the International Communication Association, and the Hillier Krieghbaum Under-40 Award for outstanding achievement in teaching, research and public service from the Association for Education in Journalism & Mass Communication.

Scheufele's scholarship and teaching has also been recognized with the Robert M. Worcester Award and the Naomi C. Turner Prize from the World Association for Public Opinion Research, the National Academy of Sciences' Kavli Fellowship, the Pound Research Award from the College of Agricultural & Life Sciences at the University of Wisconsin, the Young Faculty Teaching Excellence Award from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University, and various other top-paper and teaching awards.

 

academic service

Scheufele is a former co-chair of the National Conference of Lawyers and Scientists, a joint committee of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Bar Association, and past President of the Midwest Association for Public Opinion Research. He has served on the Nanotechnology Technical Advisory Group to the U.S. President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, and committees and advisory panels for numerous other organizations, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Sciences, the American Political Science Association, the International Communication Association, and the Association for Education in Journalism & Mass Communication.

He is a member of the editorial boards of Communication Methods and Measures, Communication Research, Communication Studies, Human Communication Research, Journal of Communication, Mass Communication & Society, Political Communication, and Studies in Communication | Media.

At UW-Madison, Scheufele has served on the University Committee, the University Committee on Honorary Degrees, the Social Studies Divisional Committee, the Provost Office’s Cluster/Interdisciplinary Advisory Committee, the CALS Academic Affairs Visioning Committee, the CALS Strategic Planning Committee, the UW Survey Center Steering Committee, and a number of other university and college-wide committees. Scheufele also currently chairs the CALS Equity and Diversity Committee.

  

contact information

University of Wisconsin–Madison
309 Hiram Smith Hall (map)
1545 Observatory Drive
Madison, WI 53706-1215

(v) +1.608.262.1614
(f) +1.608.265.3042
E-mail: scheufele at wisc.edu

Google Plus: +dietram
Facebook: facebook.com/dietram
Twitter: @scheufele

 

office hours

During the academic year, click here to schedule an appointment through Google Calendar.

 

what's new

(Click here for current C.V.)

may 20, 2013: Plenary talk, First Annual Conference on Governance of Emerging Technologies: Law, Policy, and Ethics, Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, Arizona State University

may 16, 2013: New chapter in Patricia Moy's Communication and community with Andy Binder and Dominique Brossard on the impact of misperceptions of public opinion on (science) policy makers

may 9, 2013: Panel discussion on U.S. climate and emergy challenges, Wisconsin Academy of Science, Arts & Letters

may 3, 2013: Talk at Arizona State University on Emerging technologies at the intersection of science, policy, and rapidly changing media environments

april 25, 2013: Panel discussion on the risks and benefits of nano medicine, WOSU-TV, Columbus, OH

march 13, 2013: Talk at Wisconsin Farm Credit Legislative Conference, Madison, WI

march 8, 2013: Talk at Consortium for Science, Policy & Outcomes, Washington, DC (view video)

march 3, 2013: New York Times Op-Ed with Dominique Brossard on how reader comments re-shape our understanding of news ... and science

february 19, 2013: Online-first article with Ashley Anderson et al. in Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, linking (un)civil blog posts to public risk perceptions

february 10, 2013: New article with Ashley Anderson et al. in Journal of Nanoparticle Research on how small differences in lay explanations of new technologies have great impact on public perceptions

february 2, 2013: New article with Mike Cacciatore et al. in Politics and the Life Sciences on how media framing of biofuels shapes public attitudes

february 2, 2013: New article with Ashley Anderson et al. in Politics and the Life Sciences on issue attention cycles for emerging technologies in print and online media

january 12, 2013: Online-first release of new article with Kristin Runge et al. in Journal of Nanoparticle Research, tracking the social media discourse surrounding emerging technologies

january 4, 2013: New Perspectives article in Science with Dominique Brossard on what empirical data tell us about the promise and perils of online science communication

december 5, 2012: Talk at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Germany

december 3, 2012: Plenary talk Digital oder Analog – neue Formate in der Wissenschaftskommunikation, 5. Forum Wissenschaftskommunikation, Dresden, Germany

november 4, 2012: Talk at National Academy of Sciences' Kavli Frontiers of Science Colloquium, Irvine, CA

november 2, 2012: National Academy of Sciences Kavli Fellow

october 21, 2012: Fellow, Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters

october 17, 2012: New article with Tsung-jen Shih and Dominique Brossard in International Journal of Public Opinion Research on how personal values shape what people take away from discussing science with others

october 15, 2012: Talk at Brown University: "Toward a Science of Science Communication," Providence, RI

october 10, 2012: New essay on (in)civility in U.S. politics in Clayton and Elgar's Civility and and Democracy in America

october 8, 2012: New chapter with Ashley Anderson et al. on online tools for citizen engagement with science in Citizen voices: Performing public participation in science and environment communication

september 30, 2012: Online-first version of new Energy Policy article with Mike Cacciatore and Bret Shaw on how media framing of biofuels can shape consumer acceptance.

september 14, 2012: Lunch talk on successful communication strategies at Advanced Metering Roundtable, Wisconsin Public Utility Institute, Madison, WI

september 12, 2012: Lunch talk at 2012 Bioscience Vision Summit on communicating scientific breakthroughs in 2.0 media environments, Madison, WI

august 28, 2012: New article with Matthew C. Nisbet in Breakthrough Journal, highlighting the long-term dangers of promoting partisan polarization, especially for Democrats

august 20, 2012: New chapter with Doo-Hun Choi and Anthony Dudo in Springer's Yearbook of Nanotechnology in Society on how U.S. newspapers have covered neuroscience nanotechnology during the last decade

august 17, 2012: New chapter with Matthew C. Nisbet in the latest volume of Communication Yearbook on audience and media selectivity in Web 2.0 environments

august 13, 2012: New article with Elizabeth Corley and Youngjae Kim in Jurimetrics on public attitudes toward regulations of nanotechnology

july 24, 2012: New column with Matthew C. Nisbet in The Scientist discussing five persistent but inaccurate "truths" about the public and effective (science) communication

july 18, 2012: Talk on science and society at TU Dresden's Boysen Colloquium "Nachhaltige Energiesysteme - Interdependenz von technischer Gestaltung und gesellschaftlicher Akzeptanz," Gut Gödelitz, Mochau, Germany

july 15, 2012: Online-first version of new S&PP article with Pete Ladwig et al., cautioning against operationalizations of self-reported familiarity as indicators of scientific understanding

july 10, 2012: PNAS Podcast with Baruch Fischoff about the May Sackler Colloquium on the Science of Science Communication in Washington, DC

july 8, 2012: New article with Ashley Anderson and colleagues in International Journal of Public Opinion Research on trust in scientists as sources of information about emerging technologies.

july 7, 2012: Talk at the DFG-Forschergruppe Politische Kommunikation in der Online Welt, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany

june 23, 2012: New article in Public Understanding of Science with Michael Cacciatore and Elizabeth Corley, analyzing how online information seeking can help close (scientific) knowledge gaps

june 6, 2012: Antrittsvorlesung at the Institut für Kommunikationswissenschaft, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany

may 21-22, 2012: National Academy of Sciences Sackler Colloquium on "The Science of Science Communication"

april 12, 2012: Discussion with WPR's Joy Cardin about our new results relating to misperceptions and polarization in U.S politics

april 10, 2012: New online column in The Scientist with Andrew R. Binder and Dominique Brossard, cautioning against the use of public meetings and consensus conferences for policy making

april 8, 2012: New article in New Media and Society with Michael Cacciatore and colleagues comparing media coverage of emerging technologies across traditional and online news environments

march 20, 2012: Talk on science-public disconnects at the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences Arts & Letters Council meeting, Madison, WI

february 28, 2012: Online-first version of new article with Shirley Ho and Elizbeth A. Corley in Public Understanding of Science, exploring the influence of mass and interpersonal communication on risk perceptions

february 19, 2012: Online-first version of new article in Nano Today on "what Google searches really tell us about emerging technologies," lead-authored by Xuan Liang and Ashley A. Anderson

january 18, 2012: Online-first version of new article in Science and Public Policy with Youngjae Kim and ELizabeth Corley, clustering U.S. nanoscientists based on their regulatory policy stances

january 9, 2012: New article with Kang Namkoong and Timothy Fung in Mass Communication & Society, explaining the role that emotional reponses toward candidates play in mobilizing voters

 

recent publications
and columns

(PDFs available at ResearchGate)

Binder, A. R., A., S. D., & Brossard, B. (2013). Contentious communities: Examining antecedents to opinion perception and expression during site-selection for a bioresearch facility. In P. Moy (Ed.), Communication and community (pp. 233-252). New York: Hampton Press.

Anderson, A. A., Brossard, D., Scheufele, D. A., Xenos, M. A., & Ladwig, P. (2013). Crude comments and concern: Online incivility's effect on risk perceptions of emerging technologies. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. doi: 10.1111/jcc4.12009

Anderson, A. A., Kim, J., Scheufele, D. A., Brossard, D., & Xenos, M. A. (2013). What’s in a name? How we define nanotech shapes public reactions. Journal of Nanoparticle Research, 15(2), 1-5.
doi: 10.1007/s11051-013-1421‑z

Anderson, A. A.; Brossard, D.; Scheufele, D. A. (2013). Nanoparticle-related deaths: Science news and the issue attention cycle in print and online media. Politics and the Life Sciences, 31(1-2), 87-96. doi: 10.2990/31_1-2_87

Cacciatore, M. A., Binder, A. R., Scheufele, D. A., & Shaw, B. R. (2013). Public attitudes toward biofuels: Effects of knowledge, political partisanship, and media use. Politics and the Life Sciences, 31(1-2), 36-51. doi: 10.2990/31_1-2_36

Brossard, D., & Scheufele, D. A. (2013). Science, new media, and the public. Science, 33(6115), 40-41. doi: 10.1126/science.1232329

Cacciatore, M. A., Binder, A. R., Scheufele, D. A., & Shaw, B. R. (2013). Public attitudes toward biofuels: Effects of knowledge, political partisanship, and media use. Politics and the Life Sciences, 31(1), 43-58.

Ladwig, P., Dalrymple, K. E., Brossard, D., Scheufele, D. A., & Corley, E. A. (2012). Perceived familiarity or factual knowledge? Comparing operationalizations of scientific understanding. Science and Public Policy, 39(6), 761-774. doi: 10.1093/scipol/scs048

Scheufele, D. A. (2012). The dangerous amalgam of modern political discourse. In C. W. Clayton & R. Elgar (Eds.), Civility and democracy in America: A reasonable understanding (pp. 156-160). Pullman, WA: Washington University Press.

Anderson, A. A., Brossard, D., Scheufele, D. A., Xenos, M. A. (2012). Online talk: How exposure to disagreement in online comments affects beliefs in the promise of controversial science. In L. Phillips, A. Carvalho, & J. Doyle (Eds.), Citizen voices: Performing public participation in science and environment communication (pp. 119-135). Chicago, IL: Intellect / University of Chicago Press.

Nisbet, M. C., & Scheufele, D. A. (2012). The polarization paradox: Why hyperpartisanship strengthens conservatism and undermines liberalism. Breakthrough Journal, 3, 55-69.

Cacciatore, M. A., Anderson, A. A., Choi, D.-H., Brossard, D., Scheufele, D. A., Liang, X., Ladwig, P., Xenos, M., & Dudo, A. (2012). Coverage of emerging technologies: A comparison between print and online media. New Media & Society, 14(6), 1039-1059. doi: 10.1177/1461444812439061

Choi, D.-H., Dudo, A., & Scheufele, D. A. (2012). U.S. news coverage of neuroscience nanotechnology: How U.S. newspapers have covered neuroscience nanotechnology during the last decade. In S. A. Hays, J. S. Robert, C. A. Miller & I. Bennett (Eds.), Yearbook of Nanotechnology in Society: Nanotechnology, the brain, and the future (Vol. 3, pp. 67-78): Springer Netherlands.

Scheufele, D. A., & Nisbet, M. C. (2012). Online news and the demise of political debate. In C. T. Salmon (Ed.), Communication Yearbook (Vol. 36, pp. 45-53). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Corley, E. A., Kim, Y., & Scheufele, D. A. (2012). Public challenges of nanotechnology regulation. Jurimetrics: The Journal of Law, Science and Technology, 52(3), 371-381.

Anderson, A. A., Scheufele, D. A., Brossard, D., & Corley, E. A. (2012). The role of media and deference to scientific authority in cultivating trust in sources of information about emerging technologies. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 24(2), 225-237. doi: 10.1093/ijpor/edr032

Kim, Y., Corley, E. A., & Scheufele, D. A. (2012). Classifying US nano-scientists: Of cautious innovators, regulators, and technology optimists. Science and Public Policy, 39(1), 30-38. doi: 10.3152/030234212x13113405157822

Liang, X., Anderson, A. A., Scheufele, D. A., Brossard, D., Xenos, M. A. (2012). Information snapshots: What Google searches really tell us about emerging technologies. Nano Today, 7, 72-75. doi: 10.1016/j.nantod.2012.01.001

Namkoong, K., Fung, T. K. F., & Scheufele, D. A. (2012). The politics of emotion: News media attention, emotional responses, and participation during the 2004 U.S. Presidential election. Mass Communication and Society, 15(1), 25-45. doi: 10.1080/15205436.2011.563894

Youtie, J., Carley, S., Shapira, P., Corley, E. A., & Scheufele, D. A. (2011). Perceptions and actions: Relationships of views on risk with citation actions of nanotechnology scientists. Research Evaluation, 20(5), 377-388. doi: 10.3152/095820211x13176484436014

Scheufele, D. A. (2011). Perspective: Public attitudes toward nanotechnology. In Susanna Hornig Priest (Ed.), Nanotechnology: Public perception and risk communication (pp. 71-78). New York: Taylor and Francis.

Xenos, M. A., Becker, A. B., Anderson, A. A., Brossard, D., Scheufele, D. A. (2011). Stimulating upstream engagement: An experimental study of nanotechnology information seeking. Social Science Quarterly, 92(5), 1191-1214. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-6237.2011.00814.x

Dudo, A. D., Brossard, D., Shanahan, J. E., Scheufele, D. A., Morgan, M., & Signorelli, N. (2011). Science on television in the 21st century: Recent trends in portrayals and their contributions to public attitudes toward science. Communication Research, 38(6), 754-777. doi: 10.1177/0093650210384988

Kim, E., Scheufele, D. A., & Han, J. Y. (2011). Structure or predisposition? Exploring the interaction effect of discussion orientation and discussion heterogeneity on political participation. Mass Communication & Society, 14(4), 502-526. doi: 10.1080/15205436.2010.51346

Kim, S.-H., Scheufele, D. A., Shanahan, J., & Choi, D.-H. (2011). Deliberation in spite of controversy? News media and the public’s evaluation of a controversial issue in South Korea. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 88(2), 320-336.

Ho, S. S., Scheufele, D. A., & Corley, E. A. (2011). Value predispositions, mass media, and attitudes toward nanotechnology: The interplay of public and experts. Science Communication, 33(2), 167-200. doi: 10.1177/1075547010380386

Berube, D., Cummings, C., Cacciatore, M., Scheufele, D. A., & Kalin, J. (2011). Characteristics and classification of nanoparticles: Expert Delphi survey. Nanotoxicology, 5(2), 236-243. doi: 10.3109/17435390.2010.521633

Cacciatore, M. A., Scheufele, D. A., & Corley, E. A. (2011). From enabling technology to applications: The evolution of risk perceptions about nanotechnology. Public Understanding of Science, 20(3), 385-404. doi: 10.1177/0963662509347815

Becker, A. B., & Scheufele, D. A. (2011). New voters, new outlook? Predispositions, social networks, and the changing politics of gay civil rights. Social Science Quarterly, 92(2), 324-345. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-6237.2011.00771.x

Binder, A. R., Scheufele, D. A., Brossard, D., & Gunther, A. C. (2011). Interpersonal amplification of risk? Citizen discussions and their impact on perceptions of risks and benefits of a biological research facility. Risk Analysis, 31(2), 324-334. doi: 10.1111/j.1539-6924.2010.01516.x

Dudo, A. D., Dunwoody, S., & Scheufele, D. A. (2011). The emergence of nano news: Tracking thematic trends and changes in U.S. newspaper coverage of nanotechnology. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 88(1), 55-75.

Scheufele, D. A. (2011). Modern citizenship or policy dead end? Evaluating the need for public participation in science policy making, and why public meetings may not be the answer. Paper #R-34, Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy Research Paper Series. Harvard University. Cambridge, MA.

Scheufele, D. A. (2011, January 20). Our nation's fear of political complexity,Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Dudo, A., Choi, D.-H., & Scheufele, D. A. (2011). Food nanotechnology in the news. Coverage patterns and thematic emphases during the last decade. Appetite, 56(1), 78-89. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2010.11.143
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