Life Sciences Communication

Professor

	Office: 309 Hiram Smith Hall Phone: 608.262.1614 Email: scheufele@wisc.edu
	Background | Teaching | Publications | Education

Background

I am a Professor of Life Sciences Communication and Journalism & Mass Communication (by courtesy) at the University of Wisconsin. I am also Wisconsin PI of the NSF-funded Center for Nanotechnology in Society at Arizona State University (CNS-ASU) and a member of the steering committees of the Robert F. and Jean E. Holtz Center for Science and Technology Studies and the UW Survey Center. I currently serve on the Nanotechnology Technical Advisory Group to the U.S. President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) and the National Conference of Lawyers and Scientists, a joint committee of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Bar Association.

Prior to joining UW, I was a tenured faculty member at Cornell University. I have served as Director of Graduate Studies at both Cornell and Wisconsin, and teach courses in Data Analysis and Research Methods, Research and Strategy, Public Opinion and the Life Sciences, Media and Politics, and Digital Democracy.

I have published extensively in the areas of public opinion and political communication, and my work on framing effects, public participation and new information technologies is cited regularly in the academic literature. ISI’s Web of Science and Google Scholar, for instance, identify my work on “Framing as a theory of media effects” as the most cited article in Journal of Communication in the last decade. A number of my other published pieces also rank among the top-ten most cited articles in Political Communication, the International Journal of Public Opinion Research, Mass Communication & Society, the Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics, and Communication Research.

I am also co-leader of the Public Opinion and Values Research Team for CNS-ASU. This work is part of my larger research agenda on public attitudes toward science and technology. This includes numerous studies exploring the public opinion dynamics and media coverage surrounding nanotechnology, stem cell research, GMOs, and other emerging technologies. This work has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Worldwide Universities Network, the University of Wisconsin Graduate School and other funding agencies.

My 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 Young Scholar Award for outstanding early career research from the International Communication Association, the Young Faculty Teaching Excellence Award from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University, the Vilas Associate Award from the University of Wisconsin, and various other research and teaching awards. I am also a past fellow of the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD).

I have also developed or conducted workshops on strategic communication for the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank, and on public opinion research for the Emirates Center for Strategic Study and Research (United Arab Emirates). My other professional experience includes consulting work for firms, such as Fallon Worldwide and BD Biosciences, as well as numerous public-sector clients, including the National Center for Science Education and the Public Broadcasting System (PBS).

For additional information, visit my personal web site.