Where Science Impacts Society: Inside UW–Madison’s Science Communication Ph.D
From artificial intelligence and emerging technologies to environmental justice and health misinformation, UW–Madison’s Science Communication Ph.D. program examines how people understand, communicate about, and respond to a rapidly changing scientific world.
AI, gene editing, new energy technologies, and other scientific advances are becoming part of everyday life at an increasingly rapid pace. But as these technologies develop, understanding the science is only part of the challenge.
How do people make sense of complex scientific issues? What shapes the opinions they form? And how can communities participate in decisions about technologies that may affect their lives?
Those questions are at the heart of science communication.
“It is a field which helps people understand how different publics make sense of and form their opinions about those complex science issues,” says Kaiping Chen, Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Life Sciences Communication at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
The issues studied in science communication range from climate change and artificial intelligence to CRISPR and other emerging technologies. Students also study different areas including risk, health, environmental, and policy communication. But the field is not simply about making scientific information easier to understand. It also examines the values, beliefs, and experiences that shape how people respond to science.
A lot of the times we really care about both controversial and emergent science issues,” Chen says. “It’s so important to understand people.”
That focus on people is reflected in UW–Madison’s Science Communication Ph.D. program, where students study how individuals and communities understand and participate in decisions surrounding science and technology.
Researching a rapidly changing world
The program’s research acts as a bridge between scientific and social issues. Some students study emerging technologies, including how communities perceive the risks and benefits of new energy infrastructure. Others examine the changing communication environment surrounding artificial intelligence, asking whether AI-generated images affect the credibility of science information. Many students put the Wisconsin Idea into practice through community-engaged research projects. They have studied how to communicate sustainability in the dairy industry, environmental justice with Black and Latinx communities, and how Black Wisconsinites experience and navigate health and science misinformation.
Sara Ostad, a current Science Communication Ph.D. student, is researching how communities can have a voice in shaping new and emerging technologies.
Through the Fusion Impacts Collaborative, she studies the social, technical and policy questions surrounding fusion energy, while her dissertation research focuses on how disabled communities perceive emerging technologies. Across both projects, she works directly with stakeholders to make sure the research reflects the perspectives of the people who may be affected by these technologies.
“I think the most valuable part of this program is that there is a lot of flexibility to explore different research projects related to many different topics. I have always been a generalist and love being able to explore multiple fields at the same time,” Ostad says.
The throughline across these research areas is a commitment to understanding how science and technology affect people, and how people can help shape what comes next.
Preparing students to work across disciplines
One distinctive feature of the Ph.D. program is its interdisciplinary approach. Students and faculty collaborate with researchers across the university, including in artificial intelligence and computing, engineering, environmental science and other STEM fields. The approach allows students to study communication techniques alongside the scientific and technological developments at the center of their research.
The program also emphasizes applying research beyond academic settings. Through the Wisconsin Idea, students and faculty work with community organizations, Indigenous groups, artists and other partners to connect research with public needs.
“We are not just [about] a published research paper,” Chen says. “They also equally put weight on the social impact of their project.”
That focus encourages students to think beyond what their research finds to how it can inform real-world decisions. It also gives students experience applying their research in ways they can carry into their careers.
From research to policy, industry and beyond
The interdisciplinary and applied nature of the program can also lead graduates into a wide range of careers. The Science Communication Ph.D. graduates have gone into academia and research, government and policy, industry, nonprofit organizations, and even consulting.
Recent graduates have worked at the federal and state level, including with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin. Some graduates enter industry, where their training can help them understand users and shape policies or product development surrounding emerging technologies and artificial intelligence. “We have a diverse pathway for students to go,” Chen says.
A program built for a changing field
Approved by the UW Board of Regents in early 2025, with its inaugural cohort beginning in the fall of 2025, UW–Madison’s Science Communication Ph.D. program became the first science communication Ph.D. program in the nation. Its development builds on LSC’s longstanding work in public-facing research and the faculty, students and alumni who have contributed to the field.
The need for that expertise is becoming increasingly apparent as technologies reach the public before communities have had opportunities to understand or discuss them. “Many of the innovations already kick in, penetrate you before you even want to use it,” Chen says. “It’s already coming to you.”
For science communication researchers, that creates an expanding set of questions about how to engage people before, during, and after new technologies enter their lives.
Why science communication matters
The work happening within the Science Communication Ph.D. program also reflects the broader mission of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences (CALS), where connecting scientific discoveries with the communities they affect has long been a priority.
“A Ph.D. program in science communication supports CALS’s land-grant mission by developing scholars who can help bridge the gap between scientific discovery and public understanding, ensuring that knowledge is effectively translated into practice and informed decision-making,” said Troy Runge, Dean of CALS.
That mission dates back to UW–Madison’s designation as a land-grant university in 1866. While scientific discoveries and technologies have changed dramatically since then, so have the ways people communicate, learn and make decisions.
“Researchers who study science communication help us understand how people receive, interpret, and respond to scientific information,” Troy said. “By studying the most effective ways to communicate research, we can ensure that scientific discoveries are understood, trusted, and ultimately used to improve lives in Wisconsin and around the world.”
For students in the program, those broader connections can shape how they think about their own research and its potential to make a difference beyond the university.
The Science Communication Ph.D. centers on a shared question: as science continues to shape our future, how can people help shape the future of science? At UW–Madison, Science Communication Ph.D. students are helping find the answers.
Written by Olivia Nygaard, LSC Lenore Landry Intern