NCSU Workshop on Communicating Health and Safety Risks on Emerging Technologies

NC State press release:

NCSU Workshop:

Communicating Health and Safety Risks on Emerging Technologies in the 21st Century

McKimmon Center, North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC August 28-29, 2008

This workshop is designed to review some findings and develop the ground plan to complete the award (NIRT: Intuitive Toxicology and Public Engagement) in an efficient and productive manner. After the workshop, the presentations will be re-examined to help define variables needed in the first round of quantitative research funded under the grant (a set of modified Delphi rounds involving expert and inexpert samples).

“The primary objectives of this workshop are to isolate the key variables and to produce appropriate instruments with which we can assess public perceptions of the risks of applied nanosciences. The workshop should also provide us with a clearer picture of the predictions of experts, based on the most recent research, of how the public perceives risks and how different modes of communication affect those perceptions.”

We have designed the workshop with presentations in Raleigh at NCSU McKimmon Center and others from remote locations via the web. We are webcasting the entire workshop and we are streaming selected portions from our website as deliverables. Below is the schedule of speakers. Some titles remain in flux but this seems to be the team with whom we will work. Our web site is: http://communication.chass.ncsu.edu/nirt/Home.html

Workshop Schedule

“Communicating Health and Safety Risks on
Emerging Technologies in the 21^st Century”

McKimmon Center, North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC August 28-29, 2008

Transportation will be provided to and from the Clarion Hotel (2 miles away).

Day One, Thursday, August 28, 2008.

I. Introduction and welcome – David Berube, NCSU (13:00-13:10).

II. Risks and Publics.

a. Keynote Speaker — Lennart Sjöberg, Stockholm School of Economics, Sweden (13:15-14:00).

b. Panels (14:05 -16:00) –

i. (WebConf) Susanna Priest, UNLV, TBA.

ii. Rob Goble, Clark U., “Uncertainty and risk communication concerning merging technologies: Describing uncertainties is not the only challenge.”

iii. Grant Gardner, doctoral student, NCSU, TBA.

III. Researching How Toxicology is Communicated to Publics.

a. Speaker – Dietram A. Scheufele, U Wisconsin (16:15-17:00).

b. Panel A (17:05 -19:00) –

i. John Stone, Michigan State U., Public perceptions of agrifood nanotechnologies: Using Extension to assess and link stakeholder knowledge with public policies.”

ii. Martin Clauberg, U. Tennessee, “A review of risk perception methodologies and empirical studies focused on risks from chemicals released from consumer products/articles.”

iii. Jennifer Kuzma, U Minn, “At taxonomy of risks and communication challenges.”

Day Two, Friday, August 29, 2008.

IV. Morning food and coffee (09:00).

V. Nano-toxicology and Risk.

a. Speaker – Vicki Colvin, Rice University (09:30-10:15).

b. Panels (10:20-12:20) –

i. Tara Sabo-Attwood, Dept of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, U. South Carolina, TBA

ii. James Bonner, Dept of Environmental and Molecular Toxicology, NCSU, TBA.

iii. Mark Weisner, Dept of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Pratt School of Engineering, Duke U., TBA

VI. Lunch break – provided by workshop.

VII. Risk Engagement and the Public.

a. Speaker – Pat Gehrke, U. South Carolina (13:20-14:15).

b. Panels (14:20-16:35) –

i. (WebConf) Kenneth Foster, Dept of Bioengineering, U. Penn., “Risk assessment and risk communication for electromagnetic fields: A WHO perspective”.

ii. Roy Schwartzman, Dept of Communication, UNC – Greensboro, Nanotoxicartography: Rhetorically mapping public engagement with nanotechnology’s promises and perils.”

iii. (WebConf) Sharon Friedman & Brenda Egolf, Lehigh U., “Coverage of Nanotechnology’s Potential Health and Environmental Risks in the US and UK Media.”

iv. Kevin Elliott and Travis Reider, Dept. of Philosophy, USC, “Philosophical Debates about Policy Making and Public Perceptions of Risk: Roles for Empirical Research."

VIII. Challenges in Emerging Technologies.

a. Speaker – William Kinsella, Dept of Communication, Science and Technology Studies, North Carolina State U. (16:40-17:15).

If you have any questions, please contact us: Katie Hayes krhayes@ncsu.edu (Workshop Admin. Asst.), Christopher Cummings christopherlcummings@hotmail.com (Grant Admin. Asst.), or David Berube dmberube@ncsu.edu (Grant PI).