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Sara K. Yeo

Professor of Science Communication, University of Utah
Chapter Member: Utah SSN
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About Sara

Yeo is a Professor in the Department of Communication, Director of the STEM Ambassador Program (STEMAP), and a faculty affiliate with the Global Change and Sustainability Center at the University of Utah. Her recent research interests include understanding humor as a tactic for strategic communication in the context of science, expanding audiences for science, and open science in communication. She holds Master's degrees in Oceanography and Life Sciences Communication, and a PhD in Science Communication.

Contributions | No Jargon Podcast | Member Spotlight | In the News | Publications

Contributions

Adapting Science Communication to the Changing Media Landscape

Key Findings Brief,

No Jargon Podcast

Episode 194:
The Science of Science Communication

In the News

Research discussed by "Communicating Science: Battling Perceptions of a Knowledge Gap," University of Wisconsin Mad Science, March 23, 2016.
Interviewed in "Why Tweet Science?," The Scope, February 24, 2016.
Opinion: "In Politics, Caricatures Can Become Facts, and That is Bad for Everyone," Sara K. Yeo (with Michael A. Cacciatore, Dietram A. Scheufele, Michael A. Xenos, Doo-Hun Choi, Dominique Brossard, Amy B. Becker, and Elizabeth A. Corley), London School of Economics Blog on American Politics and Policy, September 15, 2014.

Publications

"Partisan Amplification of Risk: American Perceptions of Nuclear Energy Risk in the Wake of the Fukushima Daiichi Disaster" (with Michael Cacciatore, Dominique Brossard, Dietram A. Scheufele, Kristin Runge, Leona Y. Su, Jiyoun Kim, Michael Xenos, and Elizabeth A. Corley). Energy Policy 67 (2014): 727-736.

Examines risk perceptions toward nuclear power before and after the Fukushima Daiichi disaster using nationally representative survey samples of American adults. We find that ideological groups respond very differently to the events in Japan. In particular, risk perceptions among conservatives in our sample decreased following the incident. Moreover, we find media use exacerbates these effects

"How Communication Contexts and Individual Traits Shape Information Seeking" (with Michael A. Xenos and Dietram A. Scheufele). The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 658, no. 1 (2015): 172-191.

Uses an experiment with a nationally representative sample of the U.S. population to examine how political partisans consume and process media reports about nanotechnology—a scientific issue that is unfamiliar to most Americans. Results provide insights into patterns of media use and how media use differs among people with varying political ideologies.

"The Changing Nature of Scientist-Media Interactions: A Cross-National Analysis" (with Dominique Brossard) in The Oxford Handbook on the Science of Science Communication, edited by Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Dan Kahan, and Dietram A. Scheufele, (Oxford University Press, 2017), 261–272.

Examines research relevant to reciprocal interactions between scientists and media and synthesizes studies on factors that influence the willingness and ability of scientists to engage with broad audiences.