New media and technology can disrupt as well as instruct when it comes to societal issues of today. Storytelling experiences through virtual reality, games, bots, and the digital transformation of news have altered the communication landscape and paved the way for new experiences and changes in attitudes and behaviors, with profound implications for how people perceive and engage with the world around them.

Our Research

SCR Associates study the new platforms, techniques, media, and technologies that foster societal impact through education and disruption.

• Danny Pimentel hopes that his virtual reality experience, called Project Shell, will spur people to environmental action. Participants in his study take on the body and flippers of a loggerhead sea turtle. They then journey from a hatchling to an adult turtle, dodging hazards like ships and wayward fishing gear. Along the way, they develop greater empathy and concern for environmental issues. Dr. Pimentel was recently named a UO Environment Initiative faculty fellow. He also received research seed funding from them for his Virtual Excursions for Science Learning project.
• Dave Markowitz analyzes language data from what people have written to make inferences about what they are thinking, feeling, and experiencing psychologically. For example, he found that what we say out loud about a group of people and what we actually feel about them aren’t always the same thing. Based on this research line, he was selected as a “Rising Star” by the Association for Psychological Science. This award recognizes researchers whose innovative work has already advanced the field and signals great potential for their continued contributions.
• Seth Lewis studies the social implications of emerging technologies, with emphasis on the digital transformation of journalism—from how news is made through algorithms and artificial intelligence to how people make sense of news and media in their everyday lives. In a recently published study in New Media & Society, Lewis found that many people believe they need to fact-check the news on their own because they see news as inherently untrustworthy. This process of personal fact-checking via Google searches, however, appears to leave people worse-off informationally—which raises questions about the social costs of mistrusting institutional forms of knowledge, a topic that Lewis and his team are exploring further.
• SCR’s Small Grants Program funded Emerging Scholar Waseq Rahman (SOJC) to test the power of board games to communicate about the environment and address climate change skepticism.

Spotlight Project: Understanding Socioeconomic Conditions and Waste Recycling Through Social Media Content Analysis

A major US challenge in waste recycling has been contamination, a sorting behavior that places materials into an incorrect recycling bin or disposes of inadequately cleaned materials and consequently damages other recycled goods. Effective communication and education about recycling is essential to reduce contamination, and as a first step, it is crucial to understand how each state currently communicates. With funding from SCR’s inaugural Small Grants Program, SOJC Assistant Professor of Public Relations Taeho Lee, investigates communication about waste recycling.

Specifically, Dr. Lee is conducting content analysis analyzing the official websites, Facebook, and Twitter accounts of ten state environmental departments. Through his work, we will better understand how each state communicates about waste recycling through social media. Ultimately, Dr. Lee hopes that his work will shed light on economic and racial implications related to state’s communication regarding waste recycling.

SCR Associates Who Study Science and Technology Communication

Allison Carter
Chris Chavez
Amanda Cote
Donna Davis
Max Foxman
Gabriele Hayden
Taeho Lee
Seth Lewis
Ed Madison
Dave Markowitz
Deb Morrison
Donnalyn Pompper
Wes Pope
Damien Radcliffe
Kyu Ho Youm