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Genetic Engineering and Society Center

David Berube

DB
David-Berube

Professor

of Science Communication

Communication

College of Humanities and Social Sciences

Winston Hall 229

919-515-0410

Bio

David Berube teaches courses in the communication of science and technology, risk communication, environmental communication, risk communication, disaster communication, climate change communication, and pandemic communication. He directs the Public Communication of Science and Technology Project from the 5th floor of the new Hunt Library on the Centennial Campus at NCSU, is a fellow in the Genetic Engineering and Society Center, and works with the College of Natural Resources as an Associate Core Faculty member.

Berube coached intercollegiate debating for 20 years and won three national championships, and was national coach of the year in 1994. He wrote NON-POLICY DEBATING in 1994, authored dozens of articles and chapters in applied debating, and consulted with the English Speaking Union (UK). He was a journalist for both Gannett and Knight-Ridder and has over 100 articles in print. He is an equity actor, a member of both the Author’s League of America and the Dramatists Guild, and is represented by Artists and Artisans.

After promotion to full professor, Berube focused on science communication and has been the principal investigator or co-principal investigator for over $20 million in federal National Science Foundation grants to study risk communication and emerging technologies. In 2006, he published NANO-HYPE: THE TRUTH ABOUT THE NANOTECHNOLOGY BUZZ (Prometheus Press). He blogged on nanoscience for three years at http://nanohype.blogspot.com and has resumed. He speaks at national and international conferences on communication issues and public perception and understanding of nanoscience, emerging technologies, risk events, and toxicology. He has published over twenty articles and chapters on risk perception and the public sphere. In 2021, he edited a book on PANDEMIC COMMUNICATION AND RESILIENCE for Springer/NATURE, and in 2022-2023 sole-authored PANDEMIC RISK MANAGEMENT: LESSONS LEARNED FRO THE ZIKA VIRUS for Springer/NATURE.

Berube served on several steering committees for the International Council on Nanotechnology. He was the national chair of the Risk Communication Division of the Society for Risk Analysis. He worked with Ketchum Communications, The Gerson-Lehrman Group, the Food Products Association/Grocery Manufacturers Association, Kraft Foods International, etc.

Berube served on the RCAC (risk communication advisory committee) for the US FDA and is serving on the Board of Scientific Counselors (BSC) for the National Toxicology Program (NTP) of the NIESH/NIH.

Berube manages and owns the Center for Emerging Technologies, a LLC registered in North Carolina. It functions as a consultancy and recently completed a major contract to develop a social media presence with a multinational food corporation. CET consults with trade associations and industry emphasizing social media protocols.

Berube arrived on campus in January 2008. At NCSU he started PCOST Project. He works with a team of scientists and engineers to develop a STEM-presence on campus that includes social sciences. He completed a multi-year grant themed on how the public intuits toxicology which will involve workshops, surveys and focus groups, and graduate assistant support. He hires students from his grant related budgets to work with him primarily in data analysis. His students publish with him regularly. He is currently working on multiple  NSF funded projects and coordinates the assessment, communication and outreach for a set of labs at Duke, UNC-Chapel Hill, and North Carolina State University.

Education

B.A. Experimental and Cognitive Psychology/Biology Seton Hall University

M.A. Speech and Theatre - Concentration: Speech - Speech Montclair State College

Ph.D. Concentration: Communication, Media and Culture New York University

Area(s) of Expertise

- Science Communication
- Health Communication
- Argumentation
- Persuasion models
- Quantitative research methods and Applied communication involving environmental disasters especially pandemics, extreme weather, and climate change.

Publications

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Grants

Date: 09/01/20 - 8/31/26
Amount: $5,750,000.00
Funding Agencies: National Science Foundation (NSF)

The RTNN is a consortium of three North Carolina (NC) institutions and is a site in the National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI) network. NC State, Duke, and UNC-Chapel Hill are all located in close geographical proximity within North Carolina������������������s Research Triangle. The RTNN currently offers fabrication and characterization services and education to a diverse range of users from colleges, universities, industry, non-profits, and individuals. The RTNN brings specialized technical expertise and facilities to the National NNCI in areas that include wide bandgap semiconductors, soft materials (animal, vegetative, textile, polymer), functional nanomaterials, in situ nanomaterials characterization and environmental impact, nanofluidics, heterogeneous integration, photovoltaics, and positron annihilation spectroscopy. The RTNN strengthens the National NNCI in the areas of social and ethical implications of nanotechnology, environmental impacts of nanotechnology, and education/workforce development through interaction with industry and community colleges in the Research Triangle. All facilities engaged in this consortium have established track records of facilitating industrial research and technology transfer, strengths that further leverage the proposed site within the Research Triangle.

Date: 09/15/15 - 8/31/21
Amount: $5,500,000.00
Funding Agencies: National Science Foundation (NSF)

The RTNN is a consortium of three North Carolina (NC) institutions and is proposed as a site in the National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI) network. NC State, Duke, and UNC-Chapel Hill are all located in close geographical proximity within North Carolina������������������s Research Triangle. The RTNN currently offers fabrication and characterization services and education to a diverse range of users from colleges, universities, industry, non-profits, and individuals. The RTNN will bring specialized technical expertise and facilities to the National NNCI in areas that include wide bandgap semiconductors, soft materials (animal, vegetative, textile, polymer), functional nanomaterials, in situ nanomaterials characterization and environmental impact, nanofluidics, heterogeneous integration, photovoltaics, and positron annihilation spectroscopy. The RTNN strengthens the National NNCI in the areas of social and ethical implications of nanotechnology, environmental impacts of nanotechnology, and education/workforce development through interaction with industry and community colleges in the Research Triangle. All facilities engaged in this consortium have established track records of facilitating industrial research and technology transfer, strengths that further leverage the proposed site within the Research Triangle.

Date: 12/01/15 - 11/30/18
Amount: $349,924.00
Funding Agencies: National Science Foundation (NSF)

Issues surrounding genetic engineering, biotechnology, and synthetic biology are contentious, especially when applied to food, the environment, and industrial applications for which direct human consent and medical benefits are not present. How researchers, developers, and policy-makers communicate about and reflect upon their work is of utmost importance to the fields of bioengineering. This proposal fills an important niche by encouraging those involved in biotechnology innovation systems to reflect on the ethical dimensions of their work and what it means to responsibly innovate. At the same time, this proposal contributes to important comparative research on conceptions of responsible innovation across four types of institutions. Increased understanding about how participants within and across various professional contexts conceive of and frame the ethical dimensions of their work can assist with future cross-sector dialogue, and potentially conflict resolution.

Date: 03/24/15 - 12/31/15
Amount: $38,570.00
Funding Agencies: Laboratory for Analytic Sciences

LAS DO5 Berube Task 5.1

Date: 03/31/14 - 5/15/15
Amount: $74,032.00
Funding Agencies: Laboratory for Analytic Sciences

DO3 Task Order 2.11 Mission Enabling

Date: 09/01/07 - 8/31/12
Amount: $1,419,221.00
Funding Agencies: National Science Foundation (NSF)

It is well documented that inexpert audiences reason and react differently than experts when exposed to information about toxicological risks, but almost none of the existing studies have examined how the public and experts react differently to risks associated specifically with the applied nanosciences. To address this weakness, we propose to reveal which factors are most significant in affecting public perception of the risks of applied nanosciences and what relationship exists between the modes of public deliberation, sources of information (e.g. use of new media), and the effects of new information on risk perception. In terms of intellectual merit, we will produce an especially timely heuristic for the projection of public responses to applied nanosciences, given issues of toxicity, roles of new media, and applies its theoretical findings to a case instant examining public perception to nanotoxicity issues and agri-food. In terms of broader impact, the results will reveal specific variables and combinations of variables that affect public perceptions of the risks of applied nanosciences, equipping policymakers, researchers, indusry, and public participants with a greater capacity for productive public engagements and discussions about how to respond to those risks. This work will impact public awareness and provide us with the essential guidance to better enable future communication on the risks of nanotechnology and models for effective civic engagement. This project examines the educational, economic, social, organization, and ethical changes associated with support for, design of, and results from inventions and innovations involving active nanostructures and nanosystems.


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