As a rhetorical scholar with interests in public engagement with science and argumentation, I examine how technoscientific discourses are invoked in both promising and problematic ways. My research focuses on the intersection of science and politics in the public sphere, examining who gets to speak for issues emerging from the fields of science, technology, and medicine as well as which voices are marginalized. Using a rhetorical approach that incorporates elements of close reading and reception studies, my research is primarily driven by an interest in the tension between expertise based on technical qualifications and expertise based on lived experience. I also have utilized qualitative methods such as interviewing to study how expert communication influences individual decision making.

Most of my research has focused on analyzing public discourses about health issues like the autism vaccine controversy and examining personal expressions of vaccine beliefs. I also have interests in health communication as well as environmental justice and climate change communication. My work has deepened understandings of the complex negotiations involved in sharing and translating technical knowledge for public audiences, especially in conveying risk.