About Me

 

My name is Scott.

I have worked for nearly 30 years at a U.S. Research 1 university (you can Google “R1 university”). I have a Ph.D. but I’m not a professor nor do I teach. However, I work closely with professors and academic professionals, and have done so for my entire career in academia. That’s been by design. 

My interests revolve around the news media’s role as a nexus between the science community and the general public. So, what makes me any more qualified than the next person to talk about this? My Ph.D. is in Communication and Information, with a concentration in Journalism and Electronic Media. My dissertation research focused on the communication motivations, expectations, and values of academic scientists within natural sciences domains. Specifically, it explored how these lead to news media engagement. I am also interested in how academic research in these domains is conveyed/translated by the news media into information that the public consumes. So basically, I’m more of a source guy rather than a destination guy with respect to researching the genesis of science news. 

I also try to follow the latest events regarding the intersection of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) with environmental legislation and defense department activities, especially naval operations. If you’re familiar with the FOIA, it has nine exemptions. Functionally, this means that the government can withhold (redact in formal parlance) any requested information from the public that it believes falls into one of these nine areas. I’m most interested in exemption number 1: Information that is classified to protect national security.

If you’re familiar with the Shannon-Weaver communication model, I focus on the source and transmitter components (see the blue-filled boxes in the image below). In information retrieval, there are three levels of communication problems. One of them is described as semantic or representational, which frame my interests. 

Diagram of the Shannon-Weaver communication model. Image by the author.

I like to consider myself an amateur social scientist, an amateur ethologist, and a general geek. I am also an aquarist. When I’m not working at my job or punishing my MacBook, you’ll probably find me tending my fish tanks, posting here, posting on my other blog, reading, exercising, or simply enjoying life with my wife and dog.