Emma Frances Bloomfield

Associate Professor of Communication Studies
Expertise: Science communication, Environmental communication, Scientific controversies, Climate change, Sustainability, Intersection of science and religion, Strategies for combating misinformation and talking with skeptics, Social media, Storytelling

Biography

Currently an associate professor at UNLV, Emma Frances Bloomfield studies science communication and public interactions and engagement with science. She is interested in a variety of intersections of science with religion, technology, politics, the economy, digital spaces, and news media.

Bloomfield has published about various scientific topics and how the public understands and responds to them, including topics such as climate change, the environment, evolution, science education, birth control, and religion in politics. As a communication scholar that focuses on rhetoric, she attends to the ways that people use symbols, such as language, to persuade, influence, and make connections with others — particularly in situations where this use of symbols leads to controversy, deliberation, and public concern.

In addition to studying scientific controversies and why they emerge, Bloomfield also researches strategies to curtail the spread of misinformation and strategies to engage science skeptics.

Education

  • PhD Communication, University of Southern California

Related Links

Emma Frances Bloomfield In The News

The Good Men Project
“Freedom” is often a Republican talking point, but Vice President Kamala Harris is trying to reclaim the concept for Democrats as part of her campaign for the presidency. In a speech at the Democratic National Convention last month, she declared that “fundamental freedoms” were at stake in the November election, including “the freedom to breathe clean air and drink clean water and live free from the pollution that fuels the climate crisis.”
Grist Magazine
“Freedom” is often a Republican talking point, but Vice President Kamala Harris is trying to reclaim the concept for Democrats as part of her campaign for the presidency. In a speech at the Democratic National Convention last month, she declared that “fundamental freedoms” were at stake in the November election, including “the freedom to breathe clean air and drink clean water and live free from the pollution that fuels the climate crisis.”
Discover Magazine
As a science communication scholar, I’ve always supported vaccination and trusted medical experts – and I still do. As a new mom, however, I’ve been confronting new-to-me emotions and concerns while weighing decisions about my son’s health.
Devdiscourse
Emma Frances Bloomfield, Associate Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, explores the effective use of storytelling in science communication. Bloomfield supports vaccination and trusts medical experts, but as a new mom, she has faced a wave of online misinformation about potential vaccine risks. She notes that anti-vaccine advocates often deploy personal stories that make their case compelling.

Articles Featuring Emma Frances Bloomfield

Undergrad researcher Benjamin Sabir helps H. Jeremy Cho examine an atmospheric water harvesting device. (Jeff Scheid/UNLV)
Campus News | October 1, 2024

A monthly roundup of the top news stories featuring UNLV staff and students.

Mirage Resort
Campus News | August 1, 2024

Roundup of the hottest news headlines featuring UNLV students and staff.

The Las Vegas skyline (Josh Hawkins, UNLV).
Campus News | December 4, 2023

A collection of news stories highlighting UNLV’s dedication to community and research.