Mary Blankenship

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Graduate Student Researcher, Brookings Mountain West

Master's Student, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

Expertise: Twitter misinformation and disinformation, Combating propaganda online and on social media, National and international public policy, Renewable and solar energy, Environmental policy

Biography

Social scientist and chemist Mary Blankenship is a Brookings Mountain West graduate student researcher who studies misinformation and disinformation on the internet and social media, as well as public policy and research lab solutions surrounding renewable and solar energy, climate change, and the environment.

Blankenship graduated in 2021 as an Honors College student with dual bachelor’s degrees in chemistry and economics, and a minor in Brookings public policy. She is currently pursuing a master's degree in chemistry while continuing her research with Brookings Mountain West.

The Ukraine native's most recent research focuses on analyzing over 60 million tweets pertaining to the discussion of the Ukrainian invasion, the reasons behind the creation of online propaganda related to the Russian attack, and tips to combat it.

Her published research on Twitter misinformation and the summer 2020 racial reckoning following the police killing of George Floyd made international headlines in outlets including the Las Vegas Sun, The Toronto Star, and Global News Canada. Blankenship has also examined Nigeria's Twitter ban, as well as online reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic, school shootings, and other mass gun violence. In 2020, she completed an internship with the Africa Growth Initiative at Brookings Institution, working on issues related to energy, environment, elections, and COVID-19 misinformation on the continent.

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Mary Blankenship In The News

Online Sleuths Untangle the Mystery of the Nord Stream Sabotage

It's been six months since the Nord Stream gas pipelines were ruptured by a series of explosions, leaking tons of methane into the environment and igniting an international whodunit. Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, and an unnamed pro-Ukrainian group have all been accused of planting explosives on the Baltic Sea pipelines in recent months. But half a year since the sabotage took place, the mystery remains unsolved.

Three Russian fakes about the grain deal

The Ukrainian Review

The initiative on the Safe Transportation of Grain and Foodstuffs from Ukrainian ports was signed on 27 July 2022. This agreement is supposed to decrease the impact of the Russian-Ukrainian war on developing the world food crisis. “The Ukrainian Review” has checked three widespread Russian fakes about this deal.

Enough is enough and change is needed to reduce gun violence

Tallahassee Democrat

When I read the sign posted at the St. Marks Headwaters Greenway off Baum Road, I wondered about its wording. It was direct and clear. What I wondered about was the psychology behind the words. How do you communicate a concern about arsonists and their activity that does not embolden them, but encourages them to reconsider?

Russian propaganda in Africa: how it works

The Ukrainian Review

Africa is the fastest-growing continent in the world, where 1.2 billion people live. How do people react in African countries to the Russian-Ukrainian war, where Russia has been working on its influence for years? What kind of propaganda narratives are being spread there and who does it? “The Ukrainian Review” has spoken with an independent researcher of Africa Marta Oliynyk-D’omochko and disinformation expert at UNLV Mary Blankenship, who analyzes the prevalence of pro-Russian disinformation on Twitter accounts based in Africa.