Barbara Ley
Resources and Links
Biography
Barbara Ley joined the Department of Communication in 2011, with a joint appointment in the Department of Women & Gender Studies. Her research and teaching focus on public understandings of and engagements with science, technology, and medicine. Her current research projects relate to digital technology, culture, and women’s health; environmental health science, politics and prevention; and science, media and public opinion. Her 2009 book, From Pink to Green: Disease Prevention and the Environment Breast Cancer Movement, presents a cultural history of activists’ efforts over the past two decades to push for increased scientific and public attention to environmental causes of breast cancer and disease prevention more generally . She has also published articles in journals such as Science Communication, Public Understanding of Science, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, and Chinese Journal of Communication. Ley received her Ph.D. from the Department of History of Consciousness at the University of California at Santa Cruz, and she spent several years during graduate school working for environmental health policy organizations in Washington, DC.
Degrees
Ph.D. from the Department of History of Consciousness at the University of California at Santa Cruz
Books and Book Chapters
• Ley, Barbara L., Natalie Jankowski, and Paul R. Brewer. 2011. “Investigating CSI: Portrayals of DNA Testing on a Forensic Crime Show and Their Potential Effects.” Public Understanding of Science. Pre- published online (doi:10.1177/0963662510367571).
• Ley, Barbara L. 2011. “Beyond Discussion Forums: The Transmediated Support Culture of an Online Pregnancy and Mothering Group.” Motherhood Online, edited by Michelle Moravec. Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars Press.
• Brewer, Paul R., and Barbara L. Ley. 2011. “Multiple Exposures: Scientific Controversy, Media Use, and Public Responses to Bisphenol A.” Science Communication 33 (1): 76-87.
