The Sci-Files – 07/14/2019 – Nikki McClaran – Perception of Health and Environmental Issues
July 14, 2019
On this week’s The Sci-Files, your hosts Chelsie and Danny interview Nikki McClaran.
Nikki is a Ph.D. student in the Information & Media program within the College of Communication Arts & Sciences. Nikki’s research focuses on narrative persuasion, health and risk communication, and social norms.
Specifically, Nikki investigates how health and environmental issues are cognitively and effectively perceived, and whether narratives have the ability to encourage positive social behaviors. She’s conducted research regarding a variety of areas, including vaccinations, sleep, recycled water and alcohol consumption. The research Nikki conducts uses a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods to provide a holistic perspective of the issues under investigation. For example, a current project involves: focus groups of vaccine-opposed parents, a content analysis of entertainment portrays of vaccinations and experiments testing the effects of frequent exposure of such storylines on people’s real-world vaccination beliefs.
If you’re interested in talking about your MSU research on the radio or nominating a student, please email Chelsie and Danny at [email protected] You can ask questions for our future episodes here. Check The Sci-Files out on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube!
Chelsie is a Biomedical Engineering Ph.D. student at Michigan State University. She studies what happens to the extracellular matrix of cells after they have been stressed. She co-hosts "The Sci-Files" with Daniel Puentes. Together they explore the different topics that MSU students research on "The Sci-Files" at WDBM.
Daniel is a graduate student in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, where he does research at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory. His research involves measuring the mass of radioactive nuclei, and how it can tell us how protons and neutrons are arranged inside of a nucleus. This research also helps scientists understand how the elements were created in different stellar environments! At WDBM, he and Chelsie Boodoo co-host The Sci-Files.
