Emma Weitkamp
Biographic Data
| ID | 4115742 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Emma Weitkamp |
| GIVEN NAMES | Emma |
| FAMILY NAME | Weitkamp |
| SIGNATURE | WEITKAMP E |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of the West of England |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-1296-5822 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 14 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 11 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 14 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2008 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Role and perceptions of AI in science journalists’ work
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and particularly Generative AI, such as ChatGPT, has attracted attention within the media recently, both in terms of the potential negative (e.g. job losses, promotion of misinformation) and positive (e.g. enhanced efficiency, easy access to information) impacts on various sectors of society. We explore science journalists’ views of AI and how they are adopting and using these new technologies. A survey methodology al…
Barriers to science communication about research involving animal experimentation
Research involving animal experimentation is a contentious issue at the intersection of science and society, making science communication about it especially challenging. Yet, we lack a systematic account of the barriers researchers and communicators face in this context. Our systematic review used a peer-reviewed search strategy and screening by independent reviewers. The resulting 65 documents (e.g. research articles, editorials, comments) unde…
Navigating “proper food” and “good mothering” on social media
This study contributes to understandings about how UK mothers use social media practices to navigate, negotiate and enact family food provisioning. ‘Proper food’ and ‘good mothering’ remain entangled sociocultural conventions that govern a range of food provisioning practices. In the face of time pressures and the challenges of children’s fussy eating, we explore how mothers use social media to avoid misaligning their practice performances with t…
Exploring ‘quality’ in science communication online
In recent years, the public visibility of science has greatly increased. In the digital media landscape, a wide range of players is now engaged in science communication via various online channels. While these developments offer opportunities, they also entail risks for the quality of science communication. This study explores how the quality of science communication can be assessed and promoted in the increasingly complex digital ecosystem. A tw…
Rethinking Science Communication Education and Training
Science communication is at a pivotal stage in its development due to the emergence of digital communication platforms that are not only presenting new opportunities but are also leading to new challenges. In this context, science communicators, who can include scientists, researchers, curators, journalists and other types of content producer, may require new types of preparation and support to engage with multiple audiences, across multiple chan…
Visualizing the Invisible
Edward Lorenz, a pioneering figure in the field of chaos theory, coined the phrase “butterfly effect” and posed the well-known question “Does the flap of a butterfly's wings in Brazil set off a tornado in Texas?” In posing the question, Lorenz sought to highlight the intrinsic difficulty of predicting the long-term behavior of complex systems that are sensitive to initial conditions, for example, the weather and climate; these systems are often r…
The Visual Vaccine Debate on Twitter
Pro- and anti-vaccination users use social media outlets, such as Twitter, to join conversations about vaccines, disseminate information or misinformation about immunization, and advocate in favour or against vaccinations. These users not only share textual content, but also images to emphasise their messages and influence their audiences. Though previous studies investigated the content of vaccine images, there is little research on how these vi…
Medical performance and the ‘inaccessible’ experience of illness
We report a survey of audience members' responses (147 questionnaires collected at seven performances) and 10 in-depth interviews (five former patients and two family members, three medical practitioners) to bloodlines, a medical performance exploring the experience of haematopoietic stem-cell transplant as treatment for acute leukaemia. Performances took place in 2014 and 2015. The article argues that performances that are created through interd…
Agenda Building In Media Coverage of Food Research
Concern has been raised about the rising influence of public relations on scientific news coverage and the potential role of institutional sources in shaping news reports. This study uses quantitative content analysis and qualitative interviews to explore the influence of public relations activities on newspaper coverage of “superfoods” and, in particular, to explore the transparency of reporting of the sources of research funding. Superfoods wer…
An exploration of the collaborative processes of making theatre inspired by science
This research examined the collaborative processes of making theatre inspired by science through the analysis of 16 semi-structured interviews with individual collaborators (eight theatre practitioners and eight scientists). Interviews explored experiences, including their motivations, working processes, challenges, learning and understanding. Roles of scientists in the collaboration ranged from expert advisor to equal creative collaborator. Fact…
Podologues
Podcasts are media files that can be automatically aggregated and downloaded via the internet, and transferred to portable media players. Combined with online discussion facilities, podcasts represent flexible and potentially valuable tools for communicating about science. This pilot project aimed to assess the role of science podcasts in stimulating discussions, or ‘podologues’, about science through detailed analyses of a sample of five popular…
Defining issue-based publics for public engagement
Understanding your audiences' perceptions is key to the success of any communication campaign. This research note outlines a pilot study using the Situational Model of publics to segment the broader public. Focus groups were used to study publics' understandings and perceptions of climate change to determine if this issue-based publics model is relevant to this field. The work shows the potential of this model of publics, but in the case of clima…
Genetic testing in a drama and discussion workshop
In this pilot project, drama was used to situate genetic testing in a social and cultural context – that of the family. The drama was used to stimulate discussion about social issues relating to genetic testing, such as who has the right to know the results of the test and whether participants would want to know their ‘genetic future’. A 10-minute, open-ended drama was developed as stimulus for a further 40-minute discussion-based workshop that f…
Making Sense of scientific claims in advertising. A study of scientifically aware consumers
Evidence that science is becoming increasingly embedded in culture comes from the proliferation of discourses of ethical consumption, sustainability, and environmental awareness. Al Gore's recent award, along with UN's Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of the Nobel peace prize - provided a recent high profile linking of consumption and science. It is not clear to what extent the public at large engages in evaluating the scientific…
Podologues
Podcasts are media files that can be automatically aggregated and downloaded via the internet, and transferred to portable media players. Combined with online discussion facilities, podcasts represent flexible and potentially valuable tools for communicating about science. This pilot project aimed to assess the role of science podcasts in stimulating discussions, or ‘podologues’, about science through detailed analyses of a sample of five popular…
Medical performance and the ‘inaccessible’ experience of illness
We report a survey of audience members' responses (147 questionnaires collected at seven performances) and 10 in-depth interviews (five former patients and two family members, three medical practitioners) to bloodlines, a medical performance exploring the experience of haematopoietic stem-cell transplant as treatment for acute leukaemia. Performances took place in 2014 and 2015. The article argues that performances that are created through interd…
Agenda Building In Media Coverage of Food Research
Concern has been raised about the rising influence of public relations on scientific news coverage and the potential role of institutional sources in shaping news reports. This study uses quantitative content analysis and qualitative interviews to explore the influence of public relations activities on newspaper coverage of “superfoods” and, in particular, to explore the transparency of reporting of the sources of research funding. Superfoods wer…
Making Sense of scientific claims in advertising. A study of scientifically aware consumers
Evidence that science is becoming increasingly embedded in culture comes from the proliferation of discourses of ethical consumption, sustainability, and environmental awareness. Al Gore's recent award, along with UN's Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of the Nobel peace prize - provided a recent high profile linking of consumption and science. It is not clear to what extent the public at large engages in evaluating the scientific…
Defining issue-based publics for public engagement
Understanding your audiences' perceptions is key to the success of any communication campaign. This research note outlines a pilot study using the Situational Model of publics to segment the broader public. Focus groups were used to study publics' understandings and perceptions of climate change to determine if this issue-based publics model is relevant to this field. The work shows the potential of this model of publics, but in the case of clima…
Genetic testing in a drama and discussion workshop
In this pilot project, drama was used to situate genetic testing in a social and cultural context – that of the family. The drama was used to stimulate discussion about social issues relating to genetic testing, such as who has the right to know the results of the test and whether participants would want to know their ‘genetic future’. A 10-minute, open-ended drama was developed as stimulus for a further 40-minute discussion-based workshop that f…
Podologues
Podcasts are media files that can be automatically aggregated and downloaded via the internet, and transferred to portable media players. Combined with online discussion facilities, podcasts represent flexible and potentially valuable tools for communicating about science. This pilot project aimed to assess the role of science podcasts in stimulating discussions, or ‘podologues’, about science through detailed analyses of a sample of five popular…
An exploration of the collaborative processes of making theatre inspired by science
This research examined the collaborative processes of making theatre inspired by science through the analysis of 16 semi-structured interviews with individual collaborators (eight theatre practitioners and eight scientists). Interviews explored experiences, including their motivations, working processes, challenges, learning and understanding. Roles of scientists in the collaboration ranged from expert advisor to equal creative collaborator. Fact…
Agenda Building In Media Coverage of Food Research
Concern has been raised about the rising influence of public relations on scientific news coverage and the potential role of institutional sources in shaping news reports. This study uses quantitative content analysis and qualitative interviews to explore the influence of public relations activities on newspaper coverage of “superfoods” and, in particular, to explore the transparency of reporting of the sources of research funding. Superfoods wer…
Medical performance and the ‘inaccessible’ experience of illness
We report a survey of audience members' responses (147 questionnaires collected at seven performances) and 10 in-depth interviews (five former patients and two family members, three medical practitioners) to bloodlines, a medical performance exploring the experience of haematopoietic stem-cell transplant as treatment for acute leukaemia. Performances took place in 2014 and 2015. The article argues that performances that are created through interd…
The Visual Vaccine Debate on Twitter
Pro- and anti-vaccination users use social media outlets, such as Twitter, to join conversations about vaccines, disseminate information or misinformation about immunization, and advocate in favour or against vaccinations. These users not only share textual content, but also images to emphasise their messages and influence their audiences. Though previous studies investigated the content of vaccine images, there is little research on how these vi…
Rethinking Science Communication Education and Training
Science communication is at a pivotal stage in its development due to the emergence of digital communication platforms that are not only presenting new opportunities but are also leading to new challenges. In this context, science communicators, who can include scientists, researchers, curators, journalists and other types of content producer, may require new types of preparation and support to engage with multiple audiences, across multiple chan…
Visualizing the Invisible
Edward Lorenz, a pioneering figure in the field of chaos theory, coined the phrase “butterfly effect” and posed the well-known question “Does the flap of a butterfly's wings in Brazil set off a tornado in Texas?” In posing the question, Lorenz sought to highlight the intrinsic difficulty of predicting the long-term behavior of complex systems that are sensitive to initial conditions, for example, the weather and climate; these systems are often r…
Exploring ‘quality’ in science communication online
In recent years, the public visibility of science has greatly increased. In the digital media landscape, a wide range of players is now engaged in science communication via various online channels. While these developments offer opportunities, they also entail risks for the quality of science communication. This study explores how the quality of science communication can be assessed and promoted in the increasingly complex digital ecosystem. A tw…
Role and perceptions of AI in science journalists’ work
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and particularly Generative AI, such as ChatGPT, has attracted attention within the media recently, both in terms of the potential negative (e.g. job losses, promotion of misinformation) and positive (e.g. enhanced efficiency, easy access to information) impacts on various sectors of society. We explore science journalists’ views of AI and how they are adopting and using these new technologies. A survey methodology al…
Barriers to science communication about research involving animal experimentation
Research involving animal experimentation is a contentious issue at the intersection of science and society, making science communication about it especially challenging. Yet, we lack a systematic account of the barriers researchers and communicators face in this context. Our systematic review used a peer-reviewed search strategy and screening by independent reviewers. The resulting 65 documents (e.g. research articles, editorials, comments) unde…
Navigating “proper food” and “good mothering” on social media
This study contributes to understandings about how UK mothers use social media practices to navigate, negotiate and enact family food provisioning. ‘Proper food’ and ‘good mothering’ remain entangled sociocultural conventions that govern a range of food provisioning practices. In the face of time pressures and the challenges of children’s fussy eating, we explore how mothers use social media to avoid misaligning their practice performances with t…
Climate Change Communication and Perception (7 works) · Psychology (7 works) · Sociology (7 works) · Computer Science (6 works) · Political science (6 works) · Public relations (6 works) · Science communication (5 works) · Media Studies and Communication (4 works) · Medicine (4 works) · Epistemology (3 works)