CHRISTOPHER D. WIRZ


Christopher D. Wirz


Postdoctoral Fellow
Weather Risks and Decisions in Society (WRaDS)
Mesoscale & Microscale Meteorology Lab (MMM)
National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)
he/him


CV

Peer-reviewed research articles



​Under review

Wirz, C. D., Howell, E. L., Scheufele, D. A., Brossard, D., & Xenos, M. A. (Under review). Examining expertise: Synthetic biology experts’ perceptions of risk, benefit, and the public for research and applications regulation. Public Understanding of Science.


Accepted/forthcoming

[16] Wirz, C.D., Brossard, D., Curtis, K., Block, P. (Accepted). The risk of relocation: Risk perceptions and communication surrounding the tradeoffs between floods and economic opportunities in Iquitos, Peru. The Journal of Risk Research.


[15] Wirz, C. D., Cate, A., Brauer, M., Brossard, D., Brown, L. D., Chen, K., Ho, P., Luter, D. G., Madden, H., Schoenborn, S., Shaw, B., Sprinkel, C., Stanley, D., & Sumi, G. (Forthcoming). Science communication during COVID-19: When theory meets best practices and best practices meet reality. Journal of Science Communication.


Published

[14] Bao, L., Krause, N. M., Calice, M. N., Scheufele, D. A., Wirz, C. D., Brossard, D., Newman, T. P., & Xenos, M. A. (2022). Whose AI? How different publics think about AI and its social impacts. Computers in Human Behavior. DOI: 10.1177/14614448211034159


[13] Wirz, C. D., Shao, A., Bao, L., Howell, E. L., Monroe, H., & Chen, K. (2021). Media Systems and Attention Cycles: Volume and Topics of News Coverage on COVID-19 in the United States and China: Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1177/10776990211049455


[12] Wirz, C. D., Mayorga, M., & Johnson, B. B. (2021) Evaluating the Effects of News-following, Volume and Content of News Coverage on Americans’ Risk Perceptions during the 2014-2016 Ebola Outbreak, Journal of Health Communication, 26:5, 328-338, DOI: 10.1080/10810730.2021.1927257


[11] Howell, E. L., Wirz, C. D., Scheufele, D. A., Brossard, D. & Xenos, M. A. (2020). Deference & decision-making in science & society: How deference to scientific authority goes beyond confidence in science & scientists to become authoritarianism. Public Understanding of Science.


[10] Chen, K., Bao, L., Shao, A., Ho, P., Yang, S., Wirz, C., Brossard, D., Brauer, M., & Diprete Brown, L. (2020). How public perceptions of social distancing evolved over a critical time period: communication lessons learnt from the American state of Wisconsin. Journal of Science Communication, 19(5), A11.


[9] Wirz, C. D., Howell, E. L., Brossard, D., Xenos, M. A., & Scheufele, D. A. (2020). The state of GMOs on social media: An analysis of state-level variables and discourse on Twitter in the United States. Politics and the Life Sciences, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1017/pls.2020.15


[8] Wirz, C. D., Mayorga, M., & Johnson, B. B. (2020). A Longitudinal Analysis of Americans’ Media Sources, Risk Perceptions, and Judged Need for Action during the Zika Outbreak. Health Communication, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2020.1773707


[7] Howell, E. L., Wirz, C. D., Brossard, D., Scheufele, D. A., & Xenos, M. A. (2019). Seeing through risk-colored glasses: Risk and benefit perceptions, knowledge, and the politics of fracking in the United States. Energy Research & Social Science, 55, 168-178. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2019.05.020


[6] Brossard, D., Belluck, P., Gould, F., & Wirz, C. D. (2019). Promises and perils of gene drives: Navigating the communication of complex, post-normal science. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(16). doi:10.1073/pnas.1805874115.


[5] Akin, H., Yeo, S. K., Wirz, C. D., Scheufele, D. A., Brossard, D., Xenos, M. A., & Corley, E. A. (2019). Are attitudes toward labeling nano products linked to attitudes toward GMO? Exploring a potential “spillover” effect for attitudes toward controversial technologies. Journal of Responsible Innovation, 6(1), 50-74. doi: 10.1080/23299460.2018.1495026


[4] Wirz, C. D., Xenos, M. A., Brossard, D., Scheufele, D., Chung, J. H., & Massarani, L. (2018). Rethinking social amplification of risk: Social media and Zika in three languages. Risk Analysis. 38(12), 2599-2624. doi:10.1111/risa.13228


[3] Scott, S. E., Inbar, Y., Wirz, C. D., Brossard, D., & Rozin, P. (2018). An overview of attitudes to genetically engineered foods. Annual Review of Nutrition, 38(1), 459-479. doi:10.1146/annurev-nutr-071715-051223


[2] Howell, E. L., Wirz, C. D., Brossard, D., Jamieson, K. H., Scheufele, D. A., Winneg, K. M., & Xenos, M. A. (2018). National Academy of Sciences report on genetically engineered crops influences public discourse. Politics and the Life Sciences. 37(2), 250-261. doi: 10.1017/pls.2018.12


[1] Su, L. Y.-F., Xenos, M. A., Rose, K. M., Wirz, C., Scheufele, D. A., & Brossard, D. (2018). Uncivil and personal? Comparing patterns of incivility in comments on the Facebook pages of news outlets. New Media & Society. doi: 10.1177/1461444818757205 .





Other scholarly works



[2] Wirz, C. D., Scheufele, D. A., & Brossard, D. (2020). Societal debates about emerging genetic technologies: Toward a science of public engagement. Environmental Communication.


[1] Krause, N., Wirz, C. D., Scheufele, D. A., & Xenos, M. A. (2019). Fake real news and real fake news: Clarifying a not-so-new phenomenon. In J. E. Katz (Ed.), Social Media and Journalism's Search for the Truth. Oxford University Press.





Conference papers and presentations



First author only



Wirz, C. D., Shao, A., Monroe, H. L., Howell, E. L., Bao, L., & Chen, K. (2020, December). Media systems and attention cycles: Trends and topics in news coverage of COVID-19 across the U.S., UK, Canada, and China. Paper presented at the annual convention of the Society for Risk Analysis (SRA), Virtual.


​Wirz, C. D., Howell, E. L., Holesovsky, C. M., Brossard, D., Xenos, M. A., & Scheufele, D. A. (2020, May). Communication and expertise: Understanding synthetic biology experts’ views of the regulations surrounding their field. Paper presented at the Public Communication of Science and Technology (PCST) conference, Aberdeen, Scotland.


Wirz, C. D., Brossard, D., & Block, P. (2019, December). Understanding stakeholder perceptions of advanced preparedness systems for addressing climate-related natural disasters in Peru. Paper presented at the annual convention of the Society for Risk Analysis (SRA), Arlington, VA.


Wirz, C. D., Howell, E. L., Brossard, D., Xenos, M. A., & Scheufele, D. A. (2018, December). Expert perceptions of synthetic biology and public engagement. Paper presented at the annual convention of the Society for Risk Analysis (SRA), New Orleans, LA.


Wirz, C. D. & Branden B. Johnson (2017, December). Mapping the media and risk landscape around Zika: Where do people get information about risk? Paper presented at the annual convention of the Society for Risk Analysis (SRA), Arlington, VA.


Wirz, C. D., Howell, E. L., Brossard, D., Scheufele, D. A., & Xenos, M. A. (2017, December). High risk, high reward: The role of ambivalence in perceptions of nanotechnology and synthetic biology. Paper presented at the annual convention of the Society for Risk Analysis (SRA), Arlington, VA.


Wirz, C. D., Chung, J. H., Xenos, M. A., Brossard, D., Scheufele, D. A., Howell, E. L., & Massarani, L. (2017, November). Zika outbreak: Are social media places for politicizing public health? Paper presented at the annual conference of the Midwest Association for Public Opinion Research (MAPOR), Chicago, IL.


Wirz, C. D., Chung, J. H., Brossard, D., Scheufele, D. A., Xenos, M. A., Massarani, L., & Maynard, A. D. (2017, July). A trilingual and comparative approach to understanding the conversation about the Zika virus on social media. Paper submitted to the Annual Conference of the World Association for Public Opinion Research (WAPOR), Lisbon, Portugal.


Wirz, C. D., Howell, E., Brossard, D., Scheufele, D. A., Jamieson, K. H., Winneg, K., & Xenos, M. A. (2017, February). May 2016: The NAS release a consensus report on GE crops – With what impact? Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Boston, MA.


Wirz, C. D., Chung, J. H., Rose, K. M., Brossard, D., Scheufele, D. A., Xenos, M. A., Massarani, L., & Maynard, A. D. (2016, December). Zika outbreak: A multilingual analysis of social media discourse surrounding the Zika virus and genetically engineered mosquitoes. Poster presented at the annual convention of the Society for Risk Analysis (SRA), San Diego, California.


Wirz, C. D., Chung, J. H., Brossard, D., Scheufele, D. A., Massarani, L., Xenos, M. A., & Maynard, A. D. (2016, November). Zika outbreak: Who is the problem and who is being blamed on social media? Paper presented at the annual conference of the Midwest Association for Public Opinion Research (MAPOR), Chicago, Illinois.


Wirz, C. D., Liang, X., Brossard, D., Scheufele, D. A., & Xenos, M. A. (2016, August). A state-level analysis of the social media climate of GMOs in the U.S. Paper presented at the annual convention of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), Minneapolis, Minnesota.


Wirz, C. D., Brossard, D., Scheufele, D. A., & Xenos, M. (2015, December). Ebola outbreak 2014: Media coverage and public risk perceptions in the United States. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Society of Risk Analysis, Arlington, Virginia.


Wirz, C. D., Brossard, D., Scheufele, D. A., & Xenos, M. (2015, October). Censorship of social media in China: Altering environmental conversations online. Paper presented at the annual convention of the Association for Politics and the Life Sciences, Madison, Wisconsin.