Christopher D. Wirz


Doctoral Student
Life Sciences Communcation
University of Wisconsin-Madison


CV

Peer-reviewed research articles



Howell, E. L., Wirz, C. D., Scheufele, D. A., Brossard, D., & Xenos, M. A. (forthcoming). Seeing through risk-colored glasses: Risk and benefit perceptions, knowledge, and the politics of fracking in the United States. Energy Research & Social Science.


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.


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


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


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


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


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



Research articles under review



​Wirz, C. D., Howell, E. L., Brossard, D., Xenos, M. A. & Scheufele, D. A. (under review). The state of GMOs on social media: An analysis of state-level variables and discourse on Twitter in the U.S.



Book chapters



​Krause, N., Wirz, C. D., Scheufele, D. A., & Xenos, M. A. (In press). 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.



First author conference presentations



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.