About

Christine Gilbert is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication at Stony Brook University, with a primary focus on science communication, health communication, and crisis and risk communication. Her research interests include how the public understands complex topics such as climate change, nuclear energy, COVID-19, and vaccines. She has collaborated on projects funded by the NSF and other agencies, studying gender and science engagement on YouTube, and has incorporated traditional media effects theories in her dissertation to understand climate change risk perceptions. Her work explores the emotional, social, and informational aspects of risk perception and communication, contributing to the understanding of public responses to natural disasters, environmental issues, and health crises.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Political Science
• Aesthetics
• Art
• Psychology
• Philosophy
• Medicine
• Law
• Public relations
• Biology
• Public administration
• Genetics
• Communication
• Linguistics
• Geography

Selected publications

• Women in STEM on TikTok: Advancing Visibility and Voice Through STEM Identity Expression

  Social Media + Society · 2024 · 8 citations

  • Computer Science
  • Psychology
  • Communication

  This study investigated portrayals of women in STEM on TikTok focusing on their self-presentation of identity and use of platform features to promote audience engagement. This quantitative content analysis examined TikTok posts ( N = 400) from a 3-month sample of 100 TikTok accounts by individuals identified as women in STEM. Results for STEM-focused posts showed that these content creators provided positive portrayals of their work as women in STEM and frequent displays of their STEM identity, particularly displays of STEM competence and self-recognition. However, findings also indicated that this TikTok community displayed other social group identities less frequently and used relatively few TikTok platform features that would likely enhance audience engagement. Results suggest that positive portrayals of women in STEM on TikTok are helpful for challenging gender-STEM stereotypes, but the dearth of displays of social group identities highlights a need for more diverse women in STEM role models on TikTok. In addition, the infrequent use of popular platform features appears to be a missed opportunity for broader audience engagement. Implications for social media science influencers, science communicators, and informal STEM outreach professionals are discussed.

  DOI

• #WomenInSTEM: exploring self-presentation of identity on Instagram

  Journal of Science Communication · 2024 · 10 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Computer Science
  • Computer Science
  • Psychology

  Despite prior research on portrayals of women in STEM in traditional media, fewer studies have considered portrayals on social media. This content analysis of Instagram posts ($N=300$) examined how individuals using the hashtag #WomenInSTEM presented their gender identity, STEM identity, and other social identities through digital self-portraits, selfies, and associated text. Results showed that those associating with this hashtag community primarily presented: 1) counter-gender-stereotyped portrayals, but occasionally reflected gender stereotypes in subtle ways; 2) STEM identity portrayals, mostly focused on self-recognition; and 3) self-promotional and lifestyle portrayals. Findings advance understanding of identity presentation and negotiation for individuals associating with the hashtag #WomenInSTEM through portrayals presented on Instagram. Implications for the use of social media to promote equity in STEM through outreach programs that feature women STEM role models are discussed.

  DOI

• Reclaiming accountability

  Elsevier eBooks · 2022 · 1 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Political Science
  • Political Science
  • Public relations
  DOI

Frequent coauthors

• J Gillman

  Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital

  45 shared

• Isobel Spence

  16 shared

• E. Epstein

  5 shared

• D. J. Galton

  St Bartholomew's Hospital

  5 shared

• Joseph Glllman

  University of the Witwatersrand

  4 shared

• Theodore Gillman

  4 shared

• D. J. Galton

  St Bartholomew's Hospital

  3 shared

• T Gillman

  University of KwaZulu-Natal

  3 shared

Education

• PhD, Communication

  University of Connecticut

  2022

• Master of Arts, Communication

  University of Rhode Island

  2018

• Bachelor of Arts, International Affairs

  University of Maine

  2014

Similar researchers at Stony Brook University

• Scott McLennanh-145
• Anatoly I. Frenkelh-101
• Vitaly Citovskyh-98
• Michael R. Douglash-91
• Minghua Zhangh-89