About

David Berube is a professor in the Department of Communication Science and Technology at NC State University, where he teaches courses in the communication of science and technology, risk communication, environmental communication, disaster communication, climate change communication, and pandemic communication. He directs the Public Communication of Science and Technology Project from the Hunt Library on the Centennial Campus and is a fellow in the Genetic Engineering and Society Center. Berube also works with the College of Natural Resources as an Associate Core Faculty member. His professional background includes coaching intercollegiate debating for 20 years, winning three national championships, and being named national coach of the year in 1994. He has authored numerous articles and chapters in applied debating and has consulted with the English Speaking Union in the UK. Additionally, Berube has a background in journalism, having written for Gannett and Knight-Ridder, with over 100 articles in print. He is an equity actor, a member of the Author’s League of America and the Dramatists Guild, and is represented by Artists and Artisans. Since his promotion to full professor, his research has focused on science communication, risk perception, and emerging technologies, supported by over $20 million in federal NSF grants. He has published extensively on nanoscience, nanotechnology, and pandemic-related communication, and has edited books on pandemic communication and resilience. Berube serves on several advisory committees, including the Scientific Advisory Board for the National Toxicology Program and the NIH, and manages the Center for Emerging Technologies, a consultancy specializing in social media protocols for industry. He arrived at NC State in January 2008 and has since developed a STEM-presence on campus, involving social sciences and public engagement, with ongoing projects related to nanoscience, toxicology, and emerging technologies.

Research topics

• Business
• Political Science
• Computer Science
• Medicine
• Engineering
• Knowledge management
• Psychiatry
• Materials science
• Physics
• Nanotechnology
• Geography
• World Wide Web
• Psychology

Selected publications

• “Wait and See” and the Free Riders

  Risk, systems and decisions · 2024-01-01

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Vaccination Is a Public Strategy Not a Personal One: Rebuilding Community

  Risk, systems and decisions · 2024-01-01

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Agriculture and Nanotechnology: National Infrastructure Readiness. 1

  Research Square · 2024-04-17

  preprintOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Abstract Agriculture will face many challenges in the next 25 years, including water, population demands, supply chain disruptions, storage, safety, and distribution. Whether discussing smart farming, genetically modified seeds, or alternatives to traditional productivity enhancements, such as insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, and fertilizers, it is all about increasing resiliency by broadening the options for the industry. One of the platform technologies that may offer solace could be nanotechnology especially given the temporal variables involved. We may need to act quickly, so we must prepare to do so. In addition, we must not avoid viable solutions while searching for the silver bullet. There may be none. The following gleans expert opinions from the different stakeholder communities in nanotechnology and agriculture disciplines. Our approach involved diverse sampling and analysis in producing a modicum of information to help inform debates over nanotechnology and agriculture. Put simply; these are observations and suggestions for those who participated.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Side Effect: Vaccination Fatigue

  Risk, systems and decisions · 2024-01-01

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Introduction

  Risk, systems and decisions · 2024-01-01

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Trypanophobia (Fear of Needles) and Vaccine Hesitancy

  Risk, systems and decisions · 2024-01-01

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Negative Online Support Groups

  Risk, systems and decisions · 2024-01-01

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Positioning nanotechnology to address climate change

  Environment Systems & Decisions · 2024-10-09

  articleOpen access

  One of society's most pressing challenges in the twenty-first century is that of climate change. In fact, climate change is seen as the most defining issue of our time as we are witness to an anthropogenic perturbation in geology and earth sciences of global scale. To move forward in this new era, solutions will be sought to both mitigate the effects of climate change (e.g., reduce greenhouse gasses) as well as adapt and build resilience (e.g., improve infrastructure and agriculture to resist damage from extreme weather or floods). The immediacy of the needed solutions dictates that the response must use the full force of society's current knowledge base, science, technology, and innovation. Nanotechnology, an enabling technology that has matured over the past few decades and now considered for general-purpose and mass use, is ideal for addressing climate change and its impacts. To position nanotechnology to address such complex challenges, this Perspective integrates collective insights from a broad range of viewpoints and presents recommendations for how research can be motivated and scoped, organized, and implemented to achieve beneficial outcomes and innovations in the most efficient ways. While this Perspective was created with a focus on the research landscape within the United States, the findings are also relevant in other international contexts. Research that can effectively advance nanotechnology solutions will be use-inspired basic research, incorporate systems-level thinking, apply a convergence research approach, engage stakeholders, and require advanced nanotechnology infrastructure. By illuminating this compelling and complex research topic, this Perspective aims to direct, inform, and accelerate needed actions in the research community to advance nanotechnology solutions for addressing climate change.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Effects on Adults

  Risk, systems and decisions · 2023-01-01

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Gene Drives

  Risk, systems and decisions · 2023-01-01

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• NIRT: Intuitive Toxicology and Public Engagement

  NSF · $1.4M · 2007–2012

Frequent coauthors

• Christopher Cummings

  Iowa State University

  8 shared

• Danielle Corbeil

  Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux de la Montérégie-Centre

  5 shared

• Louise Beauvais

  3 shared

• Amélie Perron

  Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre

  3 shared

• Jordan Frith

  Clemson University

  3 shared

• Jacob L. Jones

  North Carolina State University

  3 shared

• Jean Daniel Jacob

  University of Ottawa

  3 shared

• Jagan Bontha

  2 shared

Labs

• Research and EngagementPI

Education

• PhD, Performance Studies

  New York University

  1990

• MA, Speech & Theatre

  Montclair State University

  1978

• BA, Psychology/Biology

  Seton Hall University

  1975

Awards & honors

• Fellow in the Genetic Engineering and Society Center
• National Coach of the Year (1994)
• Over $20 million in federal NSF grants for risk communicatio…
• Member of the Scientific Advisory Board on the National Toxi…