The bulk of my research since arriving at Wilfrid Laurier University has been to investigate the politics of risk perception, particularly in regards to environmental issues. I have completed a project on the politics of the controversial chemical BPA. In one paper, I was able to show that the level of news coverage in state’s daily newspaper about BPA was correlated with the probability that that state would adopt a ban on BPA. In short, politicians adopt policies responding to media pressure. In a second, more qualitative paper, I examined the interaction between legislative provisions, short term interest-group pressure and media attention that led to Canada being the first country in the world to prohibit baby bottles made with BPA.
In the course of this project I was inspired by the work emerging on the cultural cognition of risk perception and the cultural theory of risk. I was awarded a SSHRC Insight Development Grant in 2013 to develop survey measures of the core concepts of cultural theory for the canadian context. Working with Dr. Eric Montpetit and Dr. Erick Lachapelle, I conducted intense qualitative research and survey development to produce these measures. Our first publicadtion from this project can be seen here.
Building on this project, I have been invited to take part in the @risk research project, a SSHRC-funded research project that seeks to find ways to mange the democratic and technocratic tensions managing risks in contemporary Canada.