Assistant Professor of Communication Science - RISE EARTH

Assistant Professor Position in Environmental Communication

The Department of Communication Arts at the University of Wisconsin–Madison invites outstanding social and behavioral scientists with strengths in quantitative methodology to apply for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position in environmental communication as part of the Wisconsin RISE-EARTH initiative. We seek scholars who conduct theory-driven research on how communication influences public understanding, attitudes, decision-making, behavior, policy support, or collective action surrounding environmental challenges (e.g., adaptation, resilience, sustainability, and technological change).

This position is part of the Wisconsin Research, Innovation and Scholarly Excellence (RISE) Initiative. Through accelerated and strategic faculty hiring, research infrastructure enhancement, interdisciplinary collaboration, and increased student and educational opportunities, RISE addresses complex societal challenges of importance to the state, nation and world. Building on UW–Madison's strengths, RISE expands the University's successful track record of connecting with communities and industry on collaborative solutions.

Over the next three academic years, UW–Madison will substantially increase current hiring levels, bringing 150 new RISE faculty to campus. Candidates hired through RISE will join a community of scholars working across disciplines, schools and colleges on research, teaching and outreach endeavors. The community will engage regularly in venues such as seminar series and colloquia to share ongoing projects and identify opportunities to work together.

The University will support the community, facilitating access to research infrastructure, and funding to support broad and rich collaboration. Further information regarding RISE can be found at: (Use the "Apply for this Job" box below)..

Research areas may include, but are not limited to: environmental and risk communication, conflict and negotiation surrounding environmental decisions, misinformation and polarization, social influence and behavior change, disaster preparedness and resilience, public engagement with science, or communication surrounding emerging technologies such as clean energy, artificial intelligence, and digital infrastructure. We welcome applications from scholars employing surveys, experiments, longitudinal designs, network analysis, computational social science, and other advanced quantitative methods.

The Department of Communication Arts offers one of the largest majors on campus with approximately 600 declared majors as well as two undergraduate certificate programs. The department is home to 50 faculty and staff and 70 graduate students. Our department is multidisciplinary and has a highly collaborative environment. We offer four graduate programs, all of which showcase our faculty's cutting-edge research in media and communication.

One of these, the Communication Science program, seeks to understand processes of human interactions in various face-to-face and mediated contexts as they relate to the cognitive, social, and cultural functions of communication.

The scholar hired in this position would be expected to make rich contributions to Communication Science. In addition, Communication Arts is home to programs in Media & Cultural Studies, Film, and Rhetoric, Politics & Culture, each of which would offer opportunities for research and teaching collaboration. Together, we are committed to a shared vision of making a positive difference in the world through effective communication, currently pursuing the priorities laid out in our 2025-29 strategic plan.

In the College of Letters & Science, we provide a liberal arts education that is both broad and deep through excellent, empathic teaching. We hire faculty who are interested in pursuing difficult questions, making new discoveries, and making an impact in their field. We reward excellent teaching and classroom innovation, and we are committed to shared governance. Learn more about the L&S mission on our webpage: .

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