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Lisa Keränen is a transplanted east coaster who fell in love with the Rocky Mountains. By day, she is an assistant professor of communication who studies and teaches rhetorical theory and criticism with an emphasis on the rhetorics of science, medicine, and health care. Her graduate degrees include a PhD in communication and an MA in bioethics from the University of Pittsburgh. She actively researches the interface between science, publics, and the state in biomedical controversies, end-of-life discourse, and the international biodefense industry. Her essays and reviews appear in places such as Academic Medicine, Accountability in Research, Argumentation & Advocacy, Journal of Applied Communication Research, Journal of Homeland Security & Emergency Management, Journal of Medical Humanities, Science Communication, Quarterly Journal of Speech, Cultural Studies-Critical Methodologies, Communication Yearbook, and edited books about the rhetoric of science and medicine. Lisa's first book, Scientific Characters: Rhetoric, Politics, and Trust in Breast Cancer Research, explores the role of character in a high-flying breast cancer research misconduct controversy, and is forthcoming from the University of Alabama Press in 2010. She is working on her second book, Envisioning Viral Apocalypse: A Rhetorical History of Biological Weapons and their Imaginations from World War II to the War on Terror, which was supported by a 2008-9 Fellowship from the Center for Humanities and the Arts at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Other research concerning bioterrorism and homeland security risks has been supported by the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START). Lisa teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in rhetorical theory and criticism and in the rhetoric of science and medicine. Recent offerings include a seminar in rhetorics of health and medicine and one devoted to exploring rhetoric and biothreats. From 2006-2009, Lisa served as a core member of the clinical ethics committee and member of the consultancy committee at Boulder Community Hospital, and is currently director of the National Communication Association Forum (NCA-F), a group devoted to promoting high quality public discourse about salient social issues. In her spare time, she enjoys Emerson’s ideal transactions—reading, walking, and gardening—and is seldom far from a mug of coffee. She is an avid hiker and snowshoer, and has recently been honing her amateur botany skills while bagging peaks.

Quicktime Lecture from New Agendas in Science Communication