Dr. K. L. Akerlof is an associate professor in George Mason University’s Department of Environmental Science and Policy. Her research focuses on the intersection between governance and science and risk communication. She explores this nexus across three areas of study: 1) communication of science with policymakers; 2) public participation in decision-making; and 3) the use of social science within government programs. She leads a science communication concentration within the department’s master’s program and teaches courses on this topic as well as evidence-informed policymaking. She currently serves as an associate editor of the journal Evidence & Policy and a co-chair of the International Network for Governmental Science Advice’s Legislative Science Advice Community of Practice, and is a member of the editorial advisory board of the journal Science Communication.
Akerlof has collaborated with local, state, and federal government officials to develop research evidence that supports policy decisions and programs. In her courses at the university, students partner with government offices on projects, developing skills in communicating research evidence relevant to current policy issues and programs. While she has conducted research on the ways scientific evidence is used in public and policy decision-making throughout her career, she began focusing on science communication for policy following a 2016-2017 American Geophysical Union congressional fellowship, during which she served in a Senate office, assisting staff with an environmental portfolio. Subsequently, she joined the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) as a visiting scholar to conduct a project on Congress’s use of science in collaboration with AAAS staff.
While Akerlof is a social scientist by training, she grew up spending time in her father’s physics labs and worked on astrophysics experiments at a national laboratory during summers in college. While she earned a B.A. in political science, she also took organic chemistry, physics, and biology. This broad background across the physical, natural, and social sciences provided her with the foundation for her subsequent M.S. and Ph.D. in environmental science and policy.
Communication of science and policy has been a longstanding interest. Akerlof has worked in journalism and political communication. She was a reporter and editor at high school, college, and local newspapers during her early career, in which she particularly enjoyed writing stories about science. Her initial goal in obtaining a master’s degree was to become a full-time science writer. However, as she completed her thesis, focusing on media coverage of science, science journalists became an endangered breed with the retrenchment of traditional news sources in the face of social media. When offered funding to pursue a doctoral degree full-time, she chose to take that path, which ultimately led to her current academic career.
