Edna Einsiedel
Professor, Communication Studies
Faculty of Communication and Culture
University of Calgary

Edna Einsiedel is University Professor and Professor of Communication Studies in the Faculty of Communication and Culture at the University of Calgary. She received her Bachelor of Science in Zoology from the University of the Philippines and her PhD in Mass Communications from Indiana University.

Her research interests are in the areas of health and risk communications and the social issues around life science technologies, focusing on social representations of technology in the public, media and policy spheres. She has also done studies on public participation in technology assessment and decision-making, focusing on biotechnology and genomics.

Her studies on public participation led to her involvement with public consultation initiatives with Health Canada and the Canadian Public Health Association on xenotransplantation policy and with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada on plant molecular farming regulation.

She served as team leader for a Genomics, ethics, environmental, economic, legal and social studies (GE³LS) project supported by Genome Canada on Genomics, commercialization and society from 2001-2005. She is a co-leader on a second GE³LS project on Genomics and knowledge translation in health systems (2006-2009). Her research has also been supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research, and the Alberta Science Research Authority. Her studies have been published in a diverse range of journals in the sciences and social sciences including Nature Biotechnology, Science, Public understanding of Science, Science Communications, and Science and Engineering Ethics. She is currently serving as editor of the international journal Public Understanding of Science. She also serves as member of the Board of Governors for the Council of Canadian Academies of Science.

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