Scott Hanson-easey

Biography

I have a formal background in social psychology and joined the School of Public Health in 2012 to manage a National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility (NCCARF) funded project: Public understanding of climate change risk in South Australia. Before that, my PhD research focused on the discursive and rhetorical aspects of racism as it is produced on talkback radio. Since then, I have focused on better understanding how people perceive and construe natural and human-induced hazards (and infectious diseases), and how risk communication efforts could better address cultural, social and discursive factors manifest in different settings. In particular, my work has utilised a community-based participatory research (CBPR) paradigm to develop a communication framework, guiding emergency service agencies in the process of designing risk and emergency messages with New and Emerging Communities across Australia. In addition to this research, I am Manager of NCCARF's Vulnerable Communities Adaptation Network (VCN), hosted by the School of Public Health at the University of Adelaide. The network aims to strengthen Australia's research capacity in this vital area and augment understanding of how climate change will impact on the nation's most vulnerable groups, and how these impacts can be mitigated. My research is currently interested in how heatwaves are communicated to, and understood by, lay publics, and explores the phenomenon of 'message fatigue' and its role in mediating protective behaviours amongst the public. This research aims to provide emergency management stakeholders with guidance on how to effectively engage audiences and overcome complacency to the health risks associated with extreme heat.

Research Interest

Medicine,Medical Education,Research,etc