Chris Russill is an Associate Professor in the School of Journalism and Communication at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. He completed his Ph.D in communication at Penn State, his M.A. and B. A. at York University.

• Climate Change Communication
• Commercial Weather Media
• Communication Theory
• Environmental and Earth Observing Media
• Pragmatism

He has taught previously at University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, at Penn State, and at University of Otago, in New Zealand.

Current Research

My research is concerned with many aspects of global environmental communication, its earth observing media infrastructure, and its developing information, climatic, weather, and ecosystem industries. My most recent work examines the emergence of ideas of “tipping points” in the climate system, and explores the role that media, scientists, security, and public health agencies play in the development, dissemination, and acceptance of these ideas. My interest in these topics includes the way climate change communication, as a general concern, has become an object of disciplinary appropriation by experts seeking to intervene into a wide range of cultural practices.

I have also studied contemporary environmental media, including Weather Channel, The Weather Network, Whale Wars, the 350 campaign, James Hansen’s warnings of climate danger, and Climate Central, an experiment with climate change TV, which can be found here http://flowtv.org/?author=332.

Selected Publications: Climate Change Communication

Russill, C. 2010. Temporal Metaphor in Abrupt Climate Change Communication: An Initial Effort at Clarification. Social, Economic and Political Aspects of Climate Change, Springer. (in press).

Russill, C. 2010. Stephen Schneider and the “Double Ethical Bind” of Climate Change Communication. Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society. (in press).

Russill, C. & Nyssa, Z. 2009. The Tipping Point Trend in Climate Change Communication. Global Environmental Change 19, 3, 336-344.

Russill, C. 2008. The Billion-Dollar Kyoto Botch Up: Climate Change Communication in New Zealand. Media International Australia, 127: 138-151.

Russill, C. 2008. Sublimity and Solutions: Problematization in ICT for Development Perspectives. Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies, 5, 4, 383-403.

Russill, C. 2008. Tipping Point Forewarnings of Climate Change: Some Implications of An Emerging Trend. Environmental Communication 2, 2:133-153.

Selected Publications: Political Communication and Environmental Crisis (Co-authored with Virginia Tech Political Theorist Chad Lavin)

Russill, C. & Lavin, C. 2011. “From Tipping Points to Meta-Crisis: Management, Media, and Hurricane Katrina,” The Neoliberal Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, Late Capitalist Culture and the Remaking of New Orleans, Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press. (in press).

Lavin, C. & Russill, C. 2010. Ideology of the Epidemic. New Political Science, 32.1, (in press).

Lavin, C. & Russill, C. 2006. The Buoyancy of Failure: Battling Nature in New Orleans. Space and Culture, 9, 1: 48-51.

Selected Publications: Applied Sustainability & Communication (Co-authored with Queens University Physicist Joshua Pearce)

Russill C., & Pearce, J. 2006. Sustainability Communication in American Model Research Universities: A Pragmatist Heuristic and the Rationale for Energy Service Projects. In Innovation, Education, and Communication for Sustainable Development. (Ed.) Walter Leal. Frankfurt: Peter Lang. Pp. 583-600. (Book chapter)

Pearce, J. & Russill C. 2006. Commissioned Assignments in Environmental Policy. Academic Exchange Quarterly, 10, 1: 80-84.

Pearce, J. & Russill, C. 2005. Interdisciplinary Environmental Education: Communicating and Applying Energy Efficiency for Sustainability. Applied Environmental Education and Communication. 4, 1: 65-72.

Pearce, J., & Russill, C. 2003. Student Inquiries into Neglected Research for A Sustainable Society: Communication and Application. Bulletin of Science, Technology, and Society, 23, 4: 311-320.

Selected Publications: Pragmatism and Communication Theory

Russill, C. 2008. Through a Public Darkly: Reconstructing Pragmatist Perspectives in Communication Theory. Communication Theory 18, 4, 478-504.

Russill, C. 2007. Communication Problems in a Pragmatist Perspective. Communication Monographs 74: 125-130.

Russill, C. 2006. For a Pragmatist Perspective on Publics: Advancing Carey’s Cultural Studies Through John Dewey… and Michel Foucault?!. In Thinking With James Carey: Essays on Communications, Transportation, History. (Eds.) J. Packer & C. Robertson. New York: Peter Lang. Pp. 57-78. (Book chapter)

Russill, C. 2005. “Back to Pragmatism…”: Thinking about Publics with Bruno Latour. The Communication Review, 8: 265-276.

Popular Writing on Climate Change

Russill, C. 2009. Whale Wars: A Deeper Shade of Green on the Public Screen. Flow TV 9.11, available at http://flowtv.org/?p=3465

Russill. C. 2009. Climate Change TV. Flow TV 9.05, available at http://flowtv.org/?p=2372

Russill, C. 2008. Climate change virus targets Poland! Copenhagen and China next! Flow TV 9.02, available at http://flowtv.org/?p=2157

Russill, C. 2008. Climate change debate is distorted… Otago Daily Times July 17, (Daily newspaper of Dunedin, New Zealand)

Teaching

• COMM 4103: Environmental Communication
• COMM 1101: Introduction to Communication