Associate Professor Fabien Medvecky
Headshot of man with a black backdrop.
email Fabien.Medvecky@anu.edu.au
link ANU Researcher Portal profile

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About

I’m interested in the relationship between knowledge and society and how social interactions shape, create and direct what counts as knowledge. And there's no better space to study this than science communication understood broadly.

More specifically, my work focuses on how values shape, inform and feed into social discussions and decision making. Coming from a background in philosophy and economics, I usually take a philosophical lens to my research, though I also engage in empirical research.

I'm interested in areas that are challenging and uncomfortable, especially  ethical and justice issues (I have written significantly on the ethics of science communication) and questions over contentious or controversial science and technologies, predominantly in the environmental space.

And I have an interest in how economics (the discipline, not the economy) is made public, and how economic knowledge and expertise interacts with other forms of knowledge and expertise.

Before coming to CPAS, I held posts at the University of Otago Department for Science Communication in New Zealand and the University of Queensland’s Science Communication programme.

I'm an active member of the science communication community being the current secretary of PCST (The Global Network for the Public Communication of Science and Technology) and was previously president of the Science Communicators' Association of New Zealand.

Affiliations

Research interests

  • Theories of science communication
  • Ethics of and Justice in Science Communication
  • Social Epistemology and social knowledge making
  • Making Economics Public
  • Deliberative dialogue and contentious science and technology
  • Responsible Research and Innovation

Projects

  • Genetic technologies and Our Environment : A national Dialogue on the role, hope and concern of gene tech for environmental purposes in New Zealand (Principal Investigator) https://www.talkingecogenetech.nz/
  • Preparing for Impact: How is Science Communication helping us prepare for the next Alpine Fault rupture? (Supervisor)

Teaching information

Fabien teaches SCOM4014/8014: Communicating Science with the Public

Publications

Recent Books:

  • Macknight, V. & Medvecky, F. (2023) Making Economics Public: The Hows and Whys of Communicating Markets and Models, Routledge
  • de Saille, S., F. Medvecky, M van Oudheusden, K Albertson, E Amanatidou, T Birabi and M Pansera, (2020). Responsibility Beyond Growth: A Case for Responsible Stagnation, Policy Press
  • Medvecky, F. & Leach, J. (2019). An Ethics of Science Communication.  Palgrave

Recent Articles:

  • Medvecky, F., J. Metcalfe and M. Riedlinger (2023). "Response to:“Looking back to launch forward: a self-reflexive approach to decolonising science education and communication in Africa”. Recognizing and validating multiple knowledge ecologies." Journal of Science Communication 22(4): Y03.
  • Lucy Dickie & Fabien Medvecky (2023) The attitudes of young adults towards mammalian predator control and Predator Free 2050 in Aotearoa New Zealand, Australasian Journal of Environmental Management
  • Van Oudheusden, M., Berti Suman, A., Huyse, T., Huyse, H. and Medvecky, F. (2023) “The Valuable Plurality of the Citizen Sciences”, Science & Technology Studies
  • MacBride-Stewart, S., McEntee, M., Macknight, V., Medvecky, F., and Martin, M. (2023). “What We Do in Kauri Forests: Exploring the Affective Worlds of ‘High Risk’ Users of Vulnerable Forest Areas in Aotearoa|New Zealand.” Knowledge Cultures, 11(1), 184–204. 
  • McEntee, M., Medvecky, F., MacBride-Stewart, S., Macknight, V., and  Martin, M. (2023)“Park Rangers and Science-Public Expertise: Science as Care in Biosecurity for Kauri Trees in Aotearoa/ New Zealand.” Minerva 61, 117–140.
  • Dixson, H. G. W., A. F. Komugabe-Dixson, F. Medvecky, J. Balanovic, H. Thygesen and E. A. MacDonald (2023). "Trust in science and scientists: Effects of social attitudes and motivations on views regarding climate change, vaccines and gene drive technology." Journal of Trust Research, 1-25.
  • Medvecky, F. (2022). Public Understanding of Ignorance as Critical Science Literacy. Sustainability, 14(10), 5920.
  • Metcalfe, J., Gascoigne, T., Medvecky, F., & Nepote, A. C. (2022). Participatory science communication for transformation. In (Vol. 21, pp. E): SISSA Medialab.
  • Barratt, V., & Medvecky, F. (2022). Knowledge and attitudes towards Australian wildlife rescue services. Australian Zoologist.
  • Heimann, A & Medvecky, F. (2022). Attitudes and motivations of New Zealand conservation volunteers, New Zealand Journal of Ecology 46(1): 3464
  • Reid, O. S., & Medvecky, F. (2021). Sharks and New Zealand news media. Marine Policy, 134, 104751. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2021.104751
  • Kevin Albertson, Stevienna de Saille, Poonam Pandey, Effie Amanatidou, Keren Naa Abeka Arthur, Michiel Van Oudheusden & Fabien Medvecky (2021) An RRI for the present moment: relational and ‘well-up’ innovation, Journal of Responsible Innovation, DOI: 10.1080/23299460.2021.1961066
  • Macknight, V., & Medvecky, F. (2021). ‘It’s not like any survey I’ve ever seen before’: Discrete Choice Experiments as a Valuation Technology. Valuation Studies, 8(1). doi:10.3384/VS.2001-5992.2021.8.1.7-31
  • MacDonald EA, Edwards ED, Balanovic J, Medvecky F. (2021) Scientifically framed gene drive communication perceived as credible but riskier. People & Nature. 2021;00:1–12. https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10186
  • Finkler, W., Medvecky, F., & Davis, L. S. (2021). Environmental Immersion and Mobile Filmmaking for Science Education: a New Zealand Pilot Study. Interdisciplinary Journal of Environmental and Science Education, 17(1), e2228. https://doi.org/10.29333/ijese/9155
  • O’Connor, R. A., Nel, J. L., Roux, D. J., Leach, J., Lim-Camacho, L., Medvecky, F., Kerkhoffh, L., Raman, S. (2021). The role of environmental managers in knowledge co-production: Insights from two case studies. Environmental Science & Policy, 116, 188-195.
  • MacDonald, E. A., Neff, M. B., Edwards, E., Medvecky, F. & Balanovic, J. (2020) Conservation pest control with new technologies: public perceptions, Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, DOI: 10.1080/03036758.2020.1850481
  • MacDonald E. A., Edwards Eric, Balanovic Jovana, Medvecky Fabien (2020) Underlying beliefs linked to public opinion about gene drive and pest-specific toxin for pest control. Wildlife Research 
  • MacDonald, E. A., Balanovic, J., Edwards, E. D., Abrahamse, W., Frame, B., Greenaway, A., Kannemeyer, R., Kirk, N., Medvecky, F., Milfont, T., Russell, J., Tompkins, D. M. (2020). Public Opinion Towards Gene Drive as a Pest Control Approach for Biodiversity Conservation and the Association of Underlying Worldviews. Environmental Communication
  • Macknight, V., & Medvecky, F. (2020). (Google-)Knowing Economics. Social Epistemology, 1-14. doi: 10.1080/02691728.2019.1702735
  • MacDonald, E,  Harbrow, M,  Jack, S, Kidd, J, Wright, A, Tuinder, P, Balanovic, J, Medvecky, F, & Poutasil, M. (2019)  Segmenting urban populations for greater conservation gains: A new approach targeting cobenefits is required. Conservation Science and Practice. e101. https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.101