ICR Colloquium Series- Interdisciplinary Risk Communication Research on AI and the Environment
- Event Type
- Seminar/Symposium
- Sponsor
- Institute of Communications Research
- Location
- Gregory Hall, Room 225
- Date
- Feb 19, 2026 12:30 pm 1:30 pm
- Speaker
- Dr. Christopher Wirz
- Contact
- Heather Hendren
- hhendren@illinois.edu
- Originating Calendar
- Institute of Communications Research (ICR) Events, College of Media
- As artificial intelligence (AI) and environmental prediction systems rapidly evolve, they are reshaping how individuals, communities, and institutions understand and respond to environmental risks. However, a major component of successfully developing and implementing these systems is communication. There is a pressing need for communication researchers to tackle questions like how to characterize and convey uncertainty, how to develop systems that meet the needs of communities and decision makers, and how to effectively implement them.In this talk, I present recent interdisciplinary work at the intersection of risk communication, AI, and environmental science. I demonstrate how communication research can provide essential guidance for the development and implementation of emerging tools, from next-generation weather and climate models to AI-driven decision support systems. My hope is to spark discussion and brainstorming on ways communication research can play an integral role in these emerging technological and environmental spaces.
Read more about our speaker Dr. Christopher D. Wirz here: https://extension.illinois.edu/staff/christopher-wirz