Building Knowledge Together: Citizen Science, Communication, and Trust | 5 - 6 October 2026, Berlin

Cornell University

Leibniz-Institut für Wissensmedien
Leibniz Lab Systemic Sustainability & Leibniz Lab Pandemic Preparedness

I am currently the head and Professor, Department of Advertising and Marketing Communications, University of Uyo, Nigeria where I have been teaching for the past 18 years. My research interest is in organisational communication including science and technology organisations. My most recent PCST symposium participation was in Suzhou and Zhejiang in China, 2024.

Anne-Floor Scholvinck is a senior researcher at the Rathenau Instituut, based in The Hague (the Netherlands). She specialises in public trust in science, public involvement in science, and evidence-informed policy.

Anne-Floor wrote her PhD-thesis on patient involvement in health research decision-making, which she defended at the VU Amsterdam in 2018. In 2020-2021, Anne-Floor was seconded to the UNESCO headquarters in Paris. As an Open Science expert, she contributed to drafting the global UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science, which has been adopted by the member states in November 2021.

Wissenschaft im Dialog

Borono Bassey is a Lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication in the University of Uyo, Nigeria

Bruce V. Lewenstein is Professor of Science Communication and University Ombuds at Cornell University. He served as chair of Cornell’s Department of Science & Technology Studies, 2014-2021. In 2025, he was the inaugural winner of the PCST Award for advancement of science communication as a professional field, given by the PCST: The Global Network of Public Communication of Science & Technology. Trained as a historian of science, he works across the field of public communication of science and technology, including informal science education, citizen science/participatory science, and communication training for scientists.

I am currently a professor and researcher at the Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology (CBMA), University of Minho (Portugal). I now lead a small research group that carries out fundamental and applied research at the frontier across biological and environmental sciences, motivated by the belief that solid cross-disciplinary scientific underpinnings are needed to approach the current threats against natural ecosystems and to tackle the consequences of climate and man-induced disturbance. We are currently very interested in the impacts of urban and stormwater runoff on receiving ecosystems, with it engaging citizens into reflecting upon the role of urban biodiversity and the services it provides, as well as discussing more adequate and sustainable practices of stormwater and landscape management.

Sciences Faculty, University of Porto, cguerra@fc.up.pt

Freie Universität Berlin,
Deutsches Zentrum für Psychische Gesundheit, Standort Berlin-Potsdam

Dagmar Niewold is a certified expert by experience in the field of Poverty and Health. She lived in
poverty herself, completed an advanced vocational education and was certified for her research on
the relationship between poverty and chronic stress. Dagmar is involved in several projects as an
expert by experience, for example, projects about social exclusion, poverty and health, and citizen
science. She also is a citizen researcher of cardiovascular disease in people who have difficulty
making ends meet.

Università degli Studi di Padova - University of Padua (Italy)

Fachhochschule Potsdam

SMA Europe

UCIBIO-I4HB-Faculty of Pharmacy of University of Porto

PhD student in Frontier Sciences in Sustainability, Diplomacy and International Cooperation at the University for Foreigners of Perugia (UNESCO Chair in Water Resources Management and Culture).

I am a Post-doctoral researcher at the Athena Institute, Vrije University Amsterdam. My current research integrates insights from various disciplines and experiential knowledge through creative (including art-based) practices.

Prof. dr. Nagelhout is lector ‘Engaged Science’ at Avans University of Applied Sciences and endowed professor ‘Health Inequalities’ at Maastricht University in the Netherlands. Her expertise is participatory health research, citizen science, science communication, and socioeconomic differences in health and wellbeing.

Citizen Science Koordination, Forschungsdezernat der Universität Tübingen

My affiliation is the University of Uyo, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria where I am a professor and the head, Department of Information and Media Studies. Over the past 25 years, my research interests have been in science, health, and environmental communication. I am a member of the PCST Network and have attended a few of our conferences in Italy, Brazil, and Suzhou. In 2020, I co-authored the Nigeria chapter in the PCST inspired book: Communicating Science.

Irene Gianordoli, BEd MSc, is a biologist and environmental educator at the Austrian Research Centre for Forests (BFW), leading innovative projects on the communication of forests, climate change, and citizen science.

Austrian Research Centre for Forests (BFW)

University of Utah

I am an environmental psychologist by training, with a focus on understanding how perceptions, attitudes, and behaviours influence responses to major societal challenges, including climate change, public health threats, and science scepticism.

KielSCN
IPN- Leibniz Institute of Science and Mathematics Education

Jin Zhou is a first-year master’s student in the Department of Sociology, School of Social Sciences, Tsinghua University. Her research concentrates on the interdisciplinary intersection of science and technology studies and sociology.

Head of Science Communication at Laimburg Research Centre (South Tyrol, Italy)

PhD Candidate in Communication Management, Turiba University, Riga, Latvia
ORCID: 0000-0002-2345-5206

University of Naples Federico II

Kirsten Vegt is a PhD candidate at Leiden University and the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) in the Netherlands. Her research explores the intersection of psychological distance to and trust in science, and the social robustness of policy-relevant environmental science through citizen engagement.

Rathenau Instituut & Leiden University

Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Germany
Universität Lübeck, Germany

Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften Hamburg, Fakultät Gesundheit

xxx

Faculty of Environmental Science and Engineering & Office for Open Science, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Estudante do Mestrado de Multimédia

Marc Schwarzkopf, M.Sc., has been a research associate at the Chair of Ergonomics and Innovation at Chemnitz University of Technology since 2020. After completing his studies in Sensory and Cognitive Psychology, he gained professional experience at Deutsche Telekom before joining academia. His research focuses on sustainable mobility, particularly the assessment of cycling safety, the evaluation of urban infrastructure and citizen participation. In addition, he works on the application of virtual reality and ergonomic methods to the analysis of socio-technical systems. Since September 2022, he has served as Cluster Manager of the Innovation Management Cluster.

Research Communication Office, Communication Department, Eurecat, Centre Tecnològic de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain

Leibniz-Institut für Psychologie (ZPID)

Latvian Academy of Culture

Research interests: media psychology, online hate speech, political participation through citizen science

Michiel van Oudheusden is an Associate Professor of Public Participation in Science and Democracy at the Athena Institute (VU Amsterdam), working at the intersections of science communication, citizen science, public engagement, and innovation governance. He previously worked as a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Independent Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge and has held positions at several universities across Belgium.

Miriam Meuser is a PhD Candidate in Environmental Psychology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), funded by the NTNU Energi focus area “The Renewable Revolution” and associated to the NOTRAP center. Her research focuses on social and psychological aspects of local energy transitions, following a mixed-methods approach.

Public Engagement Hub, Universität Tübingen

OeAD – Agentur für Bildung und Internationalisierung

Rachel Williams is a PhD candidate jointly affiliated with UN-IHE Delft and Leiden University, researching trust dynamics in the institutionalization of citizen science within environmental governance, with a focus on transformative change processes across three policy domains: zero pollution, biodiversity protection and deforestation prevention.

Raquel Branquinho is a transdisciplinary researcher at the University of Porto (UCIBIO-FFUP) and a senior specialist in science communication. She holds a degree in Microbiology (ESB-UCP) and a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences (FFUP), and is Co-founder and President of NGO ARMA-Sci. Working at the interface between science and society, she focuses on participatory approaches and public engagement in underserved and rural communities, promoting science as a driver of empowerment, inclusion and sustainable development.

Sara Robberson Lentz is a STEM education leader who designs and scales research-informed learning experiences that connect scientific discovery with public engagement. As STEM Education Officer at the Associated Universities, Inc., she leads multi-institutional projects that translate STEM research into classroom curriculum, media, and community-based programs, advancing STEM identity development and participation among youth.

Her work integrates research, media, and practice to broaden participation in STEM and expand access to high-quality science learning across formal and informal environments. She is also co-founder of Tumble Science Podcast for Kids, where she collaborates with scientists and educators to transform research into widely accessible, narrative-driven audio experiences for children and families.

University of Vienna, Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology

Scivil

(The Flemish Knowledge and Research Center for Citizen Science)

Deutsches Zentrum für Psychische Gesundheit (DZPG)
DIPF | Leibniz-Institut für Bildungsforschung und Bildungsinformation

Master's student in multimedia

Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (OUCRU), Vietnam

I am an ecologist and the lead of the Pollination Ecology Workgroup at the University of Tartu, Estonia. My research integrates landscape ecology, conservation genomics and citizen science to study the ecological and evolutionary consequences of habitat change for plant diversity, genetic variation and plant–pollinator interactions. I initiated and led the pan-European citizen science initiative ‘Looking for Cowslips’, developed from fundamental research questions within our group. I also collaborate with social scientists to better understand the human dimensions of land-use change and biodiversity.

Department of Philosophy, Peking University

Dr Yulia Akisheva is a communication expert and the founder of Yulia Talk Smart, a consultancy dedicated to helping STEM professionals master public speaking, effective communication, and team dynamics. With 10 years’ experience teaching at top universities, delivering workshops, and coaching individuals and groups, Yulia specialises in empowering technical professionals to communicate with clarity and confidence across all levels of expertise.

Yulia’s coaching method is goal-oriented and rooted in competitive debate and best public speaking practices. An award-winning aerospace engineer and researcher, Yulia holds a PhD in the Protective Use of Regolith for Planetary and Lunar Exploration and has contributed to advancing human spaceflight and radiation protection. Her unique combination of technical expertise and communication training makes her a trusted adviser for individuals and organisations seeking to enhance collaboration and impactful communication.

Find out more about your coach here: https://www.yuliatalksmart.com/

Institute for Science Technology and Society, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, P.R. China.

Department of Design, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)
I am an Interaction Designer with a research interest in Participatory Speculative Design on topics related to eco-social justice and decolonial feminist research ethics. I'm currently working as a PhD Candidate at the Department of Design, NTNU on a project looking into methods for opening possibilities for collectively imagined futures for energy transitions through the lens of letting go.