Hello!  

I am currently a professor and director of graduate studies (M.A. in Communication) in the Department of Communication at Northern Illinois University. I am also a faculty affiliate of Institute for the Study of the Environment, Sustainability and Energy , Northern Illinois Center for Community Sustainability, and Center for Southeast Asian Studies.  

I am particularly interested in how communication choices shape the ways people understand and respond to complex scientific issues. My work examines communication strategies and styles, public engagement with science, and the roles of scientists, organizations, and emerging media in the science communication ecosystem. I study these questions across topics including climate change, health risks, emerging technologies, and corporate environmental and social responsibility. More recently, I have been exploring how artificial intelligence is changing science communication—both as a tool people use to communicate and understand science, and as an emerging technology that introduces new questions about expertise, trust, uncertainty, and accountability.

In 2026–2027, I am an SNF Agora Visiting Fellow at Johns Hopkins University, where I am developing a public-engagement project focused on helping people navigate disagreement about science. I also serve as an Associate Editor of Science Communication.

I received my Ph.D. in Information and Media, my master's in Advertising from Michigan State University, and my bachelor's degree in Advertising from South China University of Technology.

Update:

05/24/2026 - I was selected as SNF Agora fellow at John Hopkins University!

04/02/2026 - With my collaborator Dr. Haoran Chu at University of Florida, we were awarded Page Center Legacy Scholar Grant to explore moral typecasting and stakeholder evaluations of corporate course corrections in politicized contexts.

12/2/2025 - With my collaborator Dr. Bryan Dallas, We secured $199,808 from the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB) for the FY26 Innovative Bridge and Transition program! This funding will support our "Huskies BELONG" project to aid neurodiverse students. 

10/17/25 - I recently presented my team's new work on fairness of crisis AI chatbot at AoIR annual conference in Rio, Brazil. 

8/4/25 - A few articles from our Arthur Page Grant on corporate carbon emission efforts are published! Check them out! (Yuan&Chu, 2025;  Chu&Yuan, 2025)

4/5/25 - Along with my team members, we recently were awarded the Arthur W. Page Legacy Scholar Grant - Ethics of Generative AI in Public Communication. We will investigate how to Identify and Overcome Stereotypes and Biases in Human Detection of AI-Generated Self-Presentation.

1/9/25 - I am currently working as a guest editor of a special issue "Science Communication in the Age of AI'.  It covers topics related to AI and science communication broadly. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions!

1/7/25 - A teaching panel I proposed, "Strategic AI use in the classroom," is selected to be part of AEJMC 2025 program. It is co-sponsored by the comSHER and CTECT divisions. Will have fun conversations about the use of AI by instructors and students!