As a social scientist, Nisbet studies strategic communication in policy-making and public affairs. He is the author of more than 50 peer-reviewed studies, scholarly book chapters, and monographs, and serves on the editorial boards of the International Journal of Press/Politics and Science Communication.
Nisbet's scholarship has appeared at high-impact disciplinary journals such as Public Opinion Quarterly, Public Understanding of Science, andCommunication Research as well as interdisciplinary outlets such asScience, Environment, Climatic Change, Nature Biotechnology, and theAmerican Journal of Public Health.
Among awards and recognition, Nisbet has been named a Health Policy Investigator at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and a Google Science Communication Fellow. In 2011, the editors at Nature recommended Nisbet's research as “essential reading for anyone with a passing interest in the climate change debate,” and the New Republic highlighted his work as a “fascinating dissection of the failures of climate change activism.”
Since 2002, his work has been cited more than 800 times in the peer-reviewed literature and in more than 300 books. A frequently invited speaker, he has given lectures on more than three dozen college campuses worldwide. His consulting experience includes work for the National Academies, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the Centers for Disease Control and other public and private sector clients.
At American, Nisbet directs the Climate Shift Project, an initiative producing interdisciplinary research and independent media examining the climate change and energy debates. Climate Shift’s network of social scientists, scholars and professionals work with a diversity of organizations and agencies; train students, researchers and leaders; and convene forums and events that engage the Washington, D.C. community.
Nisbet holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in Communication from Cornell University and an AB in Government from Dartmouth College. He served previously on the faculty at The Ohio State University and he has been a visiting fellow at Dresden Technical University (Germany) and The Exploratorium (San Francisco).