CLEAR Center Staff Featured on NC State's "The Science The Feeds Us" Podcast"
Emerging technologies like CRISPR gene editing have the potential to improve animal health, strengthen food production and advance sustainability. But whether those innovations ultimately succeed may depend on something just as important as the science itself: how well scientists communicate with the people they hope to serve.
That was the focus of a recent episode of The Science That Feeds Us, a podcast hosted by North Carolina State University's Dr. Katie Sanders, assistant professor and Extension specialist in food systems communication, and doctoral student and graduate research assistant, Bhavisha Gulabrai. The pair welcomed UC Davis CLEAR Center Deputy Director Joe Proudman and Senior Content Writer and Media Strategist Tracy Sellers for a conversation about CRISPR technology, public perception and the power of storytelling.
For Proudman and Sellers, helping researchers translate complex science into meaningful conversations has become central to their work at the CLEAR Center. Both arrived at agricultural communications through journalism. Sellers spent two decades telling California agriculture's story through television before joining UC Davis, while Proudman began his career as a newspaper reporter covering agriculture in California's Central Valley before moving into university communications. Those experiences shaped how they approach science communication today.
"We want to take information that's happening in academia and make it understandable," Proudman said. "If agriculture isn't talking about these issues, somebody else will. Our hope is that when people have questions, they come to us for science-based information and then make informed decisions."
The discussion centered on CRISPR, a gene-editing technology researchers are exploring across livestock species to address challenges ranging from disease resistance to animal welfare. In the swine industry, researchers are investigating how CRISPR could help pigs resist diseases such as porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS), while other projects are examining ways to improve animal welfare through genetic solutions. Although the science continues to evolve, the panel agreed that the technology's future will depend as much on public understanding as scientific advancement.
That realization led NC State and the CLEAR Center to collaborate on a National Pork Board-funded research project examining consumer perceptions of CRISPR-edited pork. The project surveyed more than 2,000 consumers to better understand what people know about the technology, what concerns they have and how researchers can communicate about it more effectively. Rather than assuming scientific evidence alone would drive public acceptance, the team focused on the human side of innovation.
"We wanted to understand what consumers know about CRISPR, how they feel about it and what kind of messaging would be most effective," Proudman said.
For Sellers, those conversations always begin with a simple question: Why?
"People want to know what's in it for them," she said. "How is this going to affect me? Is it going to make food safer, healthier or more affordable? They want to understand why the research matters."
Answering that question often starts with telling the story behind the science rather than leading with technical details. Sellers recalled interviewing a UC Davis researcher studying cattle behavior. Before discussing the research itself, she asked what inspired the project. The researcher described wondering as a child why some cows stood at the top of a hill while others stayed below — a simple curiosity that eventually became a scientific career. Those personal stories, Sellers said, help audiences connect with research they might otherwise overlook.
"We're not dumbing things down," she said. "We're smartening people up. We're giving them the information they need to make informed decisions."
The conversation also emphasized that effective science communication extends beyond simplifying technical language. It requires honesty about what researchers know, what they are still learning and why the work matters.
"I think honesty is a really big part of it," Sellers said. "This is what we're working on. This is why we're working on it. This is what we know now, and we don't know everything — and that's okay."
Proudman believes researchers should begin thinking about communication long before new technologies reach the marketplace. Too often, he said, scientists wait until innovations are fully developed before considering how consumers might respond.
"We shouldn't wait until the end to find out whether people accept something," he said. "We should be bringing people along throughout the research process."
That includes incorporating social scientists and communication researchers into research projects from the beginning, helping scientists understand public concerns while technologies are still being developed.
Throughout the discussion, the panel returned to one common theme: trust. Whether researchers are discussing CRISPR, sustainability or any emerging agricultural technology, trust is built through transparency, accessible storytelling and a willingness to engage rather than simply inform.
As scientific discoveries continue to reshape food and agriculture, the speakers agreed that effective communication will be essential to ensuring those innovations are understood as well as developed.
"Scientific breakthroughs are important," Sellers said, "but being able to clearly communicate them is almost just as important. If people don't understand the research, they're not going to care about it."
Hear more from Clear Center staff Joe Produman and Tracy Sellers in their episode of NC State’s The Science the Feeds Us podcast.