Faculty: Cacciatore, Michael

Michael Cacciatore awarded $2.5 million grant for research

Posted on by Sarah Freeman

Funds from the U.S. National Science Foundation support research for PBS TERRA, a science-themed hub on YouTube

Michael Cacciatore, co-director of the Center for Health and Risk Communication at Grady College, has been awarded a $2.5 million grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Advancing Informal STEM Learning program.

The funds will provide research for PBS Digital Studios’ TERRA, its science-themed hub on YouTube, as they launch a new slate of STEM content.

Dr. Cacciatore is a co-principal investigator for the grant that also includes Dr. Sara Yeo of the University of Utah.

The grant from NSF will support a two-pronged PBS initiative to create STEM-related, short-form videos and conduct follow-up research to better understand how and why these videos attract underrepresented groups.

“Dr. Cacciatore’s work exemplifies the very best in collaborative research on issues of great importance,” said Charles N. Davis, dean of Grady College. “It’s a reminder that all grant-funded research contains a communicative element, and that Grady College faculty can help design and implement rock-solid empirical studies of message design and effectiveness.”

Cacciatore explains that PBS not only wants to expand its audience with new and underserved audiences, but the organization also recognizes the importance of bringing research into decisions so they are informed by data. He expects part of the research to focus on the role of humor in communicating science, an area PBS already utilizes and that Cacciatore studies.

“For me, this project builds naturally from a lot of the work I’m already doing on humor as a tool for science engagement,” Cacciatore, an associate professor in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations, said of the three-year grant. “At the same time, this project places more of an emphasis on the practical side of things. We’ll have a chance to collect data, analyze the underlying trends in that data, and then see our work influence the content PBS is producing.”

Cacciatore is excited to work with content producers like PBS.

“From an institutional perspective, I love the idea of PBS, arguably the most important provider of educational programming, partnering with UGA, the birthplace of higher education. I think it’s a perfect marriage,” Cacciatore said.

Currently, YouTube’s most popular STEM creators are disproportionately white and male, and viewer data and PBS surveys suggest that Black and Hispanic viewers, as well as women overall, are underrepresented in audiences for STEM content online. With support from the NSF grant, PBS Digital Studios aims to remedy this by expanding PBS TERRA to new, diverse audiences, and examining its impact.

Specifically, PBS Digital Studios plans to launch new series and create special episodes for existing series that explore STEM through a variety of lenses, including humor and popular culture. These STEM series will feature underrepresented voices, especially Black and Hispanic science communicators, in front of and behind the camera and seeks to broaden the audience for STEM content online.

“With the help of NSF, we hope to inspire the next generation of scientists by offering diverse and educational programming in a new way. At PBS, we are committed to presenting viewers with topical content that they cannot find anywhere else— and PBS TERRA is a perfect example. This is incredibly important work, and we are excited to innovate with STEM content and study the impact this content has within underrepresented communities,” said Sylvia Bugg, Chief Programming Executive and General Manager, General Audience Programming at PBS.

The research will be used to show how these groups search for and engage with content related to science, technology, engineering and math. Cacciatore and Yeo will also test hypotheses on the effects of STEM videos featuring scientists and experts that are women, Black and/or Hispanic presenting science content in a variety of ways. A goal of the project is to measure audiences’ attitudes and engagement with science as well as their perceptions of scientists.

The NSF’s AISL program seeks to advance new approaches to and evidence-based understanding of the design and development of STEM learning opportunities for the public in informal environments; provide multiple pathways for broadening access to and engagement in STEM learning experiences; advance innovative research on and assessment of STEM learning in informal environments; and engage the public of all ages in learning STEM in informal environments.

Richard B. Russell Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching: Michael Cacciatore

Posted on by Sarah Freeman

Michael Cacciatore, assistant professor of public relations, was one of three UGA faculty members awarded the Richard B. Russell Award for Excellence in Undergraduate in April 2018. The following provides background if his teaching style and impact on students.

The old adage “That’s the way we’ve always done it” is not part of Michael Cacciatore’s philosophy.

Instead, he thrives on constantly tweaking his curriculum to bring current, relevant examples to his classes while engaging and connecting with his students. This is no easy task considering that he teaches Introduction to Public Relations, which has nearly 300 students this semester, and Public Relations Research, a smaller class averaging about 40 students. Cacciatore also has restructured the curriculum for his large lecture class, placing an increased emphasis on writing, based on feedback received from industry professionals.

“Dr. Cacciatore has a commitment to assuring that student engagement is maintained through interaction within the classroom, through engagement with current issues and practices within the industry and with his own keen intellectual interest in the intersection of teaching and scholarship,” said Charles N. Davis, dean of Grady College.

Cacciatore is always thinking about what is best for his students, whether it is coming in on a Saturday to catch up with them on concepts or accepting a fellowship to spend time in the field and bring real-world applications back to his class. He assumed additional teaching responsibilities when another faculty member fell ill and added a Maymester course to help students who needed the class to graduate.

In addition to the Russell Award, Michael Cacciatore was also named the Teacher of the Year in Advertising, an award presented by Bryan Reber (l.) in April 2018. This marks the third time he was won this award.

Cacciatore credits his teaching drive to his colleagues at Grady College.

“If it wasn’t for the kind of people who I see around me doing it right, and the emphasis that was placed on teaching when I interviewed here, I wouldn’t be receiving an award like this,” he said.

The respect is mutual.

He has been a faculty member at Grady College since 2013, and during that short time, he has won Teacher of the Year honors, based on a faculty vote, three times. In addition to his ability to engage students, Cacciatore is adept at making his students energized about a class like Public Relations Research that may seem daunting at the beginning. He does this by relating core concepts to everyday topics.

In addition to the education, it is Cacciatore’s character and ability to connect that earn him praise from current and former students.

Leila Knox, a former student, said, “Professor Cacciatore has an unparalleled commitment to his students’ learning. His distinct teaching style incorporates different learning methods so that every single student has the opportunity to excel.”

Former student Skyler Horne summed up feelings that many students share: “Professor Cacciatore is a great educator. He already has won this award in the hearts and minds of his students.”

Public skepticism would likely greet a new Zika vaccine, study says

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As scientists race to create a vaccine for the Zika virus, new research from the University of Georgia suggests almost half of Americans wouldn’t be interested in getting the shot even if public health officials recommended it for them.

Only one in three people in an October 2016 nationally representative survey said they would be willing to get a Zika shot if one were available and recommended. More than two out of five respondents said they would not be interested in getting a Zika vaccine, and another quarter were undecided on the question.

One possible explanation for people’s hesitancy to accept a future Zika vaccine is the newness of the vaccine, said Glen Nowak, the lead researcher and director of the Center for Health and Risk Communication in UGA’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. The center focuses on health and risk communication-related research, teaching and service.

“The word ‘new’ in front of a vaccine doesn’t work as well as when you put ‘new’ in front of laundry detergent,” he said. “Many people interpret ‘new’ consumer products as things that are better and improved, and thus worth trying. When you put ‘new’ in front of ‘vaccine,’ people think experimental or that there’s not enough experience with it, and they take a ‘wait and see’ approach.”

Less than a quarter of respondents in the survey said they would trust a new Zika vaccine. Conversely, three out of four people said they trusted in the tetanus shot’s effectiveness, and just slightly under half of Americans trust in the seasonal flu shot to be safe and effective.

Initial reluctance among the public to embrace a new Zika vaccine could pose challenges for vaccine manufacturers and public health officials.

“For things like Zika, Ebola and dengue fever, it would be very helpful to have safe and effective vaccines,” Nowak said. “But there needs to be consumer interest and demand to make vaccine research and development investments worthwhile. It is often not enough to have a recommendation to use a vaccine. Public health officials and health care providers need to educate people about the value and benefits of receiving the vaccine so that people for whom it is recommended actually get it.”

Formulating a recommendation for a mosquito-transmitted disease like Zika would likely be difficult because almost all currently recommended vaccines are for diseases that are primarily transmitted from person to person, Nowak said. Additionally, since the vaccines are still in the early stage of development, scientists don’t yet know how a Zika vaccine would be administered or how many doses people would need.

“It’s not likely that a vaccine for a mosquito-transmitted illness would simply be added to the childhood or adult vaccination schedules,” he said. “Rather, it is more likely such a vaccine would be recommended for people who live in Zika-affected areas or people who travel to such areas. That said, Zika can be transmitted by people to other people and mosquitoes can travel in unpredictable ways.”

The research involved a nationally representative survey data conducted in October. The data comes from the National Opinion Research Center’s AmeriSpeak panel. Collaborators on the research include Michael Cacciatore, an assistant professor of public relations, and Maria Len-Rios, an associate professor of public relations, at UGA.

New survey shows only half of people plan to get flu shots this year

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Americans are split on getting an annual flu shot, with four out of 10 having done so in the past year and around half saying they had already received or were planning to get the vaccine this year, according to new national survey data analyzed by University of Georgia researchers.

People across the country grapple with the decision of whether to get a flu shot every year, with many opting not to vaccinate because of the fluctuation in the shot’s effectiveness from one flu season to the next. But their decision has ramifications beyond whether just keeping them healthy, said Glen Nowak, a professor in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication and director of Grady’s Center for Health and Risk Communication.

“Your flu vaccination helps protect other people from flu, including both really young and older family members who are more vulnerable to severe illness,” Nowak said. “There’s evidence that the vaccine is often most effective in healthy adults 18 to 49, so by them being vaccinated they not only protect themselves from the flu, but they can help reduce the transmission of flu to others.”

Overall, around half of the survey respondents said they definitely or probably would not get the flu vaccine this year. As of October, less than 10 percent of 30- to 59-year-olds and only 5 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds had received a flu shot, and only 13 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds, 18 percent of 30- to 44-year-olds and 30 percent of 45- to 49-year-olds said they were planning to get one. Two out of three people over the age of 60 were planning to or already had received the shot in October.

The flu vaccine is one of only two shots recommended for all adults, the other being a tetanus booster every 10 years. While 75 percent of the 1,000 people surveyed in the nationally representative research said they trusted the tetanus shot to be effective and safe, only around half indicated they trusted the flu vaccine.

“One of the challenges with the flu vaccine is we’ve sort of plateaued in terms of the number of people who get the seasonal flu vaccine,” Nowak said. “That’s unfortunate because more people can clearly benefit from getting it. It’s not a perfect vaccine, but it’s the best protection you can have from influenza.”

One factor that influenced people’s decisions to get a flu shot was their history of getting vaccinated in previous flu seasons; people who received a flu vaccination in previous years were most likely to get a flu vaccination this year. This is a finding that provides hope for a higher adult vaccination rate in the future if more children grow up getting the vaccine.

“People most trust vaccines they’ve had experiences with,” Nowak said. “When people gain experience with a vaccine they often become more willing to follow the vaccination recommendation.”

Flu vaccination is recommended for all adults, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is promoting later-season vaccination with National Influenza Vaccination Week, which takes place Dec. 4-10.

The research involved a nationally representative survey of adults 19 years old and older. The data was collected by the National Opinion Research Center using its AmeriSpeak’s panel. Collaborators on the research include Michael Cacciatore, an assistant professor of public relations, and Maria Len-Rios, an associate professor of public relations, in the Grady College at UGA.