Zeynep Altinay

Zeynep Altinay serves as an Assistant Professor at the University of Nevada, Reno's Reynolds School of Journalism, specializing in science and visual communication with emphasis on public opinion regarding environmental and health issues. Her research examines how risk perceptions influence adoption of scientific innovations and technologies across diverse societal contexts.

Her academic credentials include:

• Ph.D. in Media and Public Affairs, Louisiana State University
• M.S. in Environmental Science, Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs
• M.A. in Journalism, Indiana University’s School of Journalism
• B.A. in Environmental Studies, Binghamton University

Dr. Altinay's research integrates environmental communication, health communication, and visual rhetoric to analyze public responses to crises including climate change, pandemics, and pollution. She employs privacy management theories to explore contact tracing adoption and investigates place attachment in climate change framing, with methodological approaches spanning quantitative community-level analysis and visual content studies. Her work consistently addresses environmental justice implications across Nevada, Louisiana, and national contexts.

Analysis of her 15 most recent publications (2025-2017) reveals dominant themes in environmental risk communication (47% of works), pandemic response (20%), and visual communication strategies (33%). Key trends include increasing focus on health equity in vaccination campaigns (2023-2024), longitudinal examination of coastal risk perception (2017-2023), and innovative applications of visual methods in medical record engagement (2023).