David GerstleView profile
Lecturer
David Gerstle is a Lecturer in Communication and Media at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. Trained as a linguistic anthropologist, his academic work bridges humanities and science studies, examining how biological knowledge is constructed and disseminated in society. Dr. Gerstle's research investigates the production, popularization, and reception of evolution, biology, and genetics across media, policy, marketing, medical health, education, and activism. His work critically examines how scientific understandings of human nature intersect with race, gender, sexuality, disability, and socio-economic class. He approaches science not as neutral fact-discovery but as a social practice embedded within cultural and historical contexts. His publications reveal consistent engagement with evolutionary theory's societal implications, particularly how concepts like evolutionary mismatch are deployed to explain contemporary social problems. Gerstle analyzes the rhetoric surrounding biological determinism and its connections to enduring social inequalities, while also developing pedagogical approaches for teaching science as a social practice to STEM students. As an active contributor to the CASTAC Blog (Platypus), Gerstle participates in broader conversations about anthropology of science, technology, and computing, bringing critical perspectives to scientific discourse while making complex ideas accessible to diverse audiences.