Barbara Herr Harthorn

Barbara Herr Harthorn is Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, with courtesy appointments in Sociology and Feminist Studies. From 2005-2017 she directed the NSF national Center for Nanotechnology in Society (CNS-UCSB) and continues as an executive-committee member of the UC Center for Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology (UC CEIN).

Education:

• PhD Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles
• BA Anthropology, Bryn Mawr College
• NIMH Post-Doctoral training, Social Psychology, UCSB

Research Interests:

Her scholarship integrates medical and psychological anthropology with science & technology studies to investigate how social inequalities shape perceptions of technological and environmental risk. Core themes include the gendered and racialized production of health disparities, public understanding of emerging technologies such as nanotechnology, synthetic biology and hydraulic fracturing, and the design of responsible innovation and governance mechanisms.

Using large-scale surveys, in-depth interviews, deliberative workshops and comparative cross-national designs, she examines how diverse publics, experts and industry stakeholders interpret risks and benefits, and how these interpretations influence policy and regulatory outcomes.

Research Trends:

Across more than 120 peer-reviewed works, her publications reveal a consistent focus on risk perception and governance of emerging technologies. Early work addressed farmworker health and physician gatekeeping in mental health care, followed by foundational studies on nanotechnology risk, and more recently shale gas and synthetic biology. The trajectory shows increasing integration of environmental justice frameworks, trans-Atlantic comparative analyses, and methodological innovation in deliberative public engagement.

Scientific Awards & Honors:

• Elected Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (2008)

Grants & Leadership:

• Principal Investigator and Director, NSF Center for Nanotechnology in Society at UCSB (2005-2017)
• Executive Committee, NSF/EPA UC Center for Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology (UC CEIN)
• Co-Principal Investigator, NSF “Constructing a Synthetic Neuron” (2019-2023)
• Co-Principal Investigator, NSF “Building a Proteocell” (2019-2022)
• Multiple NSF, EPA and international grants supporting comparative risk perception and public deliberation research

Laboratories & Teams:

She heads interdisciplinary teams at CNS-UCSB and UC CEIN that bring together anthropologists, sociologists, political scientists, toxicologists, engineers and policy experts to conduct mixed-methods research on emerging technology governance. The CNS-UCSB team has trained over 100 graduate and postdoctoral researchers and produced influential reports for US and EU policymakers.