A Little About Me

Kelly Bronson

Canada Research Chair in Science & Society at the University of Ottawa

I am the Canada Research Chair in Science and Society and an Associate Professor in the School of Sociological and Anthropological Studies at the University of Ottawa. I am also a core member of the Institute for Science, Society and Policy and a faculty member at the Centre for Law, Technology, and Society.

As a social scientist, I study and intervene in the tensions that emerge between science and society around controversial and emergent technologies, such as genetically modified organisms (GMOs), hydraulic fracturing, big data, and artificial intelligence, and their governance. My research brings community values and non-technical knowledge into conversation with technical expertise to support more inclusive, evidence informed decision making. I lead several major grant funded projects on technologies in agriculture and environmental impact assessment, and I frequently share my findings with academic, policy, and public audiences, from peer-reviewed journals to mainstream media outlets like TVO’s The Agenda.

I run the Canadian Network for Science and Democracy, which has a U.S. counterpart led by Dr. Sheila Jasanoff at Harvard University. I also hold advisory positions on large international research projects in the U.S. and Europe, serve on the editorial boards of Science Communication and the University of Toronto Press book series Technoscience and Society, and sit on expert panels, including those convened by the Council of Canadian Academies. My research has been supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and numerous private foundations, and I have published in regional (Journal of New Brunswick Studies), national (Canadian Journal of Communication), and international journals (Science Communication, Journal of Responsible Innovation, Big Data & Society).

Before joining the University of Ottawa, I directed the Science and Technology Studies program at St. Thomas University in New Brunswick. I hold a Ph.D. in Communication and Cultural Studies from York University and a Master’s degree in the Sociology of Technology from the University of Saskatchewan. Prior to my social science training, I earned two degrees in biology from Queen’s University and worked as a genetics and plant biology researcher.

I welcome inquiries from students interested in exploring the governance of science and technology. I supervise graduate research across a wide range of topics, including the social and ethical dimensions of agricultural innovation, the imaginaries that shape decision-making on technology, and methods for broadening the kinds of expertise considered in policy processes.

I’d be happy to hear from you! Feel free to reach out using the contact form on the home page.

The Science & Society Collective Team

Mary Pat MacRae

is an MA candidate in  Sociology at the University of Ottawa, specializing in Feminist and Gender Studies. She completed her Bachelor’s degree in Global and International Studies, with a specialization in Environmental Studies, at Carleton University. Having grown up in Senegal and Thailand, where art is deeply integrated into everyday life and culture, she developed an appreciation for the ways creative practices can foster community and drive social change.

Aiden Bradley

is an MA candidate and a graduate researcher in Sociology with a specialization in Feminist and Gender Studies at the University of Ottawa in Canada, and is a member-researcher at the Canadian Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Ethical Design Lab (CRAiEDL). He also holds an undergraduate degree from York University in Human Right & Equity Studies. His current research interests explore processes at the intersections of science, technology, and politics. His broader interests include critical legal studies, sociology of food, and philosophy. 

Zerlina Wang


is a Master’s student in Environmental Sustainability at the University of Ottawa. Her research interests focus on environmental justice, environmental policy, and the application of AI, with particular attention to develop a risk repository for agricultural industry to validate and populate case studies that inform policy recommendations. She plans to further explore the intersections of policy, mobility, and social equity in her future research.

Raúl Rodríguez


is a sociology graduate with a specialization in feminist and gender studies. His final research paper critically examined inter-institutional efforts to reframe the image of Mexican labour for foreign investors, within the context of the USMCA. His research interests include futures studies and critical approaches to futures research, organizational sociology, the construction of power through inter-institutional coalitions and solidarities, network theory, and interventions aimed at large-scale behavioral and social change.