Chris Russill
Associate Professor
| Building: | Richcraft Hall, Room 4104 |
| Department: |
Biography
Chris Russill is an Associate Professor in the School of Journalism and Communication and an Academic Director at , a centre for climate communication and public engagement, both housed at 杏吧原创 University, Ottawa, Canada.
His current work focuses on how climate communication has been transformed by changes to our information environment, and how communicators struggle with disinformation, crisis management, and public engagement as a result. He lectures widely on these topics and is a frequent commentator on these issues in media (Canadian Press; CBC; The Star; Postmedia; AFP Canada; France 24; CTV news; National Observer; Narwhal). He has also made expert to the Competition Bureau on greenwashing and deceptive marketing with Dr. Patrick McCurdy
His current projects include, 鈥淲ho Killed the Carbon Tax,鈥� an investigation into the communication of carbon pricing in Canada, which will be developed as a true crime podcast.
Chris co-edited with Anabela Carvalho and Julie Doyle, a collection exploring conceptual invention in public forms of climate action. He has also edited , a collection engaging with Google Earth, digital globes, drones, radar, sonar, GPS, and satellite imaging.
He is an Associate Editor at Science and Environmental Communication and serves on the boards of Environmental Communication, Palgrave Studies in Media and Environmental Communication, and Communication Undisciplined. He teaches classes in Climate Change + Communication and contributes to the new (you can do this degree in our communication program!).
Chris completed his Ph.D. in communication at Penn State, and his M.A. and B. A. at York University in Toronto. He is an external member of the Institute for Environment, Conservation and Sustainability at the University of Toronto, a former fellow at the Balsillie School of International Affairs, and a former editor of the Canadian Journal of Communication.听
Recent Publications
Russill, C. 2025. . The Handbook of Communication Ethics, eds. Amit Pinchevski, Patrice M. Buzzanell, Jason Hannan, New York: Routledge.
Russill, C. and Alrasheed, G. 2025. Discourse Analysis and Climate Communication. , eds. A. Anderson and C. Howarth. Routledge Press
Kopp, R.E., Gilmore, E.A., Shwom, R.L., Adams, H., Adler, C., Oppenheimer, M., Patwardhan, A., Russill, C., Schmidt, D.N. and York, R., 2025. . Nature Climate Change, 15(1), pp.29-36.
Russill, C., 2024. Displacements of Care in Climate Crisis: The Case of Tipping Points. Environmental Communication, 18(1-2), pp.94-101.
Aronczyk, M., McCurdy, P. and Russill, C., 2024. Greenwashing, net-zero, and the oil sands in Canada: The case of Pathways Alliance. Energy Research & Social Science, 112, p.103502.
Russill, C., 2023. Alarmism and accountability in climate communication during extreme events. Social Media+ Society, 9(2).
Carvalho, A., Russill, C. and Doyle, J. 2021. Critical Approaches to Climate Change and Civic Action. Frontiers: Science and Environmental Communication.
Public Reports, Government Submissions, and Lectures
Russill, C. and McCurdy, P. 2025. Submission to the Competition Bureau on the Dec 13 draft of proposed guidelines concerning environmental claims, Feb 25. Available .
Russill, C., McCurdy, P., and Aronczyk, M. 2024. Submission for Greenwashing Consultation, Competition Bureau, Sept. 26. Available .
Russill, C., Bridgman, A., Hayes, H., Khoo, M., Alrasheed, G., Tollefson, H., Ross, C., and Peterson, L. 2024. Flame Wars: Misinformation and Wildfire in Canada鈥檚 Climate Conversation. Available .
Alrasheed, G., Aronczyk, M., McCurdy, P., and Russill, C. 2024. What Lies Beneath. Pathways Alliance, Greenwashing, Networks and Narratives. (webinar recording available ).
Comeau, L., Russill, C., Velasquez-Rose, S., and Cox, R. 2024. Don鈥檛 Let Canada Burn: Communicating Climate Change in Wildfire Season. (webinar recording available ).
Russill, C., McCurdy, P., and Kliever, J. 2024 Oil sands disinformation is worse than you think. Available .
Alrasheed, G. and Russill, C. 2023. Canada鈥檚 Online News Act: What it means for climate communicators. Available .
Grants
Chris has received funding from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). McConnell Foundation, Ivey Foundation, Donner Foundation, Jarislowsky Foundation, Trottier Family Foundation, Environmental Funders Canada, Clean Economy Fund, and Mathematics of Information Technology and Complex Systems (MITACS).