Risk analysis

Combining expertise in science, engineering, economics, decision analysis, psychology, and behavioral decision theory, EPP is home to one of the world’s leading research programs in risk analysis and risk communication. Our work ranges from the analysis of new and underappreciated risks to ways of improving risk management and regulation. We study public perception and how we can increase common understanding of risks and encourage active public participation in risk-related decisions.

Research videos

Faculty

Wändi Bruine de Bruin

Collaborating Professor
Engineering and Public Policy

Email: wandi@cmu.edu

Full bio

Nicolas Christin

Professor
Engineering and Public Policy, Software and Societal Systems Department

Courtesy Appointment
Electrical and Computer Engineering

Email: nicolasc@andrew.cmu.edu

Full bio

Doron Cohen

Assistant Professor
Engineering and Public Policy

Email: doronc@andrew.cmu.edu

Full bio

Lorrie Cranor

Director and Bosch Distinguished Professor in Security and Privacy Technologies
CyLab

FORE Systems Professor
Engineering and Public Policy, Software and Societal Systems Department

Director
Usable Privacy and Security Lab

Co-director
MSIT-Privacy Engineering Masters Program

Courtesy Appointments
Electrical and Computer Engineering, Heinz College, Human-Computer Interaction Institute

Email: lorrie@cs.cmu.edu

Full bio

Baruch Fischhoff

Howard Heinz University Professor
Engineering and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon Institute for Strategy & Technology

Email: baruch@cmu.edu

Full bio

M. Granger Morgan

Professor
Electrical and Computer Engineering, Engineering and Public Policy, Heinz College

Email: granger.morgan@andrew.cmu.edu

Full bio

Related news

Fischhoff co-authors NASEM report on self-tests for infectious diseases

Baruch Fischhoff co-authored a new NASEM Health and Medicine report. The newly released rapid expert consultation summarizes the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic for the future development and usage of self-tests for circulating infectious diseases and future outbreaks and pandemics.

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A critical window to align ML with climate change mitigation

Ph.D. student Priya Donti has co-authored a perspective piece in Nature Climate Change outlining a systematic framework for describing the effects of AI on greenhouse gas emissions.

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Universities Should Set the Standard in COVID-19 Data Reporting

In a new paper in Issues, Engineering and Public Policy Ph.D. student Elina Hoffman, Associate Professor Valerie Karplus, and Professor Erica Fuchs argue that university reporting of COVID-19 testing data has been insufficient.

Fischhoff authors piece on the COVID communication breakdown

In a recently published article in Foreign Affairs, Engineering and Public Policy Howard Heinz University Professor Baruch Fischhoff discusses the Covid communication breakdown and how to fix public health messaging.

Fighting Vaccine Hesitancy: What Can We Learn From Social Science?

Following a webinar on the recent rapid report consultations from NASEM, Howard Heniz University Professor Baruch Fischhoff and Emily K. Brunson, associate professor at Texas State University, take questions regarding vaccine hesitancy and communication surrounding vaccine efficacy, and offer insights from their own research and experience.

Fischhoff authors NASEM report on communicating vaccine efficacy and effectiveness

Engineering & Public Policy's Howard Heinz University Professor Baruch Fischhoff was the lead author on the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine rapid expert consultation report, “Understanding and Communicating about COVID-19 Vaccine Efficacy, Effectiveness, and Equity.”

The risks of communicating extreme climate forecasts

For decades, climate change researchers and activists have used dramatic forecasts to attempt to influence public perception of the problem and as a call to action on climate change. These forecasts have frequently been for events that might be called “apocalyptic,” because they predict cataclysmic events resulting from climate change. In a new paper published in the International Journal of Global Warming, Carnegie Mellon University’s David Rode and Paul Fischbeck argue that making such forecasts can be counterproductive.

The National Academies COVID-19 Committee releases vaccine report

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine released the final report of a consensus study recommending a four-phased equitable allocation framework that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and state, tribal, local, and territorial (STLT) authorities should adopt in the development of national and local guidelines for COVID-19 vaccine allocation.

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