Ernest Hemingway once said, “Prose is architecture, not interior decoration.” I can only assume that Hemingway meant that our thoughts and our words should not be internalized. Rather, they need to be mobilized in an artful, meaningful way and shared with others.

For the past several years, this blog has become a place-keeper for my musings around work and research. It has also become a forum for many personal anecdotes (more to come); as a way to share my life experiences with others.

Welcome to the architecture! Feel free to knock on doors, roam the rooms, dust the shelves, and help me to re-arrange my mental furniture!

Cami Ryan, PhD

B.Comm (technology management and marketing), PhD Interdisciplinary Studies (agricultural economics, sociology, organizational behaviour)

Mainstream media, podcasts, and interviews

• Communicating Ag in an Attention Economy, Talking Biotech Podcast with Kevin Folta.
• Mis/Disinformation: Difficult to detect, impossible to ignore, Purdue University’s Center for Food and Agricultural Business
• The Bad Stuff is Easier to Believe: disinformation, ag, and societies, LinkedIn blog post
• Storytelling 2.0: the next generation in outreach and engagement, SAIFood Blog
• Fast Information Nation? The social costs of our highly connected world Cami Ryan’s blog
• “Why you should avoid predatory journals, welcome rigorous peer review.” Forbes (co-authored with John Vicini)

• “Young Mothers Prove Powerful in the Food Safety Debate” Western Producer. co-authored with Sarah Schultz. March, 2014
• “How to answer those tough agricultural questions from your urban neighbours.” Alberta Farmer. Interview with Alexis Kienlen. February 26, 2014
• “Connect with Consumers on Social Media to Dispel Ag Myths.” Western Producer. February 21, 2014
• “Study Linking GM and Tumours Retracted.” Portage Online. Interview with Kelvin Heppner. December 3, 2013
• “No Room in Science for Provocateurs.” Western Producer. November 22, 2013
• “Labels and other ‘Krafty’ Stuff,” Scientific American Blogs, September 5, 2013
• “What’s in a GMO Label?,” Independent Women’s Forum, August 29th, 2013
• “10 ‘reasoned’ responses to 10 reasons we don’t need GMOs,” AgWest Blog, May 15, 2013
• “Why GMO Myths are So Appealing and Powerful”, Discover Mag Blogs, May 30, 2013
• “Seed Rights vs Patent Protection.” Western Producer. May 1, 2013
• “Monsanto Court Case not about the Save-the-Seed Myth.” Winnipeg Free Press. February 23, 2013
• “You Can Eat Your Bugs and Your Toxins.” Western Producer. November 21, 2012
• “Organic not safer than conventional” Western Producer. co-authored with Robert Wager (Vancouver Island University), January 6, 2012

Best of Blog series

• GMOs and Public Perceptions (five part series)
• The Closer you Get: The fear and disgust response
• The Wizardry of ‘Oz’ – a peek behind the curtain of the anti-GM movement  
• Dear Celebrity 
• Fear profiteering = big profit!

Select Guest Blogs:

• Why GMO Myths are so Appealing and Powerful, Collide-a-Scape, Discover Magazine Blog, May 30, 2013
• Interest Groups Turn Supreme Court Case into a ‘Save the Seeds’ Myth, AgWest Bio Inc., March 1, 2013
• The Roles of ‘Rationality’, ‘Toxicity’ and ‘Partisanship’ in Interpreting Science Information, Biofortified, August 18, 2012.
• Apathy & Online Activism: an impetus for science & science communication? AgWest Bio Blog, January 26, 2012

Research-Related Stuff:

• See list of scholarly works HERE
• The Importance of Communicating Empirically Based Science for Society. CAST Report. (2020). Co-authored with Stuart Smyth, Jon Entine, Ruth MacDonald, Meghan Wulster-Radcliffe.
• Maintaining scientific integrity in Canadian regulatory protocols: Using strategic thinking to facilitate innovation and enhance engagement and transparency Policy Brief #10. Genome Canada. May 2015. Co-authored with Michele Mastroeni and Lisa Clark.
• Scientific Evidence and Policy 2013
• Online Anti-technology Networks & Issue Advocacy 2013
• The Triffid Flax Story: growers’ perspective (plus more) 2012
• Is Science Missing the Boat? Social media strategy is a must for science advocates 2011
• When Bad Science Gets Good Legs, online activism, social media and poor peer review 2011

Media photos courtesy of Ellen Pruden with the Manitoba Canola Growers Association. Others sourced from ICABR Conference.

Other photos: Kate Colton Studios

*This blog is and always has been a personal channel of expression for me and I am solely responsible for its content.  It does not represent official communications from my employer, Bayer Crop Science, or any other organization. The views expressed in the body of the entries or in comments may not necessarily reflect my views, those of the company or of anyone else. Posts made prior to September 29, 2014 were made when I was either an independent researcher/public speaker or an academic, employed by the University of Saskatchewan.