Matt Motta

I am an Associate Professor of Health Law, Policy, & Management at Boston University's School of Public Health, and author of the book Anti-Scientific Americans: The Prevalence, Origins, & Political Consequences of Anti-Intellectualism in the U.S. (Oxford University Press, 2024: https://a.co/d/8snxU0N).

​My research focuses on a wide range of topics related to American politics, public opinion, science communication, and both health and environmental policy. I am especially interested in identifying the social and political determinants of anti-science attitudes, and investigating their health policy impact. I am also broadly interested in designing communication strategies that promote effective engagement between the public and the scientific community on politically contentious issues.

​As part of my research activities, I also conduct public health opinion research as a Research Fellow at the Policy Lab, and piloting health communication campaign strategies as Affiliated Faculty with Harvard's TH Chan School of Public Health.

​Previously, I was Assistant Professor of Political Science (American Politics, Research Methods) at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, OK. Before that, I was a Science of Science Communication postdoctoral fellow at the Annenberg Public Policy Center (University of Pennsylvania). I was also based at the Yale Law School, where I was an affiliated postdoctoral scholar at the Cultural Cognition Project. I received my PhD in Political Science from the University of Minnesota, where I was also a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellow.