Professor David A. Kirby is Chair of the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies in the Liberal Arts and Director of the Science Technology & Society Program at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo.

Previously he was Professor of Science Communication Studies in the Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine at the University of Manchester. His research examines how movies, television, and computer games act as vehicles of scientific communication, trying to understand how the stories told about science in media products impact the construction of ideas and our perceptions of science as a social, cultural, and political force. Several of his publications address the relationship between cinema, genetics and biotechnology. He has also studied film and television productions as a means of examining science’s function in storytelling. His book “Lab Coats in Hollywood: Science, Scientists and Cinema” (MIT Press, 2013) explored the collaboration between scientists and the entertainment industry in his book. He is currently writing a book titled “Indecent Science: Religion, Science, and Movie Censorship”, which will explore how movies served as a battleground over science’s role in influencing morality.