Linda Billings

George Washington University

Linda Billings is a research professor at the George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs in Washington, D.C. She does communication research for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA’s) astrobiology program in the Science Mission Directorate. She also advises NASA’s Senior Scientist for Mars Exploration and Planetary Protection Officer on communications.

Dr. Billings earned her Ph.D. in mass communication from the Indiana University School of Journalism, M.A. in international transactions from George Mason University, and B.A. in social sciences from the State University of New York at Binghamton (now Binghamton University).

Her research interests and expertise include mass communication, science communication, risk communication, rhetorical analysis, journalism studies, and social studies of science. Her research has focused on the role that journalists play in constructing the cultural authority of scientists, the rhetorical strategies that scientists and journalists employ in communicating about science, and the rhetoric of space exploration.