Press Release - IPIE Appoints Melissa Aronczyk as Chair of the Scientific Panel on Information Integrity and the Climate Transition

June 22, 2026 - Zurich, Switzerland - The International Panel on the Information Environment (IPIE) is pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Melissa Aroncyzk as Chair of its Scientific Panel on Information Integrity and the Climate Transition. Professor Aroncyzk succeeds founding Chair Professor Klaus Bruhn Jensen.

Melissa Aronczyk is Adjunct Research Professor in Communication Studies at Carleton University, Canada. She is the co-author, with Maria Espinoza, A Strategic Nature: Public Relations and the Politics of Environmentalism (Oxford University Press, 2022), which received the Rodrick P. Hart Outstanding Book Award from the Political Communication Division of the National Communication Association. Her research on how public relations shapes public discourse around climate change has been featured in national and international media. She is a member of the Climate Social Science Network and a Research Associate with a leading Canadian climate communication organization.

Professor Aronczyk expressed her commitment to the panel's mission:

I am honored to take on this role at a moment when the integrity of climate science communication has never been more consequential. Disinformation about climate change poses a direct threat to the policy responses our planet urgently needs. I look forward to working with the panel to ensure that the best available science informs public understanding and political decision-making.

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Professor Phil Howard, President of the IPIE, welcomed the appointment:

We are delighted to welcome Professor Melissa Aronczyk as the Chair of the Information Integrity and Climate Transition Panel. Her expertise in the politics of environmental communication is exactly what this panel needs as it continues to produce rigorous policy-relevant science. We are equally grateful to Professor Klaus Jensen for his foundational leadership of this panel, and we are glad he remains park of this important work.

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The IPIE is launching its Scientific Panel on Information Integrity and the Climate Transition, which will synthesize global research on how information environments shape public understanding of climate policy, examine the financial structures sustaining climate misinformation, and provide evidence-based recommendations for policymakers, regulators, and technology platforms.

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More about the International Panel on the Information Environment (IPIE):

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About the IPIE

The International Panel on the Information Environment (IPIE) is an independent and global science organization providing scientific knowledge about the health of the world's information environment. Based in Switzerland, the IPIE offers policymakers, industry, and civil society actionable scientific assessments about threats to the information environment. The IPIE is the only scientific body systematically organizing, evaluating, and elevating research with the broad aim of improving the global information environment. Hundreds of researchers worldwide contribute to the IPIE's reports.