Prof. Marina Joubert

Marina Joubert is an associate professor of public engagement with science at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. Following a career of more than 20 years in science communication practice, she joined the university in 2015 to start a new teaching and research programme in public communication of science. At Stellenbosch, she is responsible for an extensive education and supervision programme and a diverse research portfolio. Her international research collaborations include the EU-funded Eco2Wine Project and the ‘Just Transitions for Anti-Microbial Resistance’ global convening funded by The British Academy. She serves as deputy editor of the Journal of Science Communication (JCOM) and is an honorary lifetime member of the global PCST (Public Communication of Science and Technology) Network. Her research focuses on scientists’ roles in public engagement with science and the motivations and challenges that shape their interactions with society. She is also interested in institutional science communication, representations of science in the mass media, the ethics of science communication, and online interfaces between science and society.

During her time in Muenster, she is going to further her work on dark participation in games and collaborate to better understand the cross-cultural differences between German and North American game players and industry professionals. Specifically, she is going to evaluate the perception of frequency and severity of various forms of "toxicity" in games to better understand the landscape of these environments in the German context and to better inform the ways in which trust and safety professionals in the gaming industry globally respond to, and preventatively address, hate, harassment, and extremism in their digital play spaces.