Ariel is a PhD student in the Department of Communication at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her research focuses on the effects of media use on learning about and engagement with politics and society. In her research, she uses quantitative methodologies to examine how an individual’s choice of content and medium influences various attitudes and behaviors, including perceptions of information credibility and motivations to process and share information. At CNS, her work focuses on how media use shapes people’s perceptions about the risks and benefits of nanotechnologies and nano-enabled consumer products. She received her bachelor’s degree at Barnard College and her master’s degree from the University of Washington.