Cracking the Code: Influencing Millennial Science Engagement is a three-year  collaborative research project between KQED, a public media organization serving the San Francisco Bay Area, and Texas Tech University. As a public media institution, KQED works in the public interest, serving audiences’ needs as citizens and not consumers, and expanding and diversifying our audience to meet the needs of underserved communities. Texas Tech University is a one of the top 8 universities in the state of Texas and one of few Hispanic-serving institutions with a Carnegie classification of "R1- Doctoral University - Highest Research Activity." The College of Media and Communication at Texas Tech University aims to educate students in the knowledge and skills necessary for careers in communication industry, including advanced study in communication-related disciplines, and to achieve recognition as a pre-eminent program in media and communication education, research, and service.
 
In this project, KQED Science will apply research on both science communication and the role that interest, motivations, behaviors, identity, and values play in informal science learning to evaluate and develop science media content, so that media producers and other science communicators can advance best practices for engaging diverse, millennial audiences in a dynamic media landscape. 
​

Project Collaborators