The making of a science communicator:

Growing up in an area that is often conservative, deeply religious and surrounded by nature, she was taught that the Bible was the absolute truth. In public school, she argued with her science teacher, Mr. K., about carbon dating, a scientific method used to determine the age of organic materials. 

During her freshman year of high school, her Sunday school teacher stepped aside and warned her about the “lies” she would encounter at public school and feared she might stray from God. 

“And so I went into high school with that mindset, like, okay, my faith is going to be challenged, and I have to defend it,” she says.

Dr. Brianne Suldovsky was raised in rural remote Northern Idaho, near the Canadian border with a fundamentalist Christian upbringing. Today, Suldovsky is an associate professor of science communication at Portland State University, a field where she studies the relationship between science and society. 

“I grew up thinking that the earth was six thousand years old and that fossils were planted by Satan to confuse Christians about the age of the earth,” Suldovsky says.

Cracks in her faith started to erupt in her junior year, when she was assigned to read Sophie’s World. The novel by Norwegian author Jostein Gaarder introduces readers to Western philosophy through the story of a young girl. While reading, Suldovsky had a profound realization — there was much more to reality than what was covered in the Bible. 

“It was world shattering,” Suldovsky says. “It just swept me off my feet in a way that was so destabilizing and so scary, but so undeniable that I knew I had to grapple with it.”

Seeking guidance, she met with a pastor she deeply trusted, spending over an hour discussing a list of questions with two books in her hands: the Bible and Sophie’s World. She left that meeting unsatisfied. 

“Toward the end, I could tell he was getting frustrated,” Suldovsky says. “He said, ‘At the end of the day, you just have to have faith that the Bible is correct. You just have to believe it.’ And ironically enough, it was his assertion that I just had to have faith that I think sealed my fate. Faith wasn’t enough anymore.”

Suldovsky holds her copy of Sophie’s World, which acquaints readers to Western philosophy through the story of a young girl. It was the exact kind of text her Sunday school teacher warned her about. “My Sunday school teacher was aware that I was the only one that was going to go to public school that year,” she says. “And he was very concerned because secular education is going to lead you away from God.”

ERIK DANIEL SCHELL DEVORE / NEXTGENRADIO

Years later, while working on her Doctorate of Philosophy, she went back to her hometown and ran into Mr. K. in the milk aisle of a local grocery store. This moment allowed her to reflect on her religious upbringing. She apologized to him and told him her fundamental view of the world had changed. Expressing how she is now pursuing a degree in science communication, she expected him to be shocked. Instead, he wasn’t surprised at all.

“He looked perplexed and he said, ‘Why would that shock me? You were always really smart,’” Suldovsky says.

Suldovsky grew up in the early ’90s in a fundamentalist Christian community in rural Northern Idaho. She was one of the only kids in her community to attend public school, and was often referred to at school as “Jesus Girl.”

COURTESY OF DR. BRIANNE SULDOVSKY

Suldovsky (center), at about 8 or 9 years old, is baptized in a river, surrounded by trees, in rural Northern Idaho. In Christianity, baptism is a rite of admission that symbolizes a person’s acceptance into the Christian community. 

COURTESY OF DR. BRIANNE SULDOVSKY

When she is not teaching, writing emails, or handling her day-to-day responsibilities, Suldovsky conducts social science research using public opinion surveys. She examines individuals’ views and knowledge about controversial scientific topics, including genetically modified (GM) foods, extreme heat and climate change, forensic science and even astrobiology and the search for extraterrestrial life.

While her goal is not to popularize or disseminate science, she seeks to translate scientific data for non-experts while also striving to understand her audience — everyone from the general public to scientists. 

In other words, she examines how climate skeptics, for example, perceive the philosophy of science. 

“We think if we just shove more climate science at people, for example, they’re suddenly going to believe in climate change,” Suldovsky says. “And I think what we should be doing is engaging people with more philosophy because we need to get down to the fundamentals of how we’re viewing the world and how we differ.”

A drizzly day at Portland State University’s Park Blocks on Monday, Feb. 24, 2025, seen from the skybridge between Fariborz Maseeh Hall and Smith Memorial Student Union.

ERIK DANIEL SCHELL DEVORE / NEXTGENRADIO

Her journey made her recognize that people are more than just statistics or ideologies; they are individuals who have different lived experiences and shared memories, and each one has a unique story to tell. We are all human beings who may view the world differently, whether about philosophy, science or religion. It does not mean someone is unintelligent or stupid.

She comes to the communication science field with a fresh eye. Having empathy for individuals who may disagree with science makes her uniquely equipped to bridge a divide.

“I think the important thing to note, though, is that more science wasn’t going change my worldview, right? I had to have a change,” Suldovsky says, “like a philosophical change in the way I saw the world in order for science to get through.”