Rachel Acosta is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Communication at Rutgers–New Brunswick. Acosta’s research examines how organizations and communities navigate uncertainty, risk, and stakeholder engagement in complex information environments. Using mixed methods, including interviews, topic modeling, and semantic network analysis, Acosta studies organizational communication, participatory governance, and environmental decision-making in high-risk contexts. Her current research focuses on stakeholder engagement and deliberative dialogue in nuclear environmental governance, particularly at U.S. Department of Energy sites. Acosta’s work contributes to broader conversations about public participation, democratic governance, and communication in contexts shaped by uncertainty and institutional complexity.

Organizing Risk in Complex Systems

This project examines how public participation works in high-risk environmental decision-making, focusing on stakeholder engagement at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site. Using interviews, organizational documents, and public meeting transcripts, the project evaluates whether existing engagement processes support meaningful dialogue between institutions and communities or function primarily as one-way communication. The project connects directly to the Democracy Lab’s focus on deliberative dialogue by examining how communication practices shape public participation, trust, and decision-making. More broadly, the research contributes to conversations about democratic governance by identifying the conditions under which participatory processes support more inclusive, transparent, and trustworthy public engagement in complex policy contexts.