Alex Russell

Alex Russell 

Department Editor, Self & Society

Alex Russell covers the College's departments, centers and programs in many of the social sciences, including: Cognitive Science, Communication, Economics, History, International Relations, Linguistics, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, the Center for Mind and Brain, the Center for Poverty and Inequality Research and the Global Migration Center.

Since 2012, Russell has communicated UC Davis social sciences research for uptake and impact through news and feature stories, policy briefs, reports, social media campaigns and other forms. He has served as a writer at the Graduate School of Management and led communications for the Center for Poverty and Inequality Research and the Institute for Social Sciences. Immediately prior to joining the College of Letters and Science, he served as communications lead for a $30 million federally funded research program in the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences focused on international food security.

He received a B.A. Literature from UC Santa Cruz and a M.A. in English from the UC Davis Graduate Creative Writing Program. He is a member of the National Association of Science Writers (NASW).

Full Portfolio

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How to Be American

  • by Alex Russell
The ways of being American since then have been as various as everyone who has built a life here. Learn about the legal and cultural definitions of what it means to be American in the year the nation celebrates its 250th birthday.
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How an Adolescent’s Brain Reacts to Faces May Predict Their Social Future

  • by Alex Russell
It’s been said that eyes are a window to the soul, but new research has found that an adolescent’s brain response to a face might open a window to their social future. The UC Davis Center for Mind and Brain found that high activity It’s been said that eyes are a window to the soul, but new research has found that an adolescent’s brain response to a face might open a window to their social future.