Profile
Having grown up in rural Vietnam, Hong Vu’s perspective when approaching environmental research has brought a global perspective to climate change and the spread of information regarding it.
As research professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder, Vu’s work has closely focused on global terms of the changing environment while addressing the political divide in the belief of severity of the conditions.
Born and raised in the rural town of Điện Biên Phủ, Vietnam, Vu saw a world of agriculture first hand. Before earning a bachelor’s degree of Linguistics at the Vietnam National University of Hanoi. “My background drew me into a global perspective of the climate,” Vu said.
After graduating in 1995, Vu began working for Vietnamese newspapers as a foreign investments expert, which built his understanding of a global perspective, as Western corporations invested in Vietnamese land and labor.
In 2006, Vu became a full-time writer for the Associated Press as a Vietnamese correspondent shortly before returning to academia.
After being awarded a Fulbright scholarship in 2009 to study at the University of Kansas, Vu completed a master’s degree in journalism and mass communication, followed by a Ph.D. in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin in 2015.
After returning to the University of Kansas as a professor, Vu spent 10 years teaching journalism and researching.
“My research looks at the intersection of information and climate change,” Vu said regarding his work while both studying and teaching.
“It’s also a climate crisis,” Vu said. “Especially in the U.S. because of misinformation.” People are still scientifically undecided on whether climate change is real or will affect them personally.
Vu’s research found that specifically Fox News has been rejecting climate change for the last 24 years. “We found nine prominent strategies they used to dismiss climate change,” Vu said in reference to his article “Hoax, Fraud, Scam, or Lie: A Corpus Analysis of Framing Strategies Used by Fox News to Dismiss Climate Change Over 24 Years.”
Additionally, Vu believes that farmers have taken the fall for a lot of environmental damage and been left out of the conversation for climate reform. “We want them to understand what is going on,” Vu said. “It won’t help climate policy if they don’t understand and if they don’t take action.”
First they need to be aware, then they need to be engaged before they can take action, Vu said. “Action can mean they pressure policy makers to make changes that can support them.”
“But in many areas they do not feel they can talk freely about it because it is so politicized,” Vu said. He found that farmers have to deal with the impact of climate change.
In addition to the research Vu started a program to monitor the localized impacts of climate change, ranging from flooding to the extinction of three different species of mussels.
Outside of the classroom Vu enjoys hiking in the Colorado mountains with his family and friends.
Harikrishnan Bhaskaran, a second-semester Ph.D. student from South India studying under Hong Vu described Vu’s character as generous and caring. “He is so supportive and considerate. Despite it helping him in any way,” Bhaskaran said.
Contact Information
Hong Vu: Hong.Vu@colorado.edu
Harikrishnan Bhaskaran: Harikrishnan.Bhaskaran@colorado.edu