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Ashley Rose Mehlenbacher On Expertise (And Who Is Truly An Expert) – This Week’s Six Pixels of Separation Podcast

Episode #838 of Six Pixels of Separation is now live and ready for you to listen to.

It seems like everyone on LinkedIn (which is everyone who works) considers themself an expert in something (or everything). What is expertise? Who should we consider an expert? Is there one definition to rule them all? Ashley Rose Mehlenbacher is not just an associate professor and Canada Research Chair in Science, Health, and Technology Communication at the University of Waterloo, but is also the author of, On Expertise – Cultivating Character, Goodwill, and Practical Wisdom. Much of Ashley’s current research focuses on climate change communication, and she is a member of the University of Waterloo’s Interdisciplinary Centre on Climate Change (IC3) and the Water Institute. In addition to her duties at Waterloo, she is the General Co-Editor, with Carolyn R. Miller, at Genre Across Borders. Further, she served as a Member of the Board of Directors for the Association for the Rhetoric of Science, Technology, and Medicine (ARSTM) from 2019-2021 and as President of ARSTM from 2018-2019. Ashley’s research focuses on how communication practices shape the processes of science and also how diverse audiences engage with scientific and technical subjects through various communication strategies and modalities. Along with being the author of On Expertise, she also wrote Science Communication Online, and is co-editor of Emerging Genres in New Media Environments. Ashley has also been published in numerous journal articles and chapters. If you consider yourself an expert or eyeroll at those who self-describe themselves as one, this episode is for you. Enjoy the conversation….

You can grab the latest episode of Six Pixels of Separation here (or feel free to subscribe via Apple Podcast or whatever platform you may choose): Six Pixels of Separation #838.

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Mitch Joel

Mitch Joel lives at the intersection of technology, business transformation and consumer culture. He is the Executive Director of Next Era Institute, a strategic intelligence platform helping leaders understand the forces reshaping business, technology, culture and society. The Institute identifies which shifts matter, explores their wider significance and translates them into strategic direction and momentum. Mitch is also a globally recognized keynote speaker. He has delivered thousands of presentations across both B2B and B2C industries to organizations including Google, Walmart, LEGO, Shopify, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Strategy Magazine has called him “one of North America’s leading visionaries.” Mitch built his career by working directly inside the waves of change that reshaped modern business. He founded and built a digital marketing agency that worked with some of the world’s largest brands and was later acquired by WPP, where he served as President of a firm operating in 25 countries with almost 3,000 employees. Mitch is the bestselling author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete, and the host of Thinking With Mitch Joel, one of the longest-running business podcasts in the world. His writing and commentary appear in outlets including Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Inc. Magazine. He is a member of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches and was named to the Thinkers50 Radar. Mitch also hosts Groove – The No Treble Podcast, documenting the oral history of electric bass players. Mitch is also Co-Founder of ThinkersOne, a platform that enables companies to bring personalized thought leadership from world-class experts into meetings, events and off-sites in focused 15-minute bursts.