Bryan Luukinen

Bryan Luukinen is a science communicator specializing in public health, environmental health, and community engagement. A resident of Western North Carolina, he co-led the Hurricane Helene Flood Communication Research project.

This RTI-funded project sought to understand how local stakeholders in Western North Carolina received, interpreted, shared, and used flood risk information before and during the storm. Mr. Luukinen and the Helene research team conducted semi-structured interviews with a broad range of community members across WNC. The interviews gathered information on the barriers that existed for receiving, understanding, and sharing flood warning information; factors that impacted the effectiveness of flood warning information; how this differed by community features (e.g., size, geography); and opportunities for improving resilience and preparedness for future storms.

Mr. Luukinen joined RTI in 2021. Much of his work involves qualitative research on risk and crisis communication and implementation of communication strategy. He leads cross-functional teams to create digital products, social marketing campaigns, and plain-language communications about public health research. He currently leads Communications for RTI’s Administrative Coordinating Center of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded RECOVER Initiative. He also serves as a communications expert on the NIH CKDu CURE Consortium on chronic kidney disease of uncertain etiology. His previous work includes communications and research for Optimizing Flood Warning Communication, funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration through the Cooperative Institute for Research to Operations in Hydrology. Prior to joining RTI, he led engagement and communications for the Duke Superfund Research Center.

Mr. Luukinen is skilled in digital content strategy, plain language, group facilitation, community engagement, risk communication, project management, project leadership, and user experience (UX) writing. He holds certifications in UX Writing Fundamentals from the UX Content Collaborative and Environmental Communications from Duke University.