Throughout his academic and research career, Steinhardt has studied narratives and how they influence decision-making about health and risk. After receiving a master's and doctorate from Cornell University in 2015, Steinhardt worked at Cornell as a research associate to study tobacco warning labels in low income and urban populations.
Before attending Cornell, Steinhardt studied narratives of another type as an undergraduate in the film and TV department at Boston University. He also worked in the film industry doing location work and added several film and TV credits to his life experiences.
Steinhardt makes his home in Greater Lansing , and likes spending time with his daughter when he is not working as an assistant professor in MSU's Advertising and Public Relations Department.
Steinhardt teaches public relations classes and researches health and risk communication. His specialties include advertising and public relations, along with communicating science, health, and environment and risk. He also has a keen interest in the automotive industry.
Steinhardt's research and teaching are heavily focused on the applied. His goal is to clearly show how students can actually apply the material he teaches to their lives and career aspirations-something he says makes the topic more interesting. He approaches research, too, with a goal of helping people make better and more informed decisions about complex risks through applied messaging and campaigns.
Steinhardt's research interests include risk and health communication, narratives, numeracy and decision-making. His main focus is how narratives help people make more informed decisions about complex risks.