ASU SOLS Faculty: Karin Ellison

Dr. Ellison works in the areas of research ethics, history of technology, and science and technology studies. In research ethics, she plays a key role in responsible conduct of research initiatives for researchers in the life sciences. She offers graduate courses and special lectures, and she works with faculty who wish to incorporate research ethics into their courses. She is a team leader in the CareerBound Project, an NSF-funded project on retention of women graduate students in the STEM disciplines. She also holds a College of Letters and Sciences Dean’s Fellowship to review the college’s academic integrity policy and is a member of ASU’s Intellectual Property Committee.

By training a historian of technology, Dr. Ellison’s areas of interest are the institutional history of American science and technology as well as the history of engineers and engineering in the U.S. Her research examines the history of Washington State’s Grand Coulee Dam as a case study illustrating the roles of U.S. Bureau of Reclamation engineers in the creation of multiple purpose dam building as a major “technological style” of early twentieth century American water development.

Dr. Ellison is also a founding member of ASU’s interdisciplinary doctoral degree program in the Human and Social Dimensions of Science and Technology.

Prior to coming to ASU, Dr. Ellison was the Interim Assistant Dean for Research Policy and Compliance in the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Graduate School. Focusing on oversight of research with human subjects and review of potential for conflicts of interest in research, her activities included policy analysis and development, educational resources development, information technology system development, and management of compliance committee business.

Publications and Presentations

Ellison, Karin. “Ethical Perspectives on New Technologies: Science Studies and Research Ethics.” Keynote speaker, Student Pugwash 2007 Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference. “Ethics of Emerging Technologies.” Pittsburgh, PA. 30-31 Mar. 2007.

Ellison, Karin. “Explaining Hoover, Grand Coulee, and Shasta Dams: Institutional Stability and Professional Identity in the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.” Bureau of Reclamation Centennial History Symposium. June 2002.

Ellison, Karin. “The Making of a Multiple Purpose Dam: Engineering Culture, the U. S. Bureau Reclamation, and Grand Coulee Dam, 1917-1942.” Ph.D. Dissertation, Program in Science, Technology and Society, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2000. Advisor: Dr. Deborah Fitzgerald. Readers: Dr. Merritt Roe Smith and Dr. Christian Appy.

University of Wisconsin-Madison Graduate School. "Conflict of Interest Committee." (accessed November 7, 2007).
As conflicts manager, Dr. Ellison worked with the COI Committee between 2003 and 2006 to document committee processes. She designed this Web page and wrote most of the materials listed as guidance or tools. The Web pages have not been substantially changed in the last year.

University of Wisconsin-Madison Graduate School. "Human Subjects Tutorial."
In 2003, Dr. Ellison conceptualized, managed, and wrote text for a substantial upgrade of this on-line tutorial. Between 2003 and 2007, all key personnel on human subjects research protocols reviewed by UW-Madison Institutional Review Boards were required to complete this training.