Expert Bio

Dr. Elizabeth M H Newbury is the Director for the Serious Games Initiative for the Wilson Center, leading the Wilson Center's use of games in engaging the public around policy research. As lead of the Serious Games Initiative, she leverages games as a tool for the public communication of science and policy research.  Under her leadership, SGI is pursuing how public policy and science can come together in an interactive platform to increase public dialogue and engagement around timely and critical issues of today. Current projects include the Fiscal Ship, a game about the federal budget developed and maintained in collaboration with the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy with the Brookings Institute. The Wilson Center's budget games have been played by over 3 million people worldwide. Collaborating across the Wilson Center, her works in progress include games pertaining to topics ranging from cybsecurity and plastic pollution. Outside of the Wilson Center, she helps coordinate across federal agencies to help support the ecosystem of games used for social good, through chairing the Federal Games Guild, an informal community of practice with over 100 agency participants united by the purpose to see how they can leverage gaming technologies to meet mission goals.

She is also a Senior Program Associate of the Science and Technology Innovation Program where she leads portfolios surrounding emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, disinformation, quantum literacy, and more. Her emphasis in these areas focuses on how to map these critical technologies to key concerns around the pipeline of talent to make the US competitive on a global scale, particularly with an emphasis on STEM education, diversity and inclusion in the workforce, and understanding barriers and amplifiers of scientific innovation across stakeholder groups.

She has presented her research and work before an array of audiences, ranging from the Games for Change Festival, Serious Play Conference, International Communication Association, Association of Internet Researchers. She holds a B.A. in anthropology from Bryn Mawr College, and a Master and PhD from the Department of Communication at Cornell University, where her research interests revolved around understanding multiple dimensions of gaming audiences and the surrounding culture of those who play video games in the context of esports.

Wilson Center Project

Serious Games Initiative