Sarah Bernt

Sarah is from Belmont, Massachusetts, and has spent most of her life living in the Boston area. Before coming to Princeton SPIA, she studied as a Mitchell Scholar at Trinity College Dublin (Belfast campus), where she earned an MPhil (with Distinction) in Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation. Her MPhil dissertation, which won the top award in her program, examined the interplay between the information environment and the social environment, with a particular focus on misinformation and polarization in the U.S. This topic was inspired in part by her work as a project manager on health misinformation for the U.S. Surgeon General, for which she analyzed and synthesized findings from a large-scale initiative to understand the impacts of COVID-related misinformation. Prior to this, she spent several years working in local government in Somerville, Massachusetts – first as a mayoral campaign manager, and then as a communications staffer in the mayor's office. During the pandemic, she assisted with emergency response efforts both for Somerville and the broader region – including as the mayor's point person for galvanizing a regional coalition of mayors and scientific experts to coordinate public health measures. Sarah plans to use her time at Princeton to better understand potential policy frameworks for tackling the problems caused by misinformation, extremism, and polarization.