Patrick McCurdy (PhD) is Associate Professor in the Department of Communication, University of Ottawa. His research uses communication and social theory to study media as a site and source of social struggle. Since 2014 he has focussed on the polarized debate over the Athabasca oil sands. In April 2024, together with Chris Russill, he received an Insight Grant from SSHRC for a 4-year research project titled "Greenwashing and the Energy Transition: A Framework for Assessing Net Zero Communication in the Canadian Oil Sands Sector.”