I am interested in the study of communication environments from an ecological perspective, with a particular emphasis on science communication. What does that mean? That means that I imagine communication environments as fluid and contested spaces, where different communicators each have their own motives, goals, and tools of the trade they use to attain them. I choose the phrase “ecological perspective” to label this line of thought because I think the metaphor of ecology is an apt way to describe multilateral and contested communicative relationships. In the abstract, I think that a lot of what we have learned in ecology can be applied to communication also. In particular, I want to know the structural factors that guide communication events in environments. Which tools work best in a given environment? Are some able to use bots to extend their reach? How do different communicators form groups in an environment and what characteristics are the boundaries? Do people group with those who share their identities? With these questions in mind, my passion is for science communication, first and foremost. My background is in the sciences and I was trained in science communication, and I think that communications about science topics are only becoming more important in our ever-more technologized world.
As a scholar, I have been fortunate enough to land publications in some pretty well-read outlets, including Science Communication, Environmental Communication, and the Journal of Science Communication in my subfield, and some other well-regarded outlets in mass communication generally (Journalism Studies, Journal of Interactive Advertising). In addition to journal publications, I’ve delivered quite a few presentations at international conferences. I try to make the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) every year and the International Communication Association (ICA) most years. If you see me there, please say hi!
As my mom would say, I’m “double-lucky” in that I’ve received recognition for these scholarly achievements. I currently sit on the editorial board of the Journal of Science Communication, and I am in leadership in division at AEJMC and the National Communication Association (NCA).
My first degree is a BSA (Bachelor of Arts and Sciences) in Biology from the University of Texas at Austin (UT), which I attended from 2014-2018. When I was first at UT, the BSA in Biology was a pretty new degree that was a hybrid between the more traditional “hard” science focus of the BS, which required intensive study in other natural sciences, and the BA, which was a comparatively less-structured degree plan. As it stood, the BSA allowed me to do a focused study of biology, but also allowed me to explore other fields outside of the natural sciences. I actually earned 5 separate minors/certificates in 4 years! I learned a lot from a wide range of different departments at UT and it’s not really a joke to say that I learned how to be a person there. One of the first things that I learned was how to be a researcher, as I participated in the Freshman Research Initiative as a member of the Aptamer lab. By the time I graduated, I had done enough research as a student to realize that I didn’t really want to do research in biology for the rest of my life. Thus, when I graduated, I made the perfectly illogical decision to apply out to graduate programs in the study of science communication, for which I developed sparks of passion in some of my communication classes.
I then earned an MS in Life Sciences Communication (LSC) from the University of Wisconsin – Madison from 2018-2020. I had taken a total of 5 communication classes before arriving in Madison, and I had a lot of catching up. I think it’s fair to say that LSC bills itself as one of if not the most robust courses of study for science communication in the US, and I would say that it lives up to the reputation. Contrary to most people that go on to earn doctoral degrees and work in higher education, I would say that I have never read, learned, or worked more in my life than in the 2 year span that I was with LSC. It was a formative experience and it really set for me what it meant to be a social scientist who studies science communication. I conducted my first research in the field there that lead to my first academic publications. I taught my first courses as a listed instructor (officially TA). An incredibly memorable moment was my graduation: a gathering of about 20 faculty and staff over zoom as an accommodation for the COVID-19 pandemic. Dietram Scheufele made the keen point that none of us ought to question the value of our degrees given the circumstances. Though inclined to agree, when the time came for my PhD, I chose a warmer climate.
I returned to UT for a PhD in Advertising and Public Relations (AD/PR), which I completed from 2020-2024. The nice thing about a PhD is that it is the most self-directed form of study most people have the opportunity to take on. I chose AD/PR as it was home to most of the science communication research at UT. While I was there, I really fell in love with various research methodologies, in particular qualitative and computational methods. I felt like these techniques gave me access to answering research questions that were beyond the grasp of what I viewed as the more traditional survey-based and experimental methods of social science. My first thoughts on an ecological perspective started to coalesce here, especially as a result of my collaborations with the external Political Public Relations Lab. Funny enough, even though I was pursuing a degree in AD/PR, most of my work was actually in journalism.
When I graduated, I had a job lined up as an Assistant Professor in the School of Journalism at the University of Arizona. Unless I haven’t updated this in a while, I still work there!
You can see my most recent CV here.
Dr. Josh T. L. Anderson Personal Site 