I am an Assistant Professor of Computer-Mediated Communication in the School of Communication, Journalism, and Media at Central Michigan University (CMU), where I am starting an affiliated Communication and Social Robotics Lab (COMBOTLABS).

My research examines how people communicate with and through machines, such as human-AI communication and AI-mediated communication. Contexts for this work include but are not limited to social media platforms, augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), social computing, and human-robot interaction. In particular, I am curious about how people make decisions about managing their private information in an increasingly automated world. Recent publications of mine include articles in Human-Machine Communication, Communication Quarterly, Telematics and Informatics, Computers in Human Behavior: Artificial Humans, Communication Studies, Late-Breaking Reports in the ACM/IEEE International Conferences on Human-Robot Interaction, and book chapters in the SAGE Handbook of Human-Machine Communication, De Gruyter Handbook of Media Technology and Innovation, and De Gruyter Handbook of Robotics in Society and Culture. Before CMU, I was the inaugural College of Communication and Information Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Information Integrity Institute at Tennessee’s flagship university, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (Dr. Catherine Luther, Faculty Mentor).

Outside of academia, I was the coalition director for the Michigan Coalition for HIV Health and Safety, where I educated lawmakers about HIV and legislation to modernize Michigan’s HIV laws in Lansing, Michigan, and across the state. I am also a political consultant for political campaigns and organizations on matters related to strategic communication, including opposition research, disinformation, and emerging media and technology.