Jessica Eise, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Communication
Contact
Bio
Jessica Eise, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Social and Environmental Issues. She seeks to understand how individuals, society and Earth interrelate and how we can leverage these connections to overcome difficult challenges such as climate change and hunger. She is passionate about improving human life for everyone through innovation and our better natures.
Dr. Eise’s research currently focuses on understanding agricultural and rural communities and the complex social systems that influence their ability to adapt to changing climates. Accounting for macro and micro factors, she examines how to create tailored communication efforts and projects with them to support and empower adaptation to improve global food security. She also researches our human connection with the environment, how technology can be used to support prosocial environmental change and how we can communicate science better and more effectively.
She is the founder of the blended academic/social project Clima y Café (Climate and Coffee), an innovative, targeted climate change initiative that uses precision and grassroots outreach strategies to support climate change adaptation in the Colombian coffee sector. Dr. Eise’s team conducts formative research and produces and measures tailored outreach content encouraging action and support for climate change adaptation, such as digital tools and in-person outreach to capitalize on and empower local network strengths. As a branch of this initiative, she was the executive director on the 2020 Desarraigo (Uprooted) multimedia empathy-building campaign, featured by multiple leading media outlets in Colombia such as El Espectador and Semana Sostenible .
Her books include How to Feed the World and The Communication Scarcity in Agriculture. Her research has been cited in outlets such as VICE , Vox , Scientific American and her articles have appeared in U.S. News & World Report , Salon and CNBC amongst others. She won a national essay award for her piece on artificial intelligence (AI) The Fatal Flaw. In addition to writing academic articles, Dr. Eise believes in open-source information and making knowledge accessible; she is active on social media – Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and her blog. Dr. Eise has spoken at organizations and universities such as the Max Planck Institute in Germany, the AVEC General Assembly in Hungary, IESE in Spain and IICA in Costa Rica.
Dr. Eise has a PhD in communication from Purdue University and a master’s in journalism and international relations from New York University. She was awarded the Ross Fellowship in the Purdue Brian Lamb School of Communication, formerly served as the director of communications with the Purdue University Department of Agricultural Economics as well as a practitioner in media production and new media in Washington, DC, and abroad (primarily Latin America, Middle East and Europe).
Teaching
- Theories & Applications of Com
- Topics: AI and Human Comm
Research Interests
- Climate change
- Agriculture
- Food security
- Technology
Degrees
- PhD 2020 Purdue University, Brian Lamb School of Communication
- MA 2012 New York University, Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute and Wilf Family Department of Politics (Joint MA), Magna cum laude
- BA 2008 Saint Louis University, Department of Political Science, Center for International Studies and Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures (Triple Major), Summa cum laude
