Abigail Adediran 

is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Communication. Her research is at the intersection of immigration, health and culture. Her current research aims to achieve the following 1) advance theorizing of cultural competency within the context of African immigrants' unique health experiences, 2) understand how the mainstream healthcare system can be more responsive to the health perspective/discourses of immigrants to improve their health outcomes 3) advance theorizing of (mental) health, information seeking and culture from African communication perspective. 

Abigail’s research has been presented and recognized at regional, national, and international conferences such as International Communication Association and American Public Health Association. Recognitions such as Top Student papers and Research Excellence Award. Her research has also been published in outlets such as Communication Studies, Frontier in Communication and Health Communication. Some of her projects are in collaboration with interdisciplinary teams within and outside the University. In the department, she has serves as a Graduate instructor of record for COMM 1200 Public Speaking and COMM 4474 Theory and Research in Persuasion. Also, in the last two summers, she has served as a research assistant with the Institute of Public Policy where she is currently collaborating on a research project on Health Educators uncertainty management strategies.

Abigail is equally passionate about leadership and service. She currently serves as the Chair of the Graduate Caucus of the Central States Communication Association and on diverse committees in the department and within the University.

Xu Cen

is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Communication with the Huggins Fellowship at the University of Missouri. She is double minoring in Women’s and Gender Studies and College Teaching. Her research focuses on mediated communication and intergroup relations. She uses experiments to test how media exposure can shorten the distance between majority groups and minority groups. She brought intersectionality into media effects studies and is trying to extend it to transnational spaces. She also examines the media representations of minorities and how to improve their sense of belonging through media portrayal.  

She served as the Undergraduate Associates Coordinator for the Media & Diversity Center at the University of Missouri for two years. She has mentored undergraduate associates for content analysis and VR experimental studies, and organized activities to promote media literacy. She is currently the Graduate Advisor for the Arts, Social Science, or Humanities (ASH) undergraduate research team. She is also a Deaton Scholar who aims at empowering women. 

She was the Assistant Course Director for the COMM 2100: Media and Society class, and has taught this class for three years. She is currently the instructor for COMM 4638: New Technologies and Communication, and the teaching assistant for COMM 2500: Introduction to Communication. 

Steven D. Gardier

is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Communication at the University of Missouri, Columbia, with a research specialization in political communication. His scholarly work critically examines the representational and communicative challenges faced by third-party political actors within predominantly two-party electoral systems. His dissertation project—a comparative study of Jamaica and the United States—analyzes media portrayals, voter psychology, ideological framing, and voter perception to better understand how third parties navigate marginalization in political discourse and mass communication environments.

Gardiner's broader research interests include political identity, campaign debates, elections, media effects, campaign rhetoric, political psychology, and intergroup communication. He has presented his work at major disciplinary conferences, including the National Communication Association and the Central States Communication Association. His recent co-authored work on conspiratorial rhetoric and third-parties, and debate effects is currently under review or in press at top-tier journals such as the International Journal of Public Opinion Research and Argumentation and Advocacy.

He holds a Master of Science in Government from the University of the West Indies, Mona, where his thesis explored the communication gap between mature politicians and the emerging dominance of social media in Jamaica. He earned his undergraduate degree in Political Science and a minor in Sociology from the same institution and has received numerous academic and cultural awards. Gardiner was awarded the LASPAU-Fulbright Scholarship in 2022 to pursue his doctoral studies in the United States.

In addition to his research, Gardiner is an experienced educator, having taught undergraduate public speaking and political science courses at the University of Missouri and the University of the West Indies. He is currently an instructor of record for the Public Speaking course at the University of Missouri and previously served as an adjunct tutor in courses ranging from International Relations and Political Science to Research Methods and Climate Change & Governance.

Gardiner also brings a wealth of professional experience, having served as a campaign manager for a third-party candidate in Jamaica, a monitoring and evaluation officer in the health sector, and a resident advisor responsible for student leadership and development. He currently serves as a research associate with the Political Communication Institute at Mizzou. His work reflects a commitment to bridging academic inquiry and applied communication practice.

Sydney Graham

is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Communication at the University of Missouri specializing in organizational communication (dissertation defense date is May 6, 2025). She is interested in how individuals make sense of and communicate their relationship to their work. Through research and teaching, Sydney aims to build more inclusive, collaborative, productive, and empathy-driven work environments.

Her research has investigated the relationship between stigma, identity, and gender in both organizational and occupational contexts as well as the role of Generative AI in new employee experiences. Sydney’s published research explores identity narratives of legal sex workers in the state of Nevada and focuses on topics of identity construction, concealment and disclosure, and stigma management. Her current ongoing research projects investigate tensions of occupational, organizational, and industry stigma, work identities, and the relationship between organizational policies and social discourses. Sydney's dissertation is a post-intentional phenomenological study examining industry stigma and gendered, religious, and neoliberal discourses in the context of network marketing.

In addition to her academic research, Sydney recently completed a 12-week research internship at Microsoft using mixed methods to study generative AI, new employee ramp up, and productivity. Her internship was a partnership between Microsoft Research and Microsoft Experiences and Devices. In this role, she used communication and identity theorizing to understand how new employees use Generative AI to become integrated and productive team members.

She has co-authored several book chapters and presented at national and international communication conferences including the National Communication Association (NCA) and Central States Communication Association (CSCA) conferences as well as the international conference, “Prostitution in Nevada and the Basque Country.”   

Sydney is currently an instructor of Organization Advocacy. She has experience teaching Business and Professional Communication and Public Speaking, as well as working with the Trulaske EDGE program's Advanced Professional Development course in Mizzou's Trulaske School of Business. In 2023, Sydney was awarded the Writing Intensive Teaching Excellence Award by the University of Missouri Campus Writing Program and the Outstanding Graduate Teacher Award as voted on by the Association of Communication Graduate Students. 

Outside of research and teaching, Sydney currently serves as the President of the Association of Communication Graduate Students at the University of Missouri and co-chair of the Social and Awards Committee.

Jana Kent

is a Ph.D. candidate in Communication at the University of Missouri. She has a minor in College Teaching. Her research focuses on how transracial adoptees develop their racial and ethnic identities within their adoptive families. She uses qualitative research approaches to deeply explore adoptees’ experiences. As a transracial adoptee herself, Jana strives to center adoptees’ voices in family and identity communication research. 

As an instructor of record, Jana has years of experience teaching Public Speaking both online and in face-to-face environments. She is currently teaching an honors section of Public Speaking as well as Comm 4520 Family Communication. She has been recognized for her teaching excellence by the Association of Communication Graduate Students. In addition to teaching and research, Jana is passionate about service and leadership. She is the immediate past president of the Association of Communication Graduate Students and has held numerous positions on student-level and department-level committees. 

Throughout her graduate school career, Jana has presented her research at regional and national conferences. She has received the award of Top Student Paper in the Family Communication division of the National Communication Association. She has also been awarded Top Panel in both the Graduate Student Caucus and the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Caucus of the Central States Communication Association.

Go-Eun Kim

is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Communication, focusing her research on political and intergroup communication. Her research encompasses various areas, including the effects of debate watching, the role of partisan media in polarization, and intergroup discussion. 

In her ongoing research, Go-Eun is delving into communication strategies that have the potential to mitigate distrust aimed at experts and their supporting evidence. Her objective is to unravel specific message features that can maximize the effects of persuasion, particularly among individuals who are influenced by political and identity biases. 

As a member of the Political Communication Institute at Mizzou, Go-Eun has taken the lead in guiding and mentoring research endeavors related to political debates and the concerning issue of polarization. Additionally, she has contributed by serving as a graduate advisor for iCOM (The Intercollegiate Communication Organization of Mizzou), engaging in meaningful service opportunities for undergraduate students.

Alaina Leverenz

is a Doctoral Candidate in Communication at the University of Missouri. She studies how families, romantic partners, and friends provide support, enact resilience, and make sense of their complex health experiences, particularly through a narrative or metaphor lens. She conducts research with prominent narrative scholars in communication in psychology such as Dr. Haley Horstman, Dr. Robyn Fivush, and Dr. Jennifer Bohanek.  

Alaina has published in four peer-reviewed journals, two of which are ISI-ranked. These include a first-author publication in ISI-ranked Qualitative Health Research, one in ISI-ranked Health Communication, one in the family communication discipline’s flagship journal (Journal of Family Communication), and a first-author, interdisciplinary piece in Narrative Inquiry.   

Alaina has presented her research 16 various panels in the Interpersonal, Family, and Health Divisions at the National Communication Association (NCA) Conventions, Central States Communication Association (CSCA) Annual Conferences, International Communication Association (ICA) Conferences, and the Kentucky Health Communication Conference (KCHC). She has received Top Paper awards in the Family Communication Division of NCA and the Interpersonal and Family Interest Group at CSCA. She has also served as a conference submission reviewer for NCA in Applied Communication. 

Kendal Lyssy

is a doctoral candidate studying interpersonal and family communication at the University of Missouri. Her research program focuses on narratives about family relationships. She studies how families who are considered discourse-dependent make sense of their family forms through storytelling and sense-making through narratives. She studies how parents tell their children narratives about such topics as disability, adoption, and religion and how those narratives influence the relationships family members share with each other. Her dissertation aims to understand how adults who are adopted recall conversations with their parents about adoption and religion and how those conversations influence the adopted individual’s self-concept and boundary negotiation. She is the recipient of the IU Indianapolis Petronio Communication Privacy Management fellowship for the 2025-2026 academic year.

Kendal is also  a passionate teacher scholar aiming to better the lives of her students through the idea that each student brings something valuable to her classroom. She uses holistic teaching methods and challenges her students to be their best selves in and outside of the classroom. Her classroom functions as a seminar designed to help students reach their academic goals through active learning techniques and hands-on assignments. Currently, Kendal is teaching Family Communication at Mizzou and also taught COMM 1200: Public Speaking, for the past three years.

Kendal received her BA and MA in communication studies from the University of North Texas. Kendal taught Argumentation and Advocacy, and served as a Teaching Assistant for Health Communication and Communication Theory at UNT.

Beyond research and teaching, Kendal is passionate about service. She works closely with the IT Accessibility Office to prioritize digital accessibility at Mizzou. Kendal serves as a paper reader for the Family Communication Division at NCA and also serves as a reviewer for the Basic Course and G.I.F.T. divisions at CSCA. She has presented numerous presentations at NCA and CSCA and is an active member of both organizations. Outside of academia, Kendal can be found hanging out with friends, reading fiction, nonfiction, and mysteries, trying new restaurants and coffee shops, cooking, listening to any and all kinds of music, and reading up on the latest pop culture and celebrity news.

Blessing Okafor

holds a bachelor’s degree in English Language and Literature from Nnamdi Azikiwe University (Nigeria), a master’s degree in English Language from the University of Lagos, (Nigeria) and a second master’s degree in Communication Studies at North Dakota State University. Her research in organizational communication explores topics related to workplace communication, organizational dissent, organizational culture, and power. She explores the various expressions of dissent and how employees can effectively communicate in both social and cultural context. Blessing’s research has been presented at Regional, National and International Communication conferences. Her research on the influence of temperament and leader-member-exchange quality on employees’ use of upward dissent strategies received a top four paper award in the organizational and professional communication division of the Central States Communication Association 2019 conference. Her works have been published in Western Journal of Communication, Communication Studies, Journal of Family Communication. Outside academic publication, Blessing has two authored motivational books. 

As a teaching assistant, Blessing has years of experience teaching Public Speaking both online and in traditional face to face environment. She currently teaches a Public Speaking class, and Organizational Advocacy. She is a recipient of various Department of Communication awards such as Loren Reid outstanding graduate teaching award. She also received the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) Doctoral Scholars Program (DSP): Dissertation Award. 

Outside of her research and teaching, Blessing is passionate about service and leadership. She consistently finds ways to serve and give back to her community. She is the Director of Public Relations for the Graduate Professional Council which is the graduate and professional student body for Mizzou. She is the president of Mizzou 2. She is currently serving in various internal and external boards and committees. She serves as a Deaton Advisory Board member for the Deaton Institute, Student Employee Advisory Board member for MU career center, Equity and Diversity Committee member for the Central States Communication Association, and National Communication Association. She is also a Graduate Scholar of Excellence Mentor for the MU Inclusion, Diversity and Equity. She has been invited couple of times by MU Graduate School to talk about her leadership experiences. 

Makenzie Schroeder

is a PhD candidate in the Department of Communication at the University of Missouri. She received her MA in Communication from the University of Missouri, and her BA in Communication and Political Science from the University of Michigan-Flint. 

Makenzie’s research focuses on the psychosocial outcomes of media on identity, othering, stigma, stereotyping, and similar concepts. With a focus on media effects, her research explores how these processes are perpetuated by media, and how the portrayal of different identities influences their treatment within society. Existing at the intersection of mediated and health communication, much of this work considers health identities, including the impact of media on health outcomes. However, many of her projects consider interpersonal, family, and political communication in relation to her main research trajectory. Specific interests include the impact of media on eating disorders and attitudes about body size. Recent publications have appeared in journals such as Health Communication and Computers in Human Behavior, among others. 

Regarding teaching, Makenzie currently serves as the course coordinator for COMM 2100: Media Communication in Society. Within her role, Makenzie mentors teaching assistants, leading the design of lab material among other tasks. She served a leading role in a recent redesign of the course, including serving as a co-author for a new course text. Makenzie has also served as instructor-of-record for COMM 1200: Public Speaking. In Fall 2025, Makenzie will be instructor-of-record for COMM 2100 online, as well as a Media Effects course. Beyond her specific teaching appointments, she has engaged in various training and professional development opportunities, such as presenting at an internal university conference about implementing AI ethically and effectively in the classroom.

Na Wang

Na Wang is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Missouri, specializing in clinician-patient communication, media representation, and media effects, particularly in cancer care and prevention. Her research integrates interpersonal and mediated communication approaches to examine how clinical-patient interactions and media messages shape health beliefs, relational outcomes, and patient behaviour’s. Na’s dissertation develops a novel patient-centered communication (PCC) scale and investigates how mismatches in clinician-provided support affect cancer patients’ trust, satisfaction, and coping self-efficacy. Her broader work explores media portrayals of healthcare and the effects of health messages on public attitudes and prevention behaviour’s, including alcohol use, vaping, and cancer screening.

Na Wang’s scholarship has been published in journals such as Health Communication, Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research, and Communication Reports, and presented at national and international conferences, including the International Communication Association, National Communication Association, and Central States Communication Association. She has been awarded multiple research and travel grants, including the Rebecca Verser & Alumni Research Support Fund and grants from the Graduate Professional Council.

As an instructor, Na Wang has taught COMM 2100: Mass Communication in Society across multiple semesters and contributed to the redesign of this course based on the present media world’s innovation. She also mentors undergraduate research students, guiding them through hands-on projects using content analysis and helping develop their research skills.

Olivia Watson

is a fourth-year doctoral candidate in the Department of Communication at the University of Missouri. She is currently spending the 2023-2024 academic year at the University of Luxembourg as a U.S. Student Fulbright Researcher to complete her dissertation. As a globally-minded interpersonal and health communication scholar, her research advances three main areas: 1) individual and family sense-making about difficult experiences, 2) familial socialization through narrative and memorable messages, and 3) family storytelling behaviors and practices across cultures. Although she is proficient in quantitative methods, her research primarily uses qualitative methodologies such as ethnography, grounded theory, and narrative analysis. Her work has been published in peer-reviewed journals such as the International Journal of Communication and Southern Communication Journal, and has won multiple top paper awards at regional and national conferences. 
 
Olivia is passionate about international education and has studied abroad in Switzerland, China, Portugal, and Costa Rica. These experiences led her to get involved in creating and enhancing international opportunities for students at Mizzou. For example, in partnership with the University of Ghent in Belgium and the University of the Western Cape in South Africa, she co-led an International Qualitative Methods directed reading course to increase cross-cultural understanding and collaboration among undergraduate student researchers. Further, this past summer, Olivia was the Assistant Director for the Communication and Culture in Tuscany faculty-led study abroad trip, where she spent 5 weeks in Siena, Italy helping Mizzou students employ concepts of intercultural communication. 
 
Throughout her graduate school career, Olivia has received internal and external grants, scholarships, and fellowships to support her research. Some of these include the Pulitzer Center Campus Consortium Reporting Fellowship (2018), G. Ellsworth Huggins Fellowship (2020-2024), the John D. Bies International Travel Award (2021), the Rebecca Verser & Alumni Award (2022), the Fulbright U.S. Student Program (2023), and the Advisory Council Summer Opportunity Scholarship at Mizzou (2023). Additionally, she has won numerous awards that recognize her for outstanding teaching, research, and service. Some of these include the Nancy Burrell Award from the Central States Communication Association for Top Student Paper in the Interpersonal/Family Division (both 2022 and 2023), Top Student Paper in the Family Communication Division at the National Communication Association (NCA; 2023), the Frank & Lila Gilman Memorial Graduate Research Award (2023), Mizzou’s Department of Communication Outstanding Service Award (2023), Top 4 Paper in the Health Communication Division at NCA (2023), and the Association for Communication Graduate Students (ACGS) Outstanding Graduate Researcher Award (2023). 

Jinwen Yue

is a PhD candidate in the Department of Communication at the University of Missouri, specializing in interpersonal and family communication. She investigates how family communication is shaped by—and in turn shapes—intergroup contact experiences, such as immigration, religious differences, and racial-ethnic discrimination. Her research focus on how families navigate communication when family members belong to different groups and how families influence individuals’ intergroup engagements beyond the family unit. Her work aims to develop strategies that foster inclusive family environments, which equip individuals with the communicative skills needed to manage intergroup tensions both within and outside the family, thereby supporting resilience and adaptation to diverse social contexts.

Jinwen’s research has been recognized through multiple competitive awards and fellowships. She received the Top Five Student Paper Award from the Family Communication Division of the National Communication Association (NCA, 2024) and the Nancy Burrell Award for Top Student Paper from the Interpersonal and Family Interest Group at the Central States Communication Association (CSCA, 2025). Her work has also been supported by internal funding, including the Advisory Council Summer Opportunity Scholarship at the University of Missouri (2023).

In addition to her research, Jinwen is an experienced instructor and teaching assistant. She has taught Media and Society for two years and currently serves as a teaching assistant and guest lecturer for Introduction to Communication. She has also supported instruction in Public Speaking and Family Communication, bringing her research expertise into the classroom to enhance student engagement and understanding of communication in diverse interpersonal and cultural contexts.