Breck Gillespie is a doctoral student in the Department of Communication specializing in political communication. Her research interests involve women in politics, the impact of gender on political campaigns and advertising, and political debates and their effects. She is also interested in how women running for political office position themselves in a modern media environment.

Breck received her BA in strategic communication from Oklahoma State University and her MA in communication from the University of Arkansas. Her master’s thesis, which won the University of Arkansas Outstanding Thesis Award and the NCA Master’s Education Section Outstanding Master’s Thesis Award in Qualitative Methods, focused on the use of long shot launch advertisements as a tool for women in the regional South running for office and how the use of gender stereotypes impacts perceptions of candidates. 

She has published research regarding political image repair strategies and candidate branding in political debates in journals including the Journal of Public Relations Research and American Behavioral Scientist, well as presented her research at the National Communication Association and the Central States Communication Association conferences.

At Mizzou, she is a graduate instructor of record for Comm 1200: Public Speaking and an active participant in research through the Political Communication Institute (PCI) as a research associate.