Awards & Grants

Below is a list of awards, honors, and grants I have received during my academic career.


2026 

    • Research and Creative Activity Award, College of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. 
    • UNL Office of Research and Innovation R&I Grant Project Title: “Consumed by True Crime: The Ethics and Economy of Exploitation
      Role: Primary Investigator (PI), Amount: $14,950 (Under review)
    •  2026411-FEL National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Fellowship Program Project Title: “Consumed by True Crime: Ethics, Exploitation, and the Stories that Shape American Culture”
      Role: Primary Investigator (PI), Amount: $40,000 (Under review)
    •  AEJMC Standing Committee on Teaching Best Practices in Teaching Competition, Story as Pedagogy: Using StoryCorps to Teach Counter-Narratives and Nurture Relational Health in Large Lecture Courses. Accepted for presentation at the annual AEJMC Conference in New Orleans, LA.

2025 

    • AR-25-100 Pilot Health Services and Economic Research on the Treatment of Drug, Alcohol, and Tobacco Use Disorders, NIH R34 Project Title: “Improving Public Attitudes to Increase Support for Naloxone and Overdose Prevention: Planning a Social Media Intervention”
      Role: Co-Investigator, Amount: $716,805 (Under Review)
    • SF-424/84-116J2025-1 Department of Education, Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education – Special Projects (FIPSE-SP), ED-GRANTS-111225-00 Project Title: “Discuss ANYTHING?! Defining, Refining, and Replicating NICE (Nebraska Initiative for Civil Engagement)”
      Role: Co-Investigator, Amount: $2,561,708 (Not funded)
    • PA-25-304 NIH Exploratory/Developmental Research Project Grant, NIH R21 Project Title: “Investigating the role of Individual, Interpersonal, and Media Influences in Pregnancy Care Decisions”
      Role: Co-Investigator, Amount: $431,680 (Not funded)

2024 

    • Lilian Lodge Kopenhaver Early Career Woman Scholar ($250), Center for Advancement of Women in Communication at Florida International University and the AEJMC Commission on the Status of Women.
    • Inclusive Excellence Award, College of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

2023 

    • Mass Communications and Society Faculty Research Award ($10,000), MC&S Division, 2023 AEJMC National Conference, Washington, D.C.
    • Arthur W. Page Center’s 2023 Page/Johnson Legacy Scholar Grant ($5,000), Prosocial Communication Research Award
    • College of Journalism and Mass Communications (UNL) Seed Grant ($5,000), How journalists participated in the online conversation around #RoevWade

2022   

    • University of Nebraska Medical Center ($11,550), College of Public Health Innovation Fund, The role of media in birthing provider decision
    • University of Nebraska-Lincoln Public Insight Lab, How journalists use #roevwade

2021   

    • University of Nebraska Collaborative Initiative Grant ($7,500), #NarcanSavesLives
    • Lillian Lodge Kopenhaver Fellow, Florida International University, Center for the Advancement of Women in Communication

2020   

    • First place student paper, AEJMC Minorities and Communication Division, 2020 AEJMC National Conference, San Francisco, CA (Virtual)
    • Kappa Tau Alpha, Conferred membership into the National Honor Society for Journalism and Mass Communication, April 2020
    • Breakthrough Graduate Scholar, One of 14 graduate students recognized campus-wide for excellence in teaching and research, University of South Carolina, January 2020

2019   

    • Mass Communications and Society Graduate Research Award ($5,000) MC&S Division, 2019 AEJMC National Conference, Toronto, Canada
    • Mary Gardner Award for Graduate Student Research, Commission on the Status of Women, 2019 AEJMC National Conference, Toronto, Canada
    • Third place student paper, AEJMC Law & Policy Division, 2019 AEJMC National Conference, Toronto, Canada.
    • The Graduate School at USC Conference Travel Grant Award ($500), University of South Carolina, May 2019
    • Top Student Paper, AEJMC Newspaper & Online News Division, 2019 Southeast Colloquium, Columbia, SC
    • University of South Carolina Graduate School Fellowship ($26,000 p/yr), University of South Carolina, 2016 – 2019

2018   

    • Third place student paper, AEJMC History Division, 2018 AEJMC National Conference, Washington, DC
    • Excellence in teaching award ($500), 2018 Graduate student excellence in teaching award, University of South Carolina School of Journalism and Mass Communications
    • Top student paper, AEJMC Law and Policy Division, 2018 Southeast Colloquium, Tuscaloosa, AL

2017   

    • Second place student paper, AEJMC Minorities and Communication Division, 2017 AEJMC National Conference, Chicago, IL
    • The Graduate School at USC Conference Travel Grant Award ($500), University of South Carolina, April 2017