My research and work focuses on risk and crisis communication emphasizing the stakeholder or citizen experience because I do not believe that we can talk about strategic communication from an organizational centric focus and be successful in real-world contexts.
This conclusion comes from more than 20 years of collaborations or working with organizations like the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault, Applied Materials, the WHO Europe, Asia Europe Foundation along with a host of private businesses and other nonprofit/charities. I believe strongly that evidence-based decision-making is critical -- no matter whether we are talking about supporting people, building responsible and sustainable organizations, or responding to global pandemics at all levels.
This is also the thread that binds my research together and is articulated in my book 'Crisis Communication: Managing Stakeholder Relationships' along with my co-edited book with Stephen Croucher 'Pandemic Communication' with Stephen Croucher and the forthcoming 'Risk and Crisis Communication in Europe: Towards Integrating Theory and Practice in Unstable and Turbulent Times' with Andreas Schwarz, Florian Meissner, and Silvia Ravazzani. My body of research includes more than 30 book chapters and journal articles that have come out in the last few years or will be coming out in the next few years. Much of my research focuses on 'mega-crises' like the 2010 BP Explosion in the Gulf of Mexico or the fall out from societal level crises like Brexit (UK) or the COVID-19 pandemic because these are the crises that affect people's everyday lives.
I also strongly support building a strong international risk and crisis communication community of experts -- both scholars and practitioners -- and have materially supported that with leadership in organizations like the Crisis Communication section of the European Communication Research and Education Association or editing the Journal of International Crisis and Risk Communication Research. The real problems affecting people need cross-disciplinary, cross-sector, and international collaborations.
