UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — There’s a lot of work ahead, including collecting hundreds of survey responses and conducting dozens of interviews, but fourth-year Penn State doctoral candidate Cassandra Troy has a strong start on her dissertation thanks to some valuable financial support.
Troy earned a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) as she studies the impact of climate change communications. The grant will bolster her qualitative and quantitative efforts, making the research more meaningful and richer, she said; without the funding, she would have dialed back her work substantially.
“I’m excited. It’s a bit of validation that outside experts also thought my proposal was valuable and worthwhile,” Troy said. “Plus, any kind of NSF grant is competitive. Just pulling my proposal together helped me be as meticulous and rigorous as possible.”
Troy said the complex world of climate change communication provides many areas for potential focus and research. Her dissertation specifically focuses on “solutions journalism,” or reporting on successful responses to the threat of climate change.
Faculty members Chris Skurka, an assistant professor of media studies in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications, and Jessica Myrick, the Donald P. Bellisario Professor of Health Communication, serve on Troy's doctoral committee and are her co-advisers and co-primary investigators on the grant. Skurka earned a similar NSF grant as a doctoral student and Myrick has reviewed grant applications in the past.
Troy said the funding makes a bigger pool of survey respondents possible and she plans to partner with the nonprofit Solutions Journalism Network for her practitioner interviews.
Most of all, she hopes to make her findings practical and relatable. Before joining the doctoral program at Penn State she worked as a sustainability, communications and engagement specialist at the University of Richmond.
She said she envisions a positive focus for her work.
“There’s a lot of great research on threat and risk focuses of climate change communication, but not quite as much on communicating successful responses to climate change,” she said. “People need to know about the threat, and they need to know there are legitimate ways to respond to the threat and to advocate for change.”
Troy grew up in coastal Virginia and attended Virginia Commonwealth University, where she earned bachelor’s degrees in communication arts and German. After graduation she gained experience working for an international nonprofit and a university doing a variety of communication work, including graphic design, social media management and strategic communication planning. She later earned a master’s degree in communication at Purdue University.
As Troy enters her final year in the program, she said Penn State’s community and support have been instrumental in her growth and success as a researcher. She hopes to finish her doctoral degree and begin a career as a researcher and teacher in higher education. Troy added that she hopes her future research can equip communities to navigate the myriad ways that climate change will impact them.