Jeff Conlin

Jeff Conlin joined the full-time faculty at the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications in 2021 as an assistant professor supporting the strategic communication concentration. Previously, Conlin served as a lecturer at Penn State University and taught public relations writing and media relations methods courses, and search engine marketing classes. 



Conlin’s research interests are at the intersection of strategic communication, science, and political contexts. Specifically, he studies the persuasive effects of messages, images, and emotions in relation to environmental and public health risks, and political advertising contexts. Topics of recent studies have addressed tamping down vaccination hesitation, effects of narrative ads in the 2018 midterm elections, and examining disgust and cuteness responses toward the eradication of feral pigs. 



Before transitioning to academia, Conlin was an award-winning practitioner with more than 16 years of agency, start-up and corporate experience in public relations, corporate communications and digital marketing roles. Conlin’s professional communication work spanned areas such as transportation, ecommerce, food and carpet manufacturing, nonprofit and environmental conservation. His prior work experience continues to inform his current pedagogy and research.