Meet Shannon Cruz, Assistant Professor of Communication Arts & Sciences and College of the Liberal Arts Endowed Fellow.
Shannon is currently teaching a graduate special topic seminar, CAS 597: Risk Communication, which covers a range of perspectives on how people understand health and environmental risks. “The goal is to discuss how people can talk about risks in more effective and ethical ways, whether that’s in an official capacity or one-on-one with a family member or friend. We often mean well, but convincing people to change their behavior is a complicated process that can sometimes have unintended consequences.”
Aside from teaching this seminar, she teaches an undergraduate course aimed at forming research questions and finding ways to answer the whys, as well as a course on communication in groups. She is also working with David Keating, a colleague at Arizona State University, to examine perceptions of bees and other pollinators, with the goal of leveraging communication science for pollinator conservation to promote the protection of Pennsylvania’s bees. They have conducted a series of studies testing messages that may encourage people to take action, such as buying local honey, donating to conservation organizations, and planting native species for pollinators, and are currently in the process of collecting additional data.
For Shannon, there was always a love of the environment, even from a young age, when she spent time watching the Discovery Channel. That’s why when she started to think of college majors, environmental biology/zoology just fit. That path eventually led her to a master’s and PhD in communication, a three-year visiting Assistant Professor position at Oregon State University, and now to her 6th year at Penn State as an Assistant Professor. She continues to be excited about her work in the Department of Communication Arts & Sciences and Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences community.
In the future, she looks forward to continuing to teach, research, and educate the public. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her loving partner and three-year-old son, who loves to pick her next read on her never-ending TBR list, and drawing inspiration from the beautiful outdoors, like Talleyrand Park in Bellefonte. Shannon Cruz continues to bring a positive light to public outreach regarding the environment and sustainability while teaching the next generation here at PSU. She recently received the 2025 Liberal Arts Faculty Excellence in Sustainability award for her outstanding work.
Interested in taking her classes next year? Register for CAS 304: Quantitative Methods for Communication Research (fall) or CAS 450W: Group Communication Theory and Research (spring).
Congratulations, Shannon, on your well-deserved award!
