Mitchell Graduate Bridie McGreavy Appointed UMaine Assistant Professor of Environmental Communication
Researchers studying team building in collaborative sustainability projects have teased out factors that affect these enterprises and their outcomes, things like personality and worldview and how they shape the way people work together. But few studies have looked closely at communication.
For Bridie McGreavy, communication is at the heart of successful collaborations. In her work, she wants to know how communication affects individuals and groups and how, by paying attention to communication, collaborators can figure out how to work together better.
The newly appointed Assistant Professor of Environmental Communication in the Department of Journalism & Communication at UMaine says her research explores the question: “How, through communication, do we become resilient and sustainable.”
“There are relatively few people looking at communication in these kinds of collaborative projects,” said McGreavy who will be an associate faculty member of the Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions.
“It’s not just about exchanging information. Communication shapes our relationships, how we come to understand one another, and the ways we form lasting partnerships. Communication goes far beyond the words we use to talk with one another to the spaces we create to how we move our bodies to even the environments in which we live.”
In addition to her ongoing research, McGreavy will teach two classes this fall including her largest yet: Environmental Communication (EC), a lecture course with five teaching assistants and more than 300 students. She sees this as a great opportunity to introduce a large group of students to EC, a field that has much to contribute to solving sustainability problems.
Right now, McGreavy is finishing up an appointment as a postdoctoral researcher for the New England Sustainability Consortium (NEST). Led by the Mitchell Center and the University of New Hampshire, NEST is a regional research partnership focused on strengthening the scientific basis for decision-making in the management of coastal systems.
McGreavy will continue her work with NEST focusing on Frenchman’s Bay shellfishing communities to better understand and improve risk communication and resilience to threats such as bacterial contamination and other changes within intertidal ecosystems. And she plans to continue working with fishermen, government and non-governmental agencies in the area after the NEST grant ends next year. Her collaboration with the Frenchman’s Bay shellfishing community runs deep. McGreavy has a recreational harvester’s license and has gotten to know fishermen by working alongside them. Together they are making great progress on opening clam flats that have been closed for years.
“The shellfishermen with whom I work teach me so much about sustainability and how we need to consider the ecological, economic, and cultural parts together. They are out on the mudflats every day and can see the changes that are taking place. And they are working hard to make sure this industry and way of life survives. I am grateful to be able to support their efforts,” McGreavy said.
McGreavy’s assistant professorship begins in the fall.