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Dr. Mary Beth Deline

Assistant Professor
School of Communication
Office
FEL Fell Hall
Office Hours
Tuesday, 5-6; Thursday 2:15-3:15.
  • About
  • Education
  • Awards & Honors
  • Research

Biography

I investigate information avoidance, how changes are implemented in organizations and communities, and how resistance to these changes occurs, often in sustainability contexts. This requires intersecting strategic, organizational and environmental communication, using methods ranging from qualitative interviews to surveys to content analyses.

Current Courses

297.004Communication Research Methods

297.005Communication Research Methods

358.001Crisis Communication

400.019Independent Study

478.001Seminar In Public Relations Research: Case Studies

Ph D Communication

Cornell University
Ithaca, NY

Top Five Great Idea for Teaching, PR Division, AEJMC

AEJMC PR Division
2022

AEJMC ComSHER Teaching Award (Honorable Mention)

Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Communicating Science, Health, Environment and Risk Division
2019

College of Arts and Sciences International Travel Support Award

Illinois State University
2019

Book, Chapter

Shanahan, J., McComas, K., Deline, M.B. (2022). Representations of the environment on television, and their effects. In A. Hansen & R. Cox (Eds.) The Routledge Handbook of Environment and Communication. Routledge.
Shanahan, J., McComas, K., Deline, M.B. (2015). Representations of the environment on television, and their effects. A. Hansen and R. Cox (Eds), Routledge Handbook of Environment and Communication. Routledge: New York.
Deline, M.B. (2021).Expanding moral messaging climate change research. In J. R. Blaney (Ed.). Understanding Pope Francis: Message, media, and audience. Lexington Books.

Journal Article

Deline MB, Katreeb M, Mason E ‘MJ’, Rickard LN, Godinez E, Dalrymple KE. (2025). Addressing Barriers to Racial Health Disparity Policy Change Advocacy: Exploring White Defensiveness Strategies. Health Promotion Practice. doi:10.1177/15248399241311587
Deline, M.B., Rickard, L.N., Worwood, J., Geng, P., & Reed, E. (2024). Environmental Information Avoidance on a U.S. Campus. Iowa Journal of Communication.
Deline MB, Rickard LN, Katreeb M and Adams M (2024) “Hide Our Heads in the Sand”: Environmental information avoidance motives in the United States. Frontiers in Science and Environmental Communication. 9:1468968. doi: 10.3389/fcomm.2024.1468968
Rickard, L., Deline, M.B & Smith, N. (2024). The (fish) scales of justice: How perceived fairness influences social license to operate in aquaculture development. Journal of Risk Research. https://doi.org/10.1080/13669877.2024.2315999
Deline, M.B. (2022). Looking back, stepping forward: COVID-19 KSA development and adaptation assessment for post-traumatic growth. Journal of Public Relations Education, 8(3), 120-139. https://aejmc.us/jpre/?p=3251

Presentations

Deline, M.B., Katreeb, M., Mason, M.J., Rickard, L., Godinez, E., Dalrymple, K. (2024, August 8). White Young Adults’ Defensiveness Strategies in Relation to COVID-19 Racial Health Inequities [Scholar to Scholar Poster Session]. Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Philadelphia PA.
Environmental information avoidance motives. The Conference on Communication and the Environment. International Environmental Communication Association. (2023)
The (fish) scales of justice: How perceived fairness influences social license to operate in aquaculture development. International Communication Association. (2023)
Top Five GIFT winners. PR Division of AEJMC, pedagogy pre-conference. PR Division, AEJMC. (2022)
Truths, Lies, and Compliance with Covid-19 Guidance. AEJMC. (2021)
White Young Adults’ Motives for COVID-19 Information Avoidance. AEJMC. (2021)
Deline, M.B., Dalrymple, K., Worwood, J., Geng, P., Reed, E. Sticking my head in the sand: Motives for environmental information avoidance. (Forthcoming). International Communication Association. Online.
Deline, M.B. Teaching about politics and the environment. (Forthcoming). Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. Online.
Deline, M.B., & Geng, P. (Forthcoming). Resistance Drivers. Paper to be presented at The 2020 National Communication Association. Indianapolis, IN, USA.
Deline, M.B. ComSHER Teaching Award Panel. Winning entry to be presented at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Toronto, ON, Canada.

Grants & Contracts

I'm Dying to Avoid That: Inequitable Risk, Information Avoidance and Health Communication Campaigns. ISU. Illinois State University. (2021)
NFIG. ISU. Illinois State University. (2019)