Rate My Professor Jessica Eise

Jessica Eise, PhD, serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health within the School of Public Health-Bloomington at Indiana University Bloomington. She holds a Ph.D. in Communication from Purdue University (2020) and a Master of Arts in Journalism and International Relations from New York University (2012). Before joining Indiana University in 2024, Dr. Eise was an Assistant Professor of social and environmental challenges at The University of Texas at San Antonio. Her academic journey reflects a commitment to bridging communication, environmental health, and global challenges.

Dr. Eise’s research centers on climate change, food security, agriculture, and human behavior, exploring the interrelations between individuals, society, and the Earth to address issues like climate change and hunger. One key focus is understanding agricultural and rural communities’ adaptation to changing climates via complex social systems, aiming to devise tailored solutions for adaptation and global food security. Her second research vein examines human-environmental connections, investigating how ethics, morality, and spirituality drive long-term behavioral changes on environmental concerns. Committed to effective science communication, she emphasizes stakeholder involvement. Dr. Eise founded Clima y Café, an initiative aiding climate adaptation in Colombia’s coffee sector through precision and grassroots strategies. She is the director of the Earth Connection Film Festival and mentors Sustainability Scholars. Her scholarly contributions include books: The Communication Scarcity in Agriculture (Routledge, 2017, with W. Hodde) and How to Feed the World (Island Press, 2018, with K. Foster). Notable publications encompass “Spiritual but Not Religious Seek Unrestricted Connection to Selves, Others, and Earth: Formative Research on the Explosive Growth of an ‘Inactive Public’ Beyond the Organization” (Public Relations Review, 2023, with M. Rawat), “Leveraging Communities’ Network Strengths to Support Climate Change Adaptation Information-Sharing: A Study with Coffee Farmers in Risaralda, Colombia” (Climatic Change, 2021, with N.J. Lambert and E.C. Wiemer), and others. Dr. Eise has secured National Science Foundation funding, including a $425,000 grant (Abstract #2318681) for integrating spiritual, moral, and ethical considerations into science communication for climate action.