I am currently a visiting assistant professor in Environmental Studies with the Department of Earth & Environment, at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I received my PhD from the Department of Political Science and with the Ecological Sciences & Engineering Program at Purdue University, in West Lafayette, Indiana.
I specialize in environmental policy and interdisciplinary scholarship. My award-winning research asks how political communication can hinder or help policy changes to address pressing challenges like global climate change. I use qualitative content analysis and process tracing (incorporating case study analysis, archival work and in-depth interviewing) to understand the presence and political influence of “frames” used by diverse stakeholders. In doing so, I develop richly detailed causal stories around policy conflicts, and explore under-studied linkages between different climate change communication strategies and the messy reality of on-the-ground policy conflicts.
My current projects focus on climate change, but I’m interested in a range of environmental issues and contentious policy topics. Most generally, my long-term research agenda seeks to understand the human dimensions and communication aspects of sustainability problems and solutions.
Solving environmental problems relies on the cultivation of meaningful relationships – a philosophy that is integral to my teaching and mentoring. As an instructor, I have three primary goals: to present diverse ways of thinking about the world, to facilitate genuine discussion and applied learning around oftentimes contentious topics, and to provide students with the analytical tools that help make them better scholars and global citizens.
Please feel free to get in touch at heather.cann@fandm.edu. You can also follow me on Twitter or Researchgate, and find me on Linkedin.
(she/her pronouns)
