Team Members
Cimmiaron Alvarez
Rutgers PhD Student
Cimmiaron F. Alvarez is a PhD student at Rutgers University where she studies interpersonal and family communication with Dr. Scharp. Her research interests lie at the intersection of family, interpersonal, and health communication. Specifically, Cimmiaron is interested in how individuals manage impressions and cope during difficult transitions.
Olivia Watson
MSU Post Doc
Olivia Watson is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Communication at Michigan State University. She earned her Ph.D. in Interpersonal and Family Communication from the University of Missouri, and was previously a U.S. Student Fulbright Researcher at the University of Luxembourg. Her research investigates sensemaking, resistance, and resilience in marginalized identities, relationships, and health conditions.
America Edwards
UKY Assistant Professor
America Edwards is a PhD candidate in the Department of Communication at the University of California Santa Barbara and a Research Associate (soon to be post-doc) in the Department of Communication at Michigan State University. She is interested in interpersonal communication and strategic communication, through both mediated and unmediated channels.
Yue Zhang
MSU PhD Student
Yue Zhang is a doctoral student in the Department of Communication at Michigan State University. Her research focuses on the intersection of interpersonal and family communication, particularly examining how individuals navigate dynamic dyadic conversations to collaboratively manage stress, enhance resilience, and promote psychological and relational well-being.
Xiaoran Cui
MSU MA Student
Xiaoran Cui is a master student in the Department of Communication at Michigan State University. She is interested in interpersonal communication, family communication and health communication. Her research focuses on the relationship between emerging adults and their parents and the health of older adults.
Haley Nolan-Cody
Rutgers PhD Student
Haley Nolan-Cody is a PhD student at Rutgers University. She received her M.A. in interpersonal communication from the University of Texas at Austin. Haley’s program of research examines topics which often explore the interplay between interpersonal, family, and health communication. In particular, she is interested in studying how people talk about trauma, stigma, and difficult health topics in the family. Her works appears in the Journal of Communication.
Brooke Wolife
MSU Post Doc
Brooke Wolfe is a Dean’s Postdoctoral Fellow in the Communication Department at Michigan State University. She received her Ph.D. in Family and Interpersonal Communication from the University of Washington. Brooke’s research focuses on individuals historically marginalized, and underrepresented, within interpersonal, family, and health contexts engage in processes of social support and resilience as forms of resistance.
Paulina Valdes
MSU Undergrad Student
Paulina Valdes is an undergraduate Marketing student with a minor in Social Science Quantitative Data Analytics. She is interested in persuasive communication and research communication. In her leisure time, she loves reading, crocheting, and also working on the Executive Board for the MSU Marketing Association where she gets to explore marketing communication and analytics.