Kelsi Opat, Ph.D. recently joined the Department of Agriculture Leadership, Education and Communications as an instructional assistant professor of agricultural journalism and communications. She came from Missouri State University where she taught a wide variety of agricultural communications and business courses.
Opat enjoys teaching strategic and science communications courses where she encourages students to build their problem-solving, creativity, and writing skills while building practical portfolio pieces. Her research interests include science and crisis communications, particularly via digital mediums such as podcasts and social media. She enjoys studying the effectiveness of using narratives, being transparent and appealing to various social identities. A study of hers that may be of interest to those in the Brazos Valley explored communications between Blue Bell Creameries and its Facebook followers during the 2015 listeria outbreak.
Opat enjoys baking and exploring the great outdoors with her family. She looks forward to teaching ALEC 640, exploring Aggieland and getting to know ALEC students this fall.
