Catherine Bruns

she/her/hers

bruns146@umn.edu

Communication Studies

225 Ford Hall

224 Church St SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455

Collegiate Affiliation

Communication Studies

Links

Personal Website

I am a PhD candidate in Communication Studies at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities (UMN), where I study media discourses of water scarcity. My research agenda spans drinking water, agricultural irrigation, and ice loss, and my dissertation examines climate adaptation communication in the Andalucía wine region in southern Spain.

I am currently a graduate research assistant for the National Science Foundation-funded Center for Oldest Ice Exploration (COLDEX) but have extensive experience teaching in-person and undergraduate communication classes, including a study abroad course in environmental communication (COMM 4250). Presently, I serve on the United States Global Leadership Coalition Minnesota State Advisory Council and am a research team member for the Media and Climate Change Observatory (MeCCO).

Educational Background & Specialties

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Educational Background

B.A.: Communication Studies-Theatre Arts, Political Science, Concordia College, 2015
M.A.: Environmental Communication and Advocacy, James Madison University, 2017

Specialties

Environmental communication
Water
Climate journalism
Critical media studies
Discourse analysis
Climate adaptation
Knowledge transfer

Publications

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Publications

Bruns, C. J., & Andersen, I. V. (2023). The worth of nature: Valuations of glaciers in Alaskan and Norwegian media discourse. Environmental Communication, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2023.2263655
Bruns, C. J. (2021). Grieving Okjökull: Discourses of the Ok glacier funeral. In H. Bødker and H. E. Morris (Eds.), Climate change and journalism: Negotiating rifts of time (pp. 121-135). Routledge.
Voci, D. Bruns, C. J., Weder, F., & Lemke, S. (2020). Framing the end: Analyzing media and meaning making during Cape Town's Day Zero. Frontiers in Communication, 5(576199). https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2020.576199
Bruns, C. J. (2020). Sun, sand, and satire: A rhetorical analysis of the Great Barrier Reef’s obituary. In C. R. Schmitt, T. R. Castor, & C. S. Thomas (Eds.), Water, rhetoric, and social justice: A critical confluence (pp. 249-267). Lexington Books.
Bruns, C. J. (2018). Shifting blame: Addressing the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality’s complicated ethical responsibility in the Flint water crisis. In B. R. Brunner & C. A. Hickerson (Eds.), Cases in public relations: Translating ethics into action (pp. 171-178). Oxford University Press.
Bruns, C. J. (2016). Fracking for fans: The ethos of Promised Land. Carolinas Communication Annual, 32, 43-58. https://carolinascommunication.files.wordpress.com/2018/02/2016-carolinascommunicationannual.pdf

Activities

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Activities

Research

University of Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership
Center for German & European Studies
Literacy and Rhetorical Studies Program
Environmental Humanities Initiative
Institute for Advanced Study
MnDRIVE Human in the Data

Professional

UMN Water Council
Twin Cities Sustainability Committee

Outreach

Resilient Communities Project

Creative

Open Rivers Graduate Student Committee

Courses

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