Dr. Samantha (Sam) Lorenzo is a recent graduate of the Communication and Media Studies Ph.D. program at the University of Oregon (UO). While fulfilling the requirements for the doctoral degree, she also completed graduate coursework for both UO’s Educational Data Science Specialization and the New Media and Culture Certificate. Currently, Lorenzo serves as the Program Manager for the Center for Science Communication Research (SCR) within UO’s School of Journalism and Communication (SOJC). She is also a UX/UI researcher and designer for UO's Snap AR Scholars (Snapchat Augmented Reality), a scholar for the SCR Center, and a volunteer data scientist for a team of researchers at Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago. In addition, Lorenzo has taught courses in public relations at UO as an instructor of record. Prior to attending UO for her doctoral studies, Lorenzo worked in publicity—planning and executing campaigns for music and entertainment industry clients. Her most recent role was at Warner Records (Warner Music Group). Furthermore, she received a master’s degree in Music Industry Administration (Entertainment Business) and a bachelor’s degree in Journalism-Public Relations from California State University, Northridge.

Lorenzo’s area of specialization lies at the intersection of persuasion and media psychology, technology and society, and media and public life. In addition, her dissertation focuses on communication and public decision-making, as well as social and psychological aspects of behavior. She is particularly interested in activist-oriented exploration and prosocial outcomes. Her intent is to provide preventative measures for avoidable socio-psychological issues in efforts to promote a more cohesive global community for generations to come. Through this focus, Lorenzo has been inspired to investigate crisis events, social issues, and phenomena surrounding conspiracies, distrust, and misinformation. In doing so, she hopes to better understand, contribute to theory, and cultivate effective solutions to avoidable communication problems. 

For academic publications, please visit Lorenzo’s Google Scholar page.