Dr. Troy Elias (Ph.d., The Ohio State University) is an Associate Professor in the advertising sequence in the School of Journalism and Communication at the University of Oregon. His research interests focus on diversity and equity, media effects, and attitudes related to climate change. Dr. Elias aims to help climate change organizations, brands, and journalists understand how to include and communicate with communities of color. In 2000 he moved from Trinidad and Tobago to attend an HBCU, Claflin University, where he majored in Computer Science. From 2004-2009, he attended Ohio State University for his M.A. and Ph.D. in Strategic Communication.

He subsequently worked as an assistant professor at the University of Florida and in 2014 was awarded Teacher of the Year, in the College of Journalism & Communications at UF. At the University of Oregon, Dr. Elias has received a Best Faculty Award by UO’s Student-Athlete Committee, and a mentorship award from the UO Black Women of Achievement student group. He is the faculty advisor for the UO student chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ). In 2014 and 2018 he earned Top Faculty Papers in AEJMC’s Minorities & Communication Division, and has published in the Journal of Advertising Research, International Journal of Communication, Environmental Values, Howard Journal of Communications, Journal of Interactive Advertising, Journal of Social Media in Society, and Online Information Review.

• PhD, Strategic Communication, The Ohio State University, 2009
• MA, Strategic Communication, The Ohio State University, 2006
• BS, Computer Science, Claflin University, 2004

• 2018 Dean’s grant: Latitudes, Attitudes, And Climate Change Agency | with Mark Blaine
• 2020 Dean’s grant: Efficacy and Fear Appeals in Earthquake Preparedness Messages Targeted to Individuals with Invisible Disabilities 
• Mentorship Award, Black Women of Achievement UO Student Group  2019
• Top Faculty Paper, Minorities & Communication Division, AEJMC 2018      
• 2018 Best Faculty Award, UO Student-Athlete Committee          
• Teacher of the Year 2013-2014, College of Journalism And Communications, University of Florida
• Third place, faculty paper in Minorities and Communication Division’s faculty research competition, Minorities & Communication Division, AEJMC, 2014

• Advertising and Culture
• Understanding Media

• Advertising
• Race and ethnicity
• Climate change attitudes & behaviors
• Media Effects