Public relations is a profession devoted to providing a positive image for a client. In the case of NMU pubic relations professors Tom Isaacson and Jes Thompson, they are reflecting a very positive image of Northern on a national stage. In November, Isaacson won the Hall of Fame award from the Public Relations Student Society of America, and NMU students won the Star Chapter award from PRSSA at the PRSSA annual conference in Atlanta, Georgia. Just a few days earlier, associate professor Jes Thompson had represented NMU as a keynote speaker during the opening session of the National Science Foundation’s EPSCoR Division’s (Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research) national conference in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Isaacson says the two awards share a distinctive feature, “Both are a reflection of our recent student work and success. The Star Chapter Award shows that our PRSSA chapter at NMU is active, involved and providing significant added value to our students, while at the same time allowing NMU to be recognized along with much larger universities from around the country.”
PRSSA is an organization with more than 10,000 members nationwide, and during Isaacson’s time as faculty advisor, an NMU student has sat on the 10-person elected National Committee every year. Isaacson knows a little something about this because he served on the National Committee when he was an undergraduate at NMU.
Given the level of involvement by NMU students in PRSSA, Isaacson views his award as having his name on a team award. “An important reason I won, and a reason I’m honored by the award, is that the nomination was initiated and developed by our current PRSSA chapter president Katie Bultman. Katie is a student that embodies everything we value in an NMU student. She stands out in the classroom, and through her extracurricular involvement and her ability has been recognized at a national level. During the summer 2015, Katie was an intern at Fleishman/Hillard, a worldwide PR agency with more than 2,500 employees. Katie was one of only eight interns selected from a nationwide search to work at the agency’s Dallas office.”
Even though Isaacson is the only faculty member devoted full-time to the public relations major in the Department of Communication and Performance Studies, he proudly points out that NMU’s program more than hold its own when compared to much larger universities. “At NMU, we have an impressive level of involvement and success compared to the number of students in our major. Past students’ success helps contribute to future students’ success. This year at the national conference in Atlanta, our current students were able to network with recent alumnus Brian Price, who is now working for Edelman PR in Chicago. Brian presented at a young professionals panel that had more than 200 students in attendance. Our program is known and recognized within PRSSA and PRSA.”
Jes Thompson also contributes to the public relations major, but her main expertise is in environmental communication. Her background and current role as the principal investigator in a National Science Foundation, Climate Change Education Partnership project made her a natural fit for the theme of this year’s conference, Collaboration: Advancing the Role of Science in the Service of Society.
Thompson says being selected as a keynote speaker means that the National Science Foundation is recognizing the challenge of collaboration in multi-disciplinary teams. “I’ve been studying complex teams since my dissertation fifteen years ago, and I’ve been invited to several NSF meetings, but this was my first time as an invited keynote speaker. This invitation and ultimately, the recognition that communication and collaboration matters when solving scientific problems, will help me as I continue my work and build my network here at Northern. It will also help as teams across the country work to improve their productivity by reflecting on the process and how they’re communicating and collaborating.”
Thompson followed the welcoming remarks from the New Hampshire Governor, Maggie Hassan and was immediately preceded by Mr. Alan Alda, actor (M*A*S*H, The West Wing) and founder of the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science.
She addressed an audience made up of vice presidents of research and lead investigators on multi-million dollar interdisciplinary projects like wind energy in Iowa and nanotechnology in Arkansas.
Two weeks after her keynote address at the NSF conference in New Hampshire, Thompson was off again presenting at the National Communication Association convention in Las Vegas, Nevada with undergraduate student Jose Aburto. Thompson and Aburto won the Top Paper in Environmental Communication Award. The award included a cash prize and Thompson and Aburto were recognized for their research entitled, Ecosystem-What? Public Understanding and Trust in Conservation Science and Ecosystem Services. Aburto gave a formal presentation highlighting the results of the paper in front of a large audience on Friday, November 19. Aburto is one of Northern Michigan University’s McNair Scholars, and he is majoring in Public Relations with a minor in Sustainability. “Working with undergraduates is very inspiring,” says Thompson. “They bring an eagerness and energy that rejuvenates me! Most importantly, I remember having the opportunity to work as an undergraduate research assistant when I was a student at Northern, and that experience really influenced the trajectory of my career.”
Both Isaacson and Thompson embody what makes NMU such a dynamic place for students to learn. They attended NMU as undergraduates, went on to find success in their profession and have returned to share their expertise with a new generation of students. Isaacson is an assistant professor of public relations and Thompson is an associate professor of environmental communication in the Department of Communication and Performance Studies.
To learn more about Thompson’s research, you can follow these links.
https://sites.google.com/site/jesthompsonportfolio/home/research
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=2wPHmyUAAAAJ&hl=en