About Brendan
Brendan Watson is a Roy H. Park doctoral fellow at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in the School of Journalism & Mass Communication. His research interests are in environmental communication, particularly as it relates to environmental behaviors and climate change. In addition to pursuing his Ph.D. in mass communication, he is a research assistant for Professor Daniel Riffe, the Richard Cole Eminent Professor.
Previously, Brendan worked as an online news editor and multimedia producer at the St. Petersburg Times. While at the newspaper, Brendan specialized in shooting and editing video, working on a wide range of breaking news stories and special projects. He also wrote for just about every section of the newspaper on everything from local government, to tailgating, to books.
He also the Digital & Research Coordinator at the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism [resume]. The center runs in depth, topical training programs for professional journalists at the Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland. Brendan redesiged the Knight Center’s website , developed a multimedia skills curriculum and expanded the center’s mission and reach online, though multimedia content and online seminars.
Brendan holds a bachelor’s degree in English Literature and American Culture Studies from Washington University in St. Louis and a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri. At Missouri, he was involved in the development and testing of EmPrint, a digital hybrid of online and print-based publishing as a research assistant for the school’s Reynolds Institute. Brendan was also a founding editor of the citizen journalism site MyMisourian.com and won a regional Edward R. Murrow award for “use of sound” for a piece he co-produced for the University’s NPR station (listen). Brendan is a previous fellow of the University of Missouri eResearch Center.
Brendan Carrboro, NC with his wife Tamara and his black lab Jinx.