CV
Joanne Marras Tate
Ph.D. Candidate, University of Colorado Boulder
Department of Communication, College of Media & Communication Information
UCB 270, Hellems 96, University of Colorado Boulder, CO 80309, USA
Office: 20 Hellems
Email: Joanne.MarrasTate@colorado.edu
Education
The University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado
Ph.D. Communication - Community and Social Interaction. (In progress)
Advisor, Dr. Leah Sprain
Lynn University, Boca Raton, Florida
Master of Science - Communication and Media, Environmental Comm. (2016)
Advisor, Dr. Valeria Fabj
Thesis: “Ignorance in the Public Sphere: The Shallow Portrayal of Biodiversity
in Environmental Advertisements.”
Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida
Bachelor of Science - Psychobiology, Ethology. (2012)
Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida
Bachelor of Science - Biological Sciences, Marine Biology (2011)
Redlands Community College, El Reno, Oklahoma
Associates in Arts (2009). Cum Laude
Publications
Marras Tate, J., & Rapatahana, V. (2022). Māori ways of speaking: Code-switching in Parliamentary discourse, Māori and river identity, and the power of Kaitiakitanga for Conservation. Journal of International and Intercultural Communication. Forthcoming
Marras Tate, J. C. (2022). “Hello, garden eel here:” insights from emerging humanature relations at the aquarium during COVID-19. Environmental Communication, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2021.2014923
Schmitt, C. R., Mocatta, G., & Marras Tate, J. (2022). Rhetorical approaches in Environmental Communication. In B. Takahashi, J. Metag, & J. Thaker (Eds.), The handbook of international trends in Environmental Communication. Routledge.
Marras Tate, J., Buehler, R., & Sharples, M. (2020). Campus Field Guide: Species Relationships at the University of Colorado Boulder. La Raza Publishing.
Marras Tate, J., Russell, V., Larsen, R., & Busch, E. (2020). Going “rogue”: National Parks, discourses of American identity and resistance on Twitter. In G. Bouvier & J. E. Rosenbaum (Eds.), Twitter, the Public Sphere, and the Chaos of Online Deliberation (pp. 25–51). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41421-4_2
Koch, M., Strazisar, T., Cunniff, K., Filina, J., Irwin, C., Dutra, E., Marras Tate, J., Borum., J. & Raun., A. (2012). Florida Bay Seagrass Study Year 1-3 Final Draft Integrated Report Submitted to Everglades Research Division, South Florida Water Management. South Florida Water Management District.
Work-in-progress
Milstein, T., Marras Tate, J., Miller, G., Thomas, M., & Yildiz, D. (Under review). The more-than-human world in Environmental Communication: Attunement for transformation. Submitted to Carvalho, A., & Peterson, T. (eds.) Handbook of Environmental Communication. De Gruyter Mouton.
Marras Tate, J. & Fernandes, D.. Indigenous Women's Movements in the Global South: Fighting for the Earth and their identities, providing tools for environmental hope around the world. In Intersectional Change-Makers/ing in Environmental Activism. Bloomfield, E. & Castro-Sotomayor, J. (Writing phase).
Marras Tate, J. Saudades. In Ecological Feelings: A Rhetorical Compendium. Barnett, J. T. (Ed). (Writing phase)
Grants
NCA Student Caucus Travel Grant ($200), October 2022
Communication Department Career Research Grant ($400), October 2022
Communication Department Career Research Grant ($500), October 2021
Communication Department Summer Dissertation Fellowship ($4,000), May 2021
NCA Environmental Communication Division Micro Grants ($87), Jan 2021
Communication Department Spring Research Grant ($400), March 2021
Communication Department Travel Grant ($1000), 2019/2020
NCA Student Caucus Travel Grant ($150), 2019
NEST Graduate Summer Fellowships ($7,500), 2019
“Hey, I know you!” Enhancing Biophilia Through Species Identification:
A Field Guide of CU Boulder Species"
Collaborators:
Joanne Marras Tate, Ph.D. Student, Department of Communication
Robert Buehler, M.F.A. Candidate, Art and Art History
Mathew Sharples, Ph.D. Candidate, EBIO
Communication Department Summer Research Grant ($400), May 2019
NCA Disability Caucus Travel Grant ($140), November 2018
Communication Department Travel Grant ($1000), 2018/2019
UGGS Travel Grant ($300), October 2018
Communication Department Fall Research Grant ($250), September 2018
Communication Department Summer Research Grant ($250), May 2018
Graduate School Domestic Travel Grant ($300), May 2018
Center for Science and Technology Policy Research (CSTPR) 2017 SEED Grant
“Environmental and Science Communication Workshops and Curriculum” ($5,600)
Phaedra C. Pezzullo, Associate Professor, Dept. of Communication and CSTPR Affiliate
Cassandra Brooks, Assistant Professor, ENVS and CSTPR Affiliate
Max Boykoff, Associate Professor, ENVS and CSTPR Director
Constance Gordon, Graduate Student, Dept. of Communication
David Oonk, Graduate Student, CSTPR Fellow
Joanne Marras Tate, Graduate Student, Dept. of Communication
NCA Student Caucus Travel Grant ($200), October 2016
Presentations
NCA 108th Annual Convention: Honoring PLACE: People, Liberation, Advocacy, Community, and Environment: New Orleans, Louisiana, November 2022
Panelst on “Author-Meets-Reader: Thinking-Feeling with Joshua Trey Barnett’s Mourning the Anthropocene”
NCA 108th Annual Convention: Honoring PLACE: People, Liberation, Advocacy, Community, and Environment: New Orleans, Louisiana, November 2022
Panelist on “An Environmental Communication Discussion on PLACE and Conferencing”
Conference on Cultivating Communication Practices, Boulder, Colorado. July 2022
Cultural discourses of relating and temporality: Telling stories of human and animal encounters and sightings during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in Brazil and the United States.
Conference on Communication and Environment: Re-Mediating the Wild
Virtual, July 2021
Moana Luri de Almeida & Joanne Marras Tate
“Dia do fogo: The missing voices in Brazilian news during the 2019-2020 Amazon fires”
70th ICA Conference, Open Communication: Virtual Conference, LSI Interactive Poster Session, May 20-26, 2020
Joanne Marras Tate & Kellie Brownlee
"Nature from God: Transnational cultural discourses about Christianity and the environment"
WSCA Conference, Competitive Selected Panel, Denver, Colorado, Feb 21-24, 2020
Insurgent Futures
“Reimagining conservation: Indigenous practices, delinking and relinking”
Imagined Borders, Epistemic Freedoms Conference: University of Colorado Boulder, January 8-11, 2020
"Delinking Kaitiakitanga from Conservation Discourses"
105th NCA Conference, Competitive Selected Paper, Scholar to Scholar Division, 2019: Baltimore, Maryland.
Joanne Marras Tate & Urooj Raja
"Protecting our Ocean with Virtual Reality: An Empirical Examination of how VR content Could Affect Level of Concern for the Ocean"
Conference on Communication and Environment: University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, July 2019
Joanne Marras Tate & Vaughan Rapatahana
“Māori Ways of Speaking: Code-Switching in Parliamentary Discourse, Māori and River Identity, and the Power of Kaitiakitanga for Conservation ”
Anthropocene Resonance Symposium: University of Colorado Boulder, CU Boulder Museum, February 8th, 2019
Joanne Marras Tate, Warren Cook, and Emily Locker
“Suck the Anthropocene: Plastic Straws, Neoliberal Ideology and Environmental Action”
Graduate Conference in Religion & Ecology: Yale University, New Haven, CT February 8th, 2019
Warren Cook, Audra Barber, and Joanne Marras Tate
"'The blood of the mountain': Cultural discourse on water and spirituality in the Snake Valley"
104th NCA Conference, Competitive Selected Paper, 2018: Salt Lake City, Utah
Environmental Communication Division, Critical commitments in communication with animals
“When you see Tuna think Panda: The use of Pandanization in environmental conservation advertisements”
UDC 2018: Union for Democratic Communication Annual Conference - Media, Resistance, and Justice: The Fight for Humanity, Loyola University Chicago, Illinois, May 10-13, 2018
Vincent Russel, Joanne Marras Tate, Ellie Bush, and Rachel Larsen
“Going ‘Rogue:’ Discourses of American Identity and Resistance on Twitter”
CMCI Media Research and Practice Fall 2017 Colloquium, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder Colorado, December 6th, 2017
Vincent Russel, Joanne Marras Tate, Ellie Bush, and Rachel Larsen
“Going ‘Rogue’: Alternative National Park Twitter Accounts as a Site of Rhetorical Resistance”
102th NCA Conference, Competitive Selected Panel, 2016: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Rhetoric, Civic Action and Ignorance
“Ignorance, 350.org Activism & the Fight Against Climate Change”
Thesis Defence, Lynn University, 2016: Fort Boca Raton, Florida
“Ignorance in the Public Sphere: The Shallow Portrayal of Biodiversity
in Environmental Advertisements”
TED Talk Innovation Alley Presentation, 2014: Bond University, Australia
Deep Ocean Research Technology. Australian Oceanographics’ Medusa Lander
Florida Atlantic University, 2012: Boca Raton, Florida
Marine Biology Laboratory research proposal project presentation:
“Sargassum fluitans and S. natans primary productivity”
Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute 2011: Fort Pierce, Florida
Semester by the Sea course presentations
Marine Biodiversity:
“Marine Invasions: The expected Trans-Arctic Invasion”
Marine Microbial and Molecular Biology:
“Diatoms; a Natural Assessment to Infer Climate Change”
Workshops
CU Boulder Museum of Natural History: Boulder, CO, September 25, 2020. Two-part Campus Field Guide workshop alongside Robert Buehler for CU students exploring Nature, Art & Language. Part I led by myself: Communicating about the Environment: How Species Interactions Shape our Understanding of Nature, and Part II led by Robert: “Observation and Translation: Illustrating Our Campus Fauna”
2020 Western States Communication Association Convention: Denver, CO, from February 22-24, 2020. Preconference workshop: "Agitating the Classroom: A Workshop on Innovative Environmental Communication, Ethics, and Coping with Grief."
2020 NCA: Indianapolis, IN (Virtual Conference), November 19-22, 2020
Preconference Roundtable and workshop: “A Digital “Trip” to the “Field” of Collaboration: An Environmental Communication Pedagogy Roundtable About #CovidWorld”
Experience
Graduate Part Time Instructor, University of Colorado Boulder, CO. Jan 2018 - Ongoing
Teaching undergraduate course on Discourse, Culture and Identity (COMM 2400) & Intercultural Communication (3410)
Graduate Part Time Instructor, University of Colorado Boulder, CO. Aug 2017 -May 2018
Teaching undergraduate courses on Public Speaking (COMM 1300).
Research Fellow, NEST Studio for the Arts, University of Colorado Boulder, CO. May 2019 - Aug 2020
Worked on a competitive selected project alongside Mathew Sharples, PhD in Evolutionary Biology, and Robert Buehler, MFA in Art and Art History. We created a campus field guide and worked with the Nature, Environment, Science and Technology (NEST) team on different exhibitions and public engagement projects. The projects included the publication of a field guide, coloring books in English and Spanish based on the field guide, a public lecture with CU Boulder’s Museum of Natural History, a public art exhibition at CU Boulder, and an Art exhibition at the Boulder Public Library.
Research Fellow, BoulderTalks, University of Colorado Boulder, CO . Aug 2017- May 2018
Worked with Dr. Phaedra Pezzullo assisting with the 2018 Public Address Conference being hosted at CU Boulder September 2018. Other projects included research on environmental and science communication centers for databases, online resources and curriculums. Worked with Dr. Leah Sprain with the Building Bridges community project alongside the City of Boulder.
Project Assistant, FAU Pine Jog Environmental Education Center, WPB, FL. Mar 2017-Aug 2017
Media outreach, writer, social media and website content creator, and video production for environmental education programs at PJEEC.
Athletic Communications Intern, Lynn University, Boca Raton, FL. Jun 2016-Aug 2016
Sports news creative writer in AP style as well as social media outreach. Video and photography production. Live sports event announcing and commentating. Sports data entry and analysis.
Graduate Assistant, Volleyball, Lynn University, Boca Raton, FL. Aug 2015 - Jun 2016
Work as one of the volleyball coaches for Lynn University’s volleyball program. Work includes coaching and supervising team activities, recruiting new athletes and successfully studying for the Master’s program.
Occupation Trainee, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD Australia. Nov 2012-Feb 2013
Worked within the Sensory Neurobiology group at UQ, under the chief scientist, Professor Justin Marshall. Duties included research assistance such as retinal mapping using stereology microscope, research databasing, aquaria cleaning and maintenance, and animal feeding.
Media & Communication Specialist, Australian Oceanographics, QLD, Australia. Jul 2012- Ongoing
Marketing and social media outreach. Development of presentations and creative content; include work for public outreach and education exhibits at various events. Continuous work in future projects related to the organization as core member of the team.
Biology Tutor, SACAE, Athletic Dept. FAU, Boca Raton, FL. May 2011-May 2012
Tutored student-athletes for courses/laboratory classes in: Biodiversity, Life Sciences, and Biological Principles.
Research Assistant, FAU, Boca Raton, FL. May 2011-Dec 2011
Aquatic Plant Ecology Laboratory, with Professor Marguerite Koch, Ph.D., Principal Investigator. Assisted with laboratory and field research programs on seagrass species Ruppia maritima towards the restoration of Everglades natural habitat and ecosystem.
Community Involvement
Inland Ocean Coalition Microplastics Working Group, Boulder, CO. Jan 2018- Ongoing
The multidisciplinary microplastics working group was established to lead research & fundraising efforts towards investigations on the presence of microplastics in Colorado’s headwaters. My efforts have involved field work, writing and advocacy.
Colorado Ocean Coalition CU-Boulder Chapter, Vice President. April 2018- Jan 2022
Organizing documentary screenings, lectures, and other events related to ocean conservation on campus and around Boulder. Current projects include leading an educational mini-lecture series on marine sciences, and environmental topics, distributions of materials and club organization via newsletters sent out bi-weekly to members, and ongoing engagement as a volunteer during cleanups, tree plantings, and other events. In 2019, we organized alongside the CU Boulder Art Museum a student involvement project for Earth Day on recycling and upcycling of plastics.
Volunteer, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Boulder, CO. June 2021 - ongoing
Volunteer with CPW and OSMP as a Bear Sitter. Boulder’s bearsitter program is one of the most unique and valuable human-wildlife coexistence programs. The position entails public engagement and observation of black bears in urban areas until they subside to wildlife refuges. Public engagement pieces entail describing natural history and biology about the bear to members of the public that approach, as well as CPW wildlife management practices.
Volunteer, Open Space and Mountain Parks, Boulder, CO. June 6th, 2021
To celebrate National Trails Day 2021, OSMP had volunteers work on a re-route of the tenderfoot trail at Flagstaff Mountain.
NCA Environmental Communication Division, Student Representative. Nov 2017- Nov 2019
Assisted the division leadership in organizing events for members. Events included social gatherings, organizing and supporting two Spotlight Sessions during the National Communication Association 2019’s conference (Communication and Surviving Environmental Racism & Communication and Surviving in the Anthropocene).
Volunteer, CMCI Commencement Ceremony, University of Colorado Boulder 2018 and 2019
Event organization and assistance during CMCI’s commencement ceremony, including registration table, handing programs, and assisting students and families.
Radio Broadcaster, Lynn University, Boca Raton, FL. Sep 2016 - Dec 2016
Live radio broadcaster at the Knight Radio Station at Lynn University. Created and produced “The Science Hour,” an hour talk show that covered different science and technology topics targeting the general public.
Volunteer, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia. Jul 2012- Feb 2013
Volunteer for CoralWatch citizen science program. Translated educational and research materials about coral bleaching and climate change, from English content to Portuguese. Field workshop organization and participation, data entry, general clerical/administrative duties.
Volunteer, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute; Ft Pierce, FL, USA. Spring 2011
Laboratory Assistant for Dr. Joshua Voss. Work focused on Black Band Diseases (BBD) in Scleractinia (hard) corals.
Volunteer, John D. MacArthur St Park; West Palm Beach, FL, USA. Spring/Summer 2010
Field research volunteer working with seagrass community density assessment and profiling at John MacArthur State Park.
Radio Broadcaster, Lynn University, Boca Raton, FL. Sep 2016 - Dec 2016
Live radio broadcaster at the Knight Radio Station at Lynn University. Created and produced “The Science Hour,” an hour talk show that covered different science and technology topics targeting the general public.
Communication Graduate Student Association (CGSA)
Social Chair. May 2019- Ongoing
As the organization's co-social chair, I plan and organize events on a monthly basis to enhance solidarity within the community and increase the sense of belonging for grad students in the department.
Co-President. May 2018- May 2019
As a CGSA co-president, I supported the CGSA leadership team, liaise with faculty, and advocated on behalf of graduate students. Some of the labor included budget creation and management for the association’s academic calendar; scheduling, organizing and leading monthly meetings, attending monthly faculty meetings, and being a connection between the graduate student body, faculty, and department.
Disability & Wellness. May 2018- May 2019
Organizing events, including meditations and workshops; distributing information about CU Boulder Disability Services for the Communication Graduate Student Association.
Secretary. Aug 2017- May 2018
Note-taking at meetings for the Communication Graduate Student Association.
Public Performances and Exhibitions
Conference Film Screening: Aquário, November 21, 2021. Aquário was filmed on location at an aquarium in
Brazil during the summer of 2019. The film is based on participant observation and 16 in-depth interviews with
volunteers, directors, environmental education professionals and students, veterinarians, biologists, and janitors at
the aquarium.
Public Exhibition: Field Day, September 9th, 2020, ongoing. Public artwork exhibited at the window panels
displays outside SEEC (Sustainability, Energy and Environment Community) at the University of Colorado
Boulder curated for accessibility and visibility while socially distancing in outside environments during the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Public Exhibition: Life in the Plasticene, July and August 2021. The exhibition showcases work by Marcus Eriksen, Kelsi Nagy, Patrick Chandler, and David Oonk. I contributed as a photographer and member of the research team for the Microplastics Working Group with Inland Ocean Coalition investigating the presence of microplastics in Colorado.
Online Exhibition: Digital Power Digital Power: Activism, Advocacy and the Influence of Women Online, 2020
The short film Māori Ways of Speaking was juried selected for the exhibition. The work was crafted by myself and the New Zealand poet and academe, Vaughan Rapatahana
Public Exhibition: “High Altitude Birds”, September 29th, 2020, ongoing. Public artwork exhibited at a window display outside the NEST gallery at the CASE building in the University of Colorado Boulder curated for accessibility and visibility from socially-distanced, outside environments during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Public Exhibition: “Under- & Overstories” at the Boulder Public Library from August 9th to September 29th, 2019, curated by NEST (Nature, Environment, Science and Technology). The exhibition included pieces of the CU Boulder Species Field Guide following the theme of science and art intersections.
Film Screening: “Poems from the Edge of Extinction,” October 2019, London, UK. Vaughan Rapatahana presented his poetry during the event alongside the film screening of Māori Ways of Speaking.
Performance: Celebration Florida, by Greg Wohead, Square Product Theater, Dairy Arts, Boulder CO, October 9th, 2018
Certifications and Memberships
PADI Open water diver
National Communication Association
Western States Communication Association
International Environmental Communication Association
International Communication Association
Language proficiency
Portuguese: Native language
English: Second language, advanced
Spanish: Conversational
Honours and Awards
Collegiality and Scholarship Excellence Award, Graduate and Professional Student Government,
University of Colorado Boulder, 2021/2022
NCA Ethnography Division Best Aural/Visual Ethnography,
National Convention Award 2021, for the Ethnographic Documentary “Aquário”
Communication Department Service Award,
University of Colorado Boulder, 2020/2021
Deans Award for Academic Excellence, College of International Communication,
Lynn University, 2016
‘Innovation Alley’ Best Presented Award, representing Australian Oceanographics,
at TEDxBondUniversity, 2014
Best Social Media outreach during Study Gold Coast’s Science and Technology Fair, 2014
9th place at AVCA Sand Volleyball National Championship 2012, Florida Atlantic University
Nominated 2011-2012 Student-Athlete of the Year Award, Florida Atlantic University
Sun Belt Conference Commissioner's List 2010-2011 Academic Year, Florida Atlantic University
Dean’s List Fall Semester 2011, Florida Atlantic University GPA 3.845 out of 4.000
Nominated 2010-2011 Student Athlete of the Year Award, Florida Atlantic University
AVCA All-American Second Team, Redlands Community College 2008
NJCAA All Region II Award, Redlands Community College 2007 & 2008