Introducing our Editors

Matthew (“Matt”) P. Brigham, Ph.D. (brighamp@jmu.edu)

Matt Brigham is an Associate Professor and Graduate Faculty Member in the School of Communication Studies at James Madison University. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in areas including rhetorical criticism, advocacy, political communication, and environmental communication, and his scholarship analyzes moments of public controversy utilizing theories drawn from rhetoric and argumentation. Matt was the first to develop and teach the graduate seminar in Environmental Justice in the Communication and Advocacy graduate program at JMU, and he has taught it several times since. Apart from our one undergraduate co-contributor (Tarang Mishra), the two graduate student co-editors (Doreen and Grace), and the contributors, were all particularly successful students in previous versions of this environmental justice seminar. In his free time, Matt enjoys watching a wide range of sports (in person and on tv), traveling, attending live music, and he recently successfully walked a half-marathon in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Doreen Philip

Doreen Philip is a Master’s Candidate of the Communication and Advocacy Program at James Madison University and will be graduating in the spring of 2025. She has a B.A in Journalism and Public Relations with a minor in Political Science from the University of Papua New Guinea. Doreen is interested in research that is centered on indigenous knowledge.When she is not studying, Doreen enjoys watching The Overlap, visiting parks and gardens and listening to Bon Jovi, CCR and Foreigner.

Grace Smith

Grace Smith (she/her) is a Master’s Candidate of the Communication and Advocacy Program at James Madison University and will be graduating in the spring of 2025. She is a Double Duke, graduating with a B.A. in Political Science and Sociology in 2023. Currently, Grace is an Assistant Coach on the Speech Team for James Madison University, an Instructor of SCOM 123: Fundamentals of Human Communication and Group Presentations, and JMU’s Student Representative to SCHEV (State Council of Higher Education for Virginia). Grace’s research interests include object-oriented ontology, posthumanism, rhetorics of the border, and environmental justice. In her free time, Grace enjoys reading thriller novels, sipping on vanilla lattes, watching copious amounts of reality television, doing tarot card readings, and finding cool rocks.