Anabel is a 2023 UCSB alumni who graduated with B.A.s in Feminist Studies and Linguistics while also completing the Poverty, Inequality, and Social Justice minor. Anabel was a co-founder and co-president for the First-Generation Tri-Alpha Honor Society where she worked to build a community for students to connect with other first-generation peers and staff to connect them with on campus resources and support. Anabel was also a part of the Promise Scholars Program where she served as the Mentorship Program Coordinator, in 2022, where she helped to welcome incoming freshmen to campus. Anabel is grateful for the opportunity to work with amazing students and staff at UCSB. 

One of two undergraduate advisors, Anabel provides individual academic advising to 1800+ pre- and full- majors in Communication. She advises students and faculty on all aspects of undergraduate affairs (i.e. major requirements, academic planning, course requirements, academic problems, transfer coursework, independent studies, internship opportunities and graduation, etc.). She processes student petitions as needed, interfaces with
other advising offices, and works as a leading team member with student peer advisors. She communicate colleges policies to students and provides input to the Student Affairs Manager, Department Chair, and the Undergraduate Affairs Committee regarding a wide variety of issues affecting students.

Renee Houston ( Ph.D., The Florida State University) is an engaged communication teacher/scholar focused on developing stigma-based approaches to understanding social identity inequities that inform psychological and communication theory as well as organizational policy and practice. She’s also interested in identifying and implementing organizational practices that support employee empowerment, collaboration, and healthy work lives. Because her work engages the community, she’s committed to social learning practices that decenter expertise and create space for open, respectful, and collaborative solutions. As a lifelong advocate of whole-person approaches, Renee’s courses focus on exploring emotion, work-life and well-being, alternative organizing, and social identities in organizational contexts. Using a social learning approach to teaching she seeks to bring voice, connection, and justice to her students that inspires them to seek their life's purpose with skills, confidence, and joy. She is also an experienced higher education administrator with an extensive background in mentoring, program development, and education technology. Most recently, she developed several programs designed to provide key experiences that help college students move toward career choices. Her work was recognized with an award from the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

Erick is an M.A./Ph.D. student in the Department of Communication at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He received his M.A. in Psychological Research from California State University, Long Beach in 2023 and his B.A. in Psychology from the University of California, Irvine in 2020.

Previously, his work has focused on digital emotional contagion and source attribution, focusing on human and algorithm interactions with digital media on social media platforms.

His current research interest lie in the interdisciplinary intersection of psychology and communication. Specifically, he is interested in exploring the social processes (i.e., emotion, contagion, influence, approval, culture, and community) that drive human interactions on social media and digital platforms.

Ismaharif is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Communication at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He received both his B.Soc.Sci. and M.Soc.Sci (Social and Organizational Psychology concentration) degrees in Psychology from the National University of Singapore. At the intersection of motivation science, social identity and communication technologies, Ismaharif broadly studies group processes, intergroup relations and inequality. His work draws on social psychological theories and adopts a multi-method approach, using a combination of experimental designs, longitudinal studies, behavioral intervention programs, big-team science, and analyses of public datasets using structural equation modeling. His recent research explores how media environments and social psychological processes shape national resilience and social cohesion. Using quantitative methods, he leverages on social technologies to foster collective commitment and striving in citizens (e.g., civic participation, collective action). Ismaharif’s work has appeared in outlets from a variety of disciplines such as Computers in Human Behavior,  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Social Psychological and Personality Science, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, and European Journal of Personality.