David Tschida, Ph.D.

As a child, I watched a lot of TV. The TV program Gilligan's Island and the character of the Professor inspired my own interest in being a professor, though I did not know I would end up with a career in communication. I also started following politics and watching news at about age 6. Not the normal thing a six-year-old follows! These parts of my life were the seeds of an interest in communication, especially in the critical analysis of communication messages and practices (i.e., rhetoric, media studies) that eventually became a focus of three university educational experiences. I grew up in Minnesota on the edge of a wildlife management area. It was there that I was given experiences in nature that inspired my specific research focus in environmental communication (i.e., the study of how we communicate about environmental issues in social movements, law, media, tourism, religion, etc.). I enjoy traveling, camping, kayaking, and hiking and exploring our national and state parks and forest lands.