Brianna Avalos

Originally from San Diego, CA, Brianna L. Avalos, Ph.D. began her educational career at San Diego Mesa Community College. After taking a relational communication class, she eagerly declared her major as communication and went on to transfer to San Diego State University where she later received both her bachelor's and master's degrees in communication with an emphasis in interpersonal communication. Brianna is now a PhD graduate from Arizona State University (2023) who focused on relational and interpersonal communication with an emphasis in relationship management along with emotional and social media wellbeing. Her past research has focused on organizational communication including: social support and sports dialogic; as well as relational communication including: sexting, family communication, and friendship dissolution (with an emphasis on ghosting). Her award-winning dissertation (Top Interpersonal Paper at International Communication Association, 2024) focused on the emotional well-being as well as social media presence after a friendship breakup. She is currently an instructor at Hugh Downs School of Human Communication and also the department's tutor for communication core courses.