Nikki McClaran (she/her) is an assistant professor of strategic communication at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. Her research explores the cognitive, social and motivational determinants of health behaviors and how mass media messages can be constructed to facilitate successful persuasion and engagement. She is particularly interested in the use of popular media and social norm appeals. Her work has been published in Health Communication, Human Communication Research, Journal of Environmental Management, and Psychology of Music.
Before joining Cronkite, McClaran completed her doctorate at Michigan State University as a University Enrichment Fellow. While there, McClaran received several accolades and awards at the university and national level, such as being awarded the Michigan State University Excellence in Teaching Citation (2021), the Adams Academy Teaching Impact Award (2020) and the inaugural Student Service Award from the National Communication Association (2022).
She currently serves as the Student and Early Career Representative for the International Communication Association (ICA) Health Communication Division.