Allen Receives Oravec Research Award in Environmental Communication

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Myria Allen

Myria Allen, professor of communication, received the Christine L. Oravec Research Award in Environmental Communication (book category) at the November 2015 National Communication Association conference, one of the two largest annual conferences of communication scholars from across the globe, for her new book Strategic Communication for Sustainable Organizations: Theory and Practice (Springer, 2016).

Christine Oravec's 1984 essay on John Muir and the Hetch Hetchy controversy marks for many the beginning of the environmental communication field. Allen joins an impressive list of other Oravec Research Award winners, who address significant scholarly questions about the relationship between communication and the environment, demonstrate intellectual rigor, and make a forward-looking contribution to their field.

Allen's book seeks to create a more inclusive and dynamic conversation among scholars across multiple disciplines and practitioners interested in creating more sustainable organizations – organizations which seek to reduce their negative environmental footprints. Her work is a valuable reference for individuals and groups seeking to study or implement sustainable practices and philosophies within organizations, supply chains, and surrounding communities. Her book is available at springer.com.

Allen followed the Lewis and Clark trail interviewing people charged with promoting some aspect of sustainability within their organizations. She interviewed people working in

• Sports organizations such as the Portland Trailblazers and Aspen Skiing Co.
• Large organizations such as Sam's Club and Tyson Foods
• Small businesses such as Bayern Brewing and Neal Kelly Design/Build Remodeling
• Business groups such as WasteCap Nebraska and Missoula Sustainability Council
• Nongovernmental organizations such as Heifer International, Arbor Day Foundation and Natural Resources Defense Fund
• Universities such as University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, and University of Colorado, Boulder
• Cities such as Denver, Colorado; Boulder, Colorado; Portland, Oregon
• States such as South Dakota.

Combining interviewee comments with findings from the scholarly literature, Allen identified Best Practices for practitioners.

Allen said, "My desire when writing this book was to help others make more significant contributions by mobilizing employees, supply chains, and collaborative groups around sustainability-related initiatives such as reduced carbon emissions, reduced resource use, and trade association-level environmental advocacy. Given the climate challenges humanity is facing, organizations of all types will play important roles in reducing threats and increasing resiliencies."

About Myria Allen: Allen has researched organizational issues for 30 years. She worked with a Fortune 100 and a Fortune 500 company to communicate new corporate sustainability initiatives to their employees and with the owners of a small company to brand a new environmentally sustainable product. She has published over 40 scholarly articles and book chapters appearing in at least five disciplines and presented more than 65 papers at national and international scholarly conferences.