The Arthur W. Page Center at Penn State and the Crisis Communication Think Tank at the University of Georgia collaborate throughout the year to support and promote collaborative research conducted by students. Through this unique partnership, the Page Center’s Graduate Student Lab Group and CCTT’s Crisis Insights & Analytics (CIA) Lab work together to produce innovative, timely research across ethics, digital technology and crisis communication. The group is led by faculty directors Holly Overton (Penn State) and Yan Jin (University of Georgia).
The student researchers were well represented at the 2026 International Public Relations Research Conference in Orlando.
Students from the University of Georgia and Penn State gathered to present their research as part of the Page Center & Crisis Communication Think Tank student collaboration project.
Members of the Crisis Communication Think Tank met with members from the Page Center at AEJMC in Philadelphia to present two collaborative projects that members from each group completed over 2023-2024.
Partnership Advisors
Holly Overton
- Page Center Research Director
- Professor, Advertising/Public Relations
The Teams
The students listed below represent the teams that lead timely, innovative studies on important issues in public communication. Since 2023, students from Georgia and Penn State have worked together on a range of topics.
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2023/2024
- Wenqing Zhao, Anna Rachwalski (Georgia) and Maranda Goke (Penn State)
- Megan Pietruszewski Norman, Cassandra Troy and Sung In Choi (Penn State)
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2024/2025
- Brittany Shivers, (Georgia) Jiaqi (Agnes) Bao, Megan Pietruszewski Norman (Penn State) and Nicole Cortes (Georgia)
- Peixin Hua (Penn State), Rongting Niu (Georgia) and Yanan Wu (Penn State)
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2025/2026
- Lauren Flaker (Georgia), Temi Adeeko (Penn State) and Nicole Cortes (Georgia)
- Yanan Wu (Penn State), Lanlan Zhang (Georgia), Rehab Alayoubi (Penn State) and Ansley Zhao (Georgia)
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2026/2027
- Loredonna Cardona (Penn State), Guang-Lun Hsiang (Georgia), Katherine Ryan (Penn State) and Jimmy Kong (Georgia)
- Rongting Niu (Georgia), Yanan Wu and Rehab Alayoubi (Penn State)
- NaYoung Song , Ansley Zhao (Georgia), Temi Adeeko (Penn State) and Lauren Flaker (Georgia)
Research Output
More Collaborative Research- No organization is an island: How crisis history, temporal distance and response strategy influence organizational reputation in spillover crises (2026) Peixin Hua, Yanan Wu, Rongting Niu
- Navigating a social media influencer crisis: The effects of crisis response strategies on identification, authenticity, and reputation (2026) Olivia Reed, Nicholas Eng, Peixin Hua, Maranda Goke, Yanan Wu, Michail Vafeiadis, Denise Bortree
- Is readiness for cancer misinformation contagious? Physician-patient communication and psychological factors impacting cancer misinformation belief (2025) Brittany Shivers, Megan L.P. Norman, Jiaqi (Agnes) Bao, Nicole Cortes
Scholar-Practitioner expert advisory group
Philippe Borremans
- Crisis, Emergency & Risk Communication Consultant. Managing Director, RiskComms
Gary Sheffer
- Chair of Page Center advisory board
- Former vice president of corporate communications and public affairs, General Electric
