Amber Lynn Scott

Amber Lynn Scott serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Kentucky's College of Communication and Information, affiliated with the UNITE Research Priority Area. Her work bridges organizational communication, social media studies, and trauma research within high-stakes institutional contexts.

Education

• Doctor of Philosophy, University of Southern California (2023)
• Master of Arts, University of Southern California (2020)

Dr. Scott's research explores how communication shapes experiences in high reliability organizations (HROs), military institutions, and digital spaces. She investigates embodied trauma in organizational failures, gender representation in military social media, and political discourse on Instagram through qualitative methodologies. Her work reveals critical intersections between mindfulness practices, grief processing, and institutional communication during crises.

Her recent publications (2021-2025) demonstrate a cohesive trajectory examining communication in complex systems, with increasing focus on Instagram as a site for military identity construction, political argumentation, and trauma expression. This scholarship consistently applies organizational communication frameworks to contemporary digital and institutional challenges.

With an h-index of 13, Dr. Scott's research has generated significant scholarly engagement, including Scopus citations and discussion on platforms like Mendeley and X. Her collaborative work with scholars like Ford and Bisel advances safety science through communication-centered approaches to high reliability teams.

Dr. Scott contributes to academic discourse through methodological innovation in qualitative analysis and critical examinations of power dynamics in organizational settings. Her teaching integrates political communication theory with practical visual argument analysis using social media platforms.