Andrew Merolla

Andrew Merolla is a Professor in the Department of Communications at UC Santa Barbara, also serving on the Health Justice & Community initiative committee. His research focuses on communication's role in emotional well-being, particularly social connection, conflict management, and hope dynamics. He teaches communication theory, conflict management, and nonverbal communication courses.

Research interests include interpersonal forgiveness, relational maintenance, and the application of experience sampling methodologies. Recent work explores communication patterns in minority stress contexts and immigrant family dynamics. His co-authored book The Social Biome (Yale UP, 2025) examines everyday communication's societal impact.

Publications span Communication Monographs, Communication Research, and the Journal of Happiness Studies. He received UCSB's 2021 Distinguished Teaching Award.