Jiyoun Kim

Jiyoun Kim is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Maryland, College of Arts and Humanities (ARHU). She specializes in crisis, risk, science, and environmental communication, with a focus on public understanding of science, social media engagement, and effective message design.

• Education: Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin.

Her research examines how governments, NGOs, and media organizations communicate risk-related information and how social media dynamics influence public perception and behavioral responses. She investigates strategies to enhance community resilience, promote informed decision-making, and optimize crisis messaging across contexts like weather warnings, disaster fundraising, and pandemic communication. Recent work includes experimental studies on humor in crisis communication, message framing effects on social media sharing, and cross-national comparisons of health organization strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Current trends in her publications emphasize global health crises (e.g., Journal of Applied Communication Research), multi-level behavioral analysis, and the role of social media metrics in risk communication. Her studies often employ cross-sectional surveys, experimental designs, and comparative content analyses, with collaborations spanning institutions like NOAA and the National Weather Service.

• Email: jkimcomm@umd.edu