Joshua Trey Barnett

Joshua Trey Barnett is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Arts and Sciences at Penn State University. His work bridges environmental communication, ecocultural studies, and critical theory, focusing on the Anthropocene, ecological grief, and multispecies relationality.

• Affiliation: Penn State University
• Department: Communication Arts and Sciences
• Academic Rank: Associate Professor

Research Focus: Barnett explores ecological care through interdisciplinary lenses, including the ethics of earthly coexistence, climate change narratives, and the affective dimensions of environmental crises. His scholarship interrogates how media, sentiment, and rhetoric shape responses to sustainability challenges, particularly in contexts like Harvard Forest and Lake Superior.

• Key Themes: Anthropocene ethics, multispecies mothering, environmental justice, and sustainable futures
• Methodologies: Phenomenological writing, rhetorical analysis, affect theory

Recent Publications highlight trends in ecocentric communication, emphasizing the interplay between human and nonhuman systems. His work spans journals like Environmental Communication, European Journal of Cultural Studies, and Journal of Ecohumanism, addressing topics such as ecological moods, the Mother Tree metaphor, and the politics of edibility.