Melissa Ocepek

Melissa Ocepek is an Assistant Professor at the School of Information Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She holds a PhD in Information Studies from the University of Texas at Austin and a B.A. in Political Science and Sociology from Pepperdine University.

• Education: PhD in Information Studies (UT Austin), B.A. in Political Science and Sociology (Pepperdine)

Her research focuses on everyday information behavior using cultural and critical theory frameworks, with a unique emphasis on food studies and ethnography. She explores how people interact with information in mundane contexts like grocery shopping and leisure activities, often employing shadowing and participant observation methods.

Recent publications analyze serendipity in bookshops, sensory grocery shopping behaviors, and historical food advertising. She has co-authored two books: Food in the Internet Age and Formal and Informal Approaches to Food Policy with William Aspray and George Royer. Her 2019 INTERACT paper won a Best Paper Award.

• Scientific Awards: Best Paper Award Winner, INTERACT 2019

Ocepek teaches courses like Libraries, Information and Society (IS510AC) and Independent Study (IS589MGO). She collaborates internationally on misinformation governance and has contributed to studies on food-buying behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her work bridges library science with informatics through her Faculty Affiliate role in Illinois Informatics.