Adjunct Jason Strother (Communication and Media) Starts Fulbright Research on Climate Change

People with a disability are one of the world’s most vulnerable communities to the effects of climate change. But, even though over one-billion people have a physical, sensory, learning, or other impairment, scant research has focused on how their lived experiences intersect with increasing severe weather, sea level rise, and other environmental phenomena.

Jason Strother, an adjunct professor in the School of Communication and Media, will examine these concerns as a Fulbright Scholar. He was awarded a multi-country research grant to carry out fieldwork in India, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. Jason, who worked as a multimedia journalist for the past 20 years, will report on how disaster response planning and recovery can be made more inclusive for people with a disability in light of the threats caused by global warming. This project will build on his earlier coverage of these risks from the Philippines, Bangladesh, and New Jersey.

Jason is a 2003 MSU graduate and was the first student with a low vision impairment to earn a degree from what was then known as the Broadcasting department. Since 2011, he’s created electives for the SCM on international reporting and film analysis, but the course this instructor is most proud of looks at how people with a disability are portrayed in mass media. He’s also involved in a cross-campus initiative to make video, performances, and art more accessible for the blind through audio description. And last year with support from the Center for Cooperative Media and the NJ Civic Information Consortium, Jason launched Lens15 Media, the state’s first news platform focused on disability news coverage. Following his work in South Asia, Jason plans to use his research to inform future journalism courses and collaborate with partners around the university to educate on this under-told aspect of climate change.