Monica M. Emerich, PhD Education
University of Colorado, Boulder, CO
School of Journalism and Mass Communication Ph.D., Communication, Spring 2006
Dissertation: “The Spirituality of Sustainability: Healing the Self to Heal the World through the Healthy Living Media”
Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO M.S., Technical Communications, Fall 1990 Fort Lewis College, Durango, CO
B.A., English, Spring 1977
Summary of Skills
• Media and communications: Twenty-five years experience as journalist, editor, freelance writer, book author, public relations specialist and marketing
communications consultant. Adept with social media, light website editing (Adobe Contribute), office software, and basic photography.
• Outreach and coalition building: Bridged diverse groups to foster collaboration in several positions. Wrote Master’s thesis on building volunteerism in rural
communities. Accustomed to working with advisory and formal boards.
• Campaigns: Co-directed a U.S. public relations campaign for a branch of the New Zealand government. Worked with local communities and local and state
government on tourism promotion. Worked while a Master’s student with
Colorado State University Cooperative Extension office on Kellogg-funded Rural Revitalization Project to help small Colorado communities to build local cross-sectional coalitions.
• Research: Launched and led two new research departments. Experienced in qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Doctoral research focused on ethics and morality of sustainable living as a voiced “spirituality” in lifestyle media. • Event organization: Directed three international and interdisciplinary conferences.
Managed yearlong fellowship program. Organized press trips.
• Management: Promoted at two organizations and made responsible for supervision of small staff and budgets. Started own consulting firm.
• Grant writing: Won government and academic funding for various projects. • Public speaking: Seasoned presenter.
Work Experience
Consulting for companies and organizations in sustainability sector on marketing communications and public relations.
- Served as co-director of U.S. public relations campaign for New Zealand Game Industry Board, working with NZ farmers, U.S. media and U.S. natural products stores.
- Freelance writer and editor in trade and consumer press on sustainability and health topics.
- Writer and editor of marketing communications materials for business, higher education and non-profits.
Author and Book Editor: Lafayette, CO, 2000 - present.
- Author, The Gospel of Sustainability: Media, Market and LOHAS (forthcoming, University of Illinois Press, 2011).
- Co-editor, Media, Spiritualities and Social Change (Continuum Publishing, 2011).
- Copy editor, various health-oriented books and websites.
- Author of two essays in two forthcoming anthologies, focusing on a.) the meanings projected onto land and cultures, and b.) class issues within the slow-living movement.
University of Colorado, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Post-Doctoral Fellow, Conference Co-Director: Boulder, CO, 2000-2008.
- Wrote successful grants for three international and interdisciplinary conferences.
- Won Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the Center for Media, Religion and Culture for research on the spiritualization of sustainability in popular culture.
- Worked with advisory and formal boards and funders to develop Center for Media, Religion and Culture’s projects, reports and mission.
- Conducted field studies to examine factors of race, class, age, religion and more on sustainability practices and on media usage. Responsible for
conducting structured interviews and focus groups with families and teenagers across U.S. about media use and personal values.
- Coordinated annual Media, Religion and Culture Fellowship program (responsible for recruitment of doctoral students, educational programming, seminar planning, publicity, advertising and budget management).
- Assisted with teaching two media courses for undergraduate students. - Co-directed three international and interdisciplinary conferences. Proposed
original concept for two. Conceptualized a one-day program to bring together business people, academics and non-profit managers for discussion and development of potential partnerships.
- Won University of Colorado’s Ogilvy Fellowship to attend Institute for Cornish Studies, University of Exeter, Truro, Cornwall, UK. Coordinated outreach programs with Cornish diaspora organizations in the United States. Lecturer on media, ethnography and cultural studies.
Research Director: Natural Business Communications, Broomfield, CO, 1996 - 2002. - Analyzed sales and trend data on natural/organic products and the LOHAS
(Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) marketplace. Generated annual LOHAS Market Trends Report, establishing the first U.S. benchmark figures for that industry.
- Wrote articles on market and consumer studies.
Director of Research: New Hope Communications, Boulder, CO, 1993 - 1996.
- Started new department. Responsible for all phases of primary and secondary research projects, including study design, writing and editing reports,
statistical analysis, marketing and promotion, budgeting and managing subcontractors and small temporary and permanent staff.
- Produced numerous research reports on specific market sectors including the Market Overview, the annual report on trends within the U.S. natural products industry.
Associate Editor: New Hope Communications, Boulder, CO, 1991 - 1996.
- Wrote and edited research column, feature stories and news for monthly trade magazine, Natural Foods Merchandiser. Promoted to Research Director. Vice President/Interim Director: San Luis Valley Economic Development Council, Alamosa, CO, 1986 - 1988.
- Worked with private and public sectors in six-county region on tourism promotion, industrial recruitment, business retention and community leadership.
- Appointed interim director after one year.
- Wrote San Luis Valley Enterprise Zone Status proposal and successfully helped to defend before state governing board to win coveted tax-benefit package.
- Responsible for public communication programs, for assessing community programs on need basis for funding, and for coordinating industry,
government, and community efforts in all facets of development work including industrial recruitment, tourism, downtown revitalization, and infrastructure rehabilitation.
Associate Editor: Alma Magazine, Alamosa, CO, 1986 - 1987.
- Wrote features for consumer magazine about regional rural living. Editor: The Cucharan Magazine, La Veta, CO, 1984 - 1985.
- Launched new magazine and coordinated all phases of this semi-annual consumer magazine about southern Colorado lifestyle.
Publications
Hoover, S. M. and Emerich, M. (2010). Media, Spiritualities and Social Change. London: Continuum Publishing.
Emerich, M. (forthcoming, fall 2011). The Gospel of Sustainability: Media, Market and LOHAS. Champaign: University of Illinois Press.
Emerich, M. (forthcoming, 2011). “The Art of Living Slowly in the LOHAS
Marketplace.” In J. Mitchell and G. Lynch (eds.) Religion, Media and Culture. London: Routledge.
Emerich, M. (forthcoming, 2011). “A New American Dream: Taking the Celtic Cure in Mediated Landscapes.” In G. Tregidga, B. Keys and K. Milden (eds.) Memory and Place: The Cultural Landscapes. London: Francis Boutle Publishers.
Emerich, M. (2006). Alternative Spiritualities: NeoPagan, Wiccan and Paganism on the World Wide Web. Religious Studies Review, 32 (4), 220-221.
Freelance articles, published in: Natural Foods Merchandiser magazine, Natural Products News (UK), Natural Business Journal, The LOHAS Journal, Food Marketing Institute Reports, DeliciousLiving magazine, Gaiam Life, WholePeople.com, Natural Home, Delicious! Magazine, Herbs for Health magazine, Fort Collins Business World, Colorado Industrial Guide, Countryside Publication newspapers (Chicago area), Continental Express magazine, Vitamin Retailer, and Natural Way magazine
Awards
Post-Doctoral Fellow, Center for Media, Religion and Culture, University of Colorado, 2006 - 2008.
University of Colorado, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Research Grant, $2,000, Spring, 2004. Research Fellowship award, $1,200, Spring 2003.
Center for British and Irish Studies Special Project Award for Celtic Representations Conference. $2,500. Oct. 2003 and Oct. 2004.
Ogilvy Fellowship, 2002. From the Center for British and Irish Studies, University of Colorado, Boulder. $2,500 research and travel award.
Residence Life “Academic Teaching Award.” Department of Housing, University of Colorado, Boulder. 2002.
Boards and Affiliations
• National Association of Independent Writers and Editors, NAIWE • International Society for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture • Lighthouse Writers
• Pikes Peak Writers • Boulder Media Women
• ECLIPSE Advisory Board (Exeter Centre for Literatures, Identity, Place and
Sustainability; University of Exeter, UK)
