He graduated with a Ph.D. in journalism studies in May 2014 from the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism. His main research interests are audience engagement with digital media; news, media and health literacy pedagogy and assessment; and nonprofit journalism and new business models. He earned a master’s degree in American Culture Studies from Washington University in St. Louis and a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. As a journalist for more than a decade, he has covered media, higher education, health, business, sports, the environment and the arts for publications such as The Los Angeles Times, Inside Higher Ed, The St. Louis Beacon and American Journalism Review.