We are delighted to welcome Ana Adi and Shelley Thompson to the CMC Academic Group as Lectures in Corporate and Marketing Communications.

Ana will focus her teaching and research on digital communication strategies. She is also a doctoral researcher in the Faculty of Business and Creative Industries at the University of the West of Scotland where she investigated the framing of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games as done by public relations practitioners, online non-accredited media outlets and online readers. Prior to her doctorate, Ana completed a Fulbright scholarship at the University of Missouri-Columbia, USA. Ana has also worked as an independent Public Relations Consultant specialising in new media and online communication strategies. She is a member of the Board of Advisors of SMGECP (Social Media Global Education Connection Project), actively promoting for a more extensive use of new and social media both in research and the teaching process. She is the recipient of EuroBlog Social Media Awards for the most innovative use of social media techniques in a communications research project or investigation.

A former Journalist, Shelley is completing her PhD in the Media School under the supervision of Professor Stuart Allan, conducting a longitudinal framing analysis newspaper reporting on nanotechnology. During this time, Shelley has been an enthusiastic and popular part-time member of the CMC teaching team, delivering lectures and seminars on Communication & Research Skills, Persuasion & Influence and Public Opinion and Persuasion. Shelley has been heavily involved in the Media, Communications & Cultural Studies Association Postgraduate Network (the past two years as Chair) and was instrumental in organising their 2011 conference at BU in July. Alongside all this, Shelley and her husband Brian have recently become the proud parents of a baby girl, Penney.

We look forward to working with Ana and Shelley.