Allie Thieneman has been awarded The Bruce H. Westley Memorial Scholarship. She is  a masters student in the College of Communication and Information and is expected to graduate in May 2017. She completed her Bachelors degree in Integrated Strategic Communication at the University of Kentucky in 2016. Allie is part of the University Scholars Program, where she integrated graduate coursework in her senior year of undergraduate studies. Her research area of interests include strategic communication, mass communication and social marketing. She is a graduate teaching assistant for a strategic planning and writing course and previously worked as an intern for Cornett Integrated Marketing. 

Sarah Sheff has been awarded The Martha and Howard Sypher Memorial Graduate Scholarship. She is a second year doctoral student from New Baltimore, Michigan. After receiving her B.A. and M.A. in Health and Risk Communication at Michigan State University, she joined the program at the University of Kentucky to study message design and persuasion. Her research interests include creating sex-positive sexual health messages and studying how young adults understand and communicate sexual consent. When she is not studying or teaching, she enjoys spending time with her dog Levi and exploring Kentucky.

Audrey Smith Bachman (M.A., University of Kentucky)has been awarded The Palmgreen Fellowship Fund. She is a Doctoral Student and Instructor in the Department of Communication within the College of Communication and Information at the University of Kentucky. Audrey is dual degree-seeking with a secondary Master’s in Public Health, concentrating in Health Management and Policy. Audrey is experienced teaching interpersonal communication, patient-provider communication, persuasion, and organizational communication. Health communication is her primary field of study, with a particular focus on reducing health disparities through novel communication strategies in public health campaigns and interventions. Her scholarship includes several conference presentations and publications in Health Communication and Communication Research Reports. In addition to her appointment in the Department of Communication, Audrey is a Research Assistant at the University of Kentucky Rural Cancer Prevention Center, with primary duties of message design and data analysis. 

Anna-Carrie (Annie) Beck has been awarded the Research Fellowship: Interpersonal Communication. She is a doctoral candidate student in the College of Communication and Information. She studies instructor-student relationships (e.g., instructor-student solidarity and instructor-student rapport), parent-child relationships, and intergroup communication. Beck is an instructor for the Instructional Communication and Research Division and serves as the Assistant CIS 112 Course Director. She is also a grader for the Department of Communication. Currently, Beck has served as the Vice-Chair for Student Section of the National Communication Association.  She was also the President/Co-Chair of the Communication Graduate Student Association (CGSA) here at the University of Kentucky. Additionally, she was the CGSA’s Instructional Research Task Force Group Leader. Beck’s scholarship has appeared in numerous conference presentations including the National Communication Association, the International Communication Association, the Eastern Communication Association, the Southern States Communication Association and the International Association for Relationship Research.