About Joe
I am an associate professor at The Ohio State University (OSU) in Columbus, Ohio, USA and based in the School of Communication and the Translational Data Analytics Institute. My research lab seeks to explain the mental processes that underlie social connectedness, with a special focus on technology habits and their implications for personal well-being. My work has been published in cross-disciplinary scientific journals such as Nature Human Behaviour, Annual Review of Psychology, and Communication Theory, as well as featured in popular press outlets such as the The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.
I received my doctorate from the University of Michigan specializing in the relationship between communication technology usage and social psychology. My PhD was completed under the guidance of Dr. Scott Campbell (Communication), Dr. Emily Falk (Communication, Psychology, Neuroscience), Dr. Nicole Ellison (Information, Communication), Dr. Sonya Dal Cin (Communication, Psychology), and Dr. Ethan Kross (Psychology). See below for my complete academic record (CV).
2023 - Present
2016 - 2023
2011 - 2016
2007 - 2011
Associate Professor
The Ohio State University
Assistant Professor
The Ohio State University
PhD in Communication
University of Michigan
B.Sc. in Psychology (honors) - History - Neuroscience (minor)
University of Pittsburgh
Outside of researcher, you can find me playing roles such as city explorer, board gamer, and concertgoer. When not dancing at concerts, I am an avid music listener with a special appreciation for genre-bending albums and the psychology of music. I am part of the dwindling population of humans who only listen to albums and (attempt to) follow the top albums each year by drawing on sources such as NPR, Pitchfork, and Metacritic -- as well as Spotify's algorithm and random people I meet at shows.
In turn, each calendar year I compile a list of the four albums that represent my music year. The four albums are Joe-guaranteed to be above average music vibes for that calendar year. Please note that Joe is not a licensed musician, musicologist, or music critic and makes no claims regarding the musical complexity or innovativeness. Click here for Joe's list of top albums from each year since completing his PhD in 2016.