Albert Junior Nyarko

Biography

Biography

Albert Junior Nyarko is a second-year M.A. in Communication student at the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication, Washington State University. In July 2018, he received his B. A (Hons) degree in Tourism from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi in Ghana. Nyarko’s research focuses on ensuring that communication about health, politics, and risks is accessible and understood by everyone. He aims to contribute to research promoting positive health behavior and well-being. He is fascinated by how psychological processes like perceptions and beliefs shape reality. He also explores how the psychological processing of mediated information, including attention, memory, affect, and behavior, influences how individuals process health messages.

Nyarko’s research on “Health and Safety-related Issues at Lake Bosomtwe, Ghana.” has been published in the International Journal of Health Management and Tourism. He is researching health, political communication, journalism and media studies, mass media effects, new media technologies, and the cognitive-emotional processing of media. He recently presented an abstract on a paper he is working on, “Investigating Gender Representation in Radio Breakfast Show Hosts in Ghana,” at the Inaugural Pacific Northwest Conference of Political Communication and Journalism Studies in Seattle. He is currently working on a paper with two graduate students from Iowa State University and Louisiana State University titled “Investigative Journalism in the new age: Examining the Use of AI Tools in Investigative Journalism Practices in Ghana.” which when accepted will be published by the Global Investigative Journalism Network and the Investigative Journalism Education Consortium (IJEC) and presented at the Global Investigative Journalism Conference in Gothenburg, Sweden and a study with Dr. Wei Peng on why humor could counteract the effects of negative emotions associated with colorectal cancer screening.

Before joining the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication, Nyarko worked as a test day delivery coordinator with the British Council and financial advisor at PETRA in Ghana. He began his graduate studies in the Fall of 2022 and has served as a Teaching Assistant for COM 105: Communication in Global Contexts and COM 102: Public Speaking in the Digital Age. Although Albert is interested in quantitative research methods, he is also passionate about exploring the versatility of mixed-methods research that captures the nuances of individuals’ experiences through careful observation and analysis. He loves to work together with an interdisciplinary team of researchers. His future goal is to become a well-rounded researcher and educator, hoping to contribute to our shared understanding of what it means to live, learn, and succeed in a networked society as the world continues to change.

Education

• B.A., Tourism, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology

Classes Taught

• COM 102 – Public Speaking in the Digital Age (TA)
• COM 105 – Communication in Global Contexts (TA)

Research Interests

• Health communication
• Cognitive emotional processing of media
• Mass media effects
• Political communication
• Journalism studies
• New media technologies

Awards

• 2023-2024, Brelsford Scholarship Recipient

Selected Publications

Osei, G. B., Nyarko, A. J. (2022). Health and safety-related Issues at Lake Bosomtwe, Ghana. International Journal of Health Management and Tourism, 7(1), 116-139. https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/ijhmt/issue/69029/1092133

Conference Presentations

Nyarko, A.J., Han, J., & Peng, W. (2023, September). Investigating health-related internet use and access to technology for healthcare quality. Poster accepted for presentation at the National Institutes of Health HINTS Data User Conference 2023, Bethesda, Maryland.

Han, J., Nyarko, A.J., & Peng, W. (2023, September). Assessing the relationships between online medical records and health care quality. Poster accepted for presentation at the National Institutes of Health HINTS Data User Conference 2023, Bethesda, Maryland.

Nyarko, A. J., & Adonu, M. R. (2023, June). Investigating gender representation in radio breakfast show hosts in Ghana [Extended abstract presentation]. Inaugural Pacific Northwest Conference of Political Communication and Journalism Studies, Seattle, WA, USA.