Graduate Student Contact Info pcc70318@uga.edu Office: 513 Caldwell Hall Clay Cook is an incoming first-year graduate student pursuing a Master’s degree in Interpersonal and Health Communication within the Department of Communication Studies. Clay completed his undergraduate degree in May 2022 at the University of Georgia where he graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. in Psychology and minors in Public Health and Health Policy and Management. While studying at UGA, Clay served on the Board of Directors for University Union, the student programming board on campus, and helped plan large-scale events as an Entertainment Coordinator. After graduation, Clay took a gap year to gain relevant work experience and travel. During his gap year, he worked for the UGA Department of Recreational Sports as the Challenge Course Manager, where he helped facilitate team-building and communication among groups through the use of high and low-rope initiatives. Clay has several wide-ranging research interests, including conflict in pop culture and media, vaccine hesitancy, and the politicization of public health messaging campaigns. However, he is particularly interested in studying misinformation in politics and the associated implications on disease incidence, especially with regards to the COVID-19 pandemic. With training from the UGA Interpersonal and Health Communication program, Clay hopes to be a part of the conversation surrounding public health messaging, whether that be through academia or government service.
