Director, Office of Communications

Jessica McBride, PhD

Dr. Jessica McBride is the Director of the Office of Communications at UConn's College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources. She is responsible for developing and implementing communications and marketing strategies to highlight the College's unique research strengths, outstanding academic offerings, and extensive community impact. An alum, Jessica earned her Ph.D. from UConn in 2017.


Author Archive

Boy looking through fence

$3.8 Million Grant to Study Interpersonal Violence Exposure and Young Children

With the $3.8 million grant from NIMH, the UConn Health research team will look at several measures of threat reactivity to explain the diversity in outcomes observed in young children exposed to interpersonal violence.

(Photo courtesy of Pixabay)

Addressing Accelerated Genetic Aging in African Americans

With a $3 million grant from the National Cancer Institute, UConn researchers will study several factors that potentially accelerate aging in the African American population to pave the way for future programs that could help improve health outcomes.

(Photo courtesy of Pixabay)

Adding to the Arsenal against Tinnitus

UConn Health professor of neuroscience, Douglas Oliver, has received a $3.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to develop an improved detection method for one of the most prevalent health problems for veterans, tinnitus.

Caenorhabditis elegans (HoPo/Wikimedia)

Using Tiny Worms to Reveal Big Truths

With this $2 million grant from the NIH, UConn Health researchers aim to help the scientific community better understand how various neurons may interact through chemical synapses and gap junctions to direct bodily movement.

The Role of Genomic Duplications, Catalysts for Evolutionary Change

A new project led by UConn researcher Bernard Goffinet studies autopolyploidy, the duplication of a species' own genome, to learn more about plant diversity throughout time and how it continues today.

(Reading child/Photo courtesy of Pixabay)

Decoding Neurological Mechanisms for Compensation in Dyslexia, $3 Million NIH Grant

This work will advance theories of compensatory mechanisms in dyslexia, and ultimately may improve strategies to promote intervention models and success in both children and adults with dyslexia.

Timothy Folta, professor of management, leads a class at the Graduate Business Learning Center in Hartford. (Peter Morenus/UConn File Photo)

Industry-Academic Program to Grow Entrepreneurial Know-How

The new program will provide aspiring entrepreneurs working as academic or industry researchers with customized training to help turn their technologies into businesses and products.

Mark Brand, professor of plant science and landscape architecture, receives patent for purple-leaf sand cherry cultivar. (Peter Morenus/UConn Photo)

Unique Shrub Hybrid Blossoms into Patent

UConn horticulturalist, Mark Brand, has produced a new hybrid of the popular purple-leaf sand cherry that maintains desirable aesthetic elements of the traditional plant while also being easier to manage and grow with minimal care.

Gerald Berkowitz, professor of plant science, will teach a new undergraduate course on cannabis horticulture, one of the first of its kind in the country. (UConn Photo)

Cannabis Course Responds to Industry Need

Plant science professor Gerry Berkowitz will offer a course on the horticulture of cannabis in the spring, to help prepare students for the burgeoning industry in medical marjuana.

Tributary to the Farmington River in Connecticut where Helton’s team will conduct research on legacy nitrogen. (Ashley Helton/UConn Photo)

Groundwater’s Role in Legacy Nitrogen Transport

By developing a robust approach to quantify legacy nitrogen in streams and rivers, Helton’s research will produce valuable insights into how nitrogen from years gone by may affect water quality today.