Dr. Jenny Robinson
Details
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College: School of Media & Communication
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Department: School - Media & Communication
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Campus: City Campus Australia
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jenny.robinson@rmit.edu.au
Open to
- Industry Projects
- Masters Research or PhD student supervision
- Media enquiries
About
Dr Jenny Robinson is an expert in audience research and engagement, risk communication, and understanding how strategic communication and media technologies facilitate engaged communities.
A Senior Lecturer in the School of Media and Communication at RMIT, her research is in stakeholder/audience engagement, messaging and science/risk communication with a focus on youth, seniors and technological affordances. Her current research focuses on social listening, public participation and concepts of shared responsibility for addressing complex social issues, especially around digital transformation, public health and techliteracy. She has co-authored publications in the Journal of Public Relations Research, Biological Conservation, Journal of Interactive Marketing, and BMC Public Health among others. She has also authored and co-authored over 30 industry reports. An advocate for ethical governance, Jenny is a Non-Executive Director of Saints Care Ltd.
Research Projects.
Jenny brings her strategic communication and media effects expertise to many different collaborative research settings, especially where related to community engagement, health and science communication areas. Selected current and past projects:
- STAIRS (2024-25, funded; $50,000). Developing a city-wide survey to measure Social Transitions and Adaptations for Inclusive, Resilient and Sustainable Futures. STAIRS will establish a benchmark for how residents are engaging with the city along with how they feel about the future and develop an infrastructure to support ongoing adaptation and relevance for future iterations. Funding: Lord Mayor’s Charitable Fund.
- Podcast Plus for Healthy Ageing (2022-2024, funded; $34.500). Initially developing prototypes for trusted research for seniors, the project has now developed into a community-based participatory research phase exploring capacity building as well as health and tech-literacy. Partners: U3A Victoria, Pathways to Healthy Ageing Network. Funding: RMIT Enabling Innovation Platform strategic capability development fund.
- TuneChair (2018-2024, funded; $34,700). The TuneChair provides seniors with a vibration + music experience. This research is evaluating the mental wellbeing potential of a vibro-acoustic music experience for seniors with and without dementia using both a living lab experience and an experimental design. Partners: TLC Aged Care, University of Queensland’s Brain Institute. Funding: Dementia Australia Decoding Dementia Award.
- Technologies for Supportive Communities Project, Young and Well CRC (2011-2016, funded; $1,106,768). One of twelve major projects within the Young and Well CRC, the Technologies for Supportive Communities project sought to comprehensively understand vulnerable young people’s conceptions of community in order to leverage technology to foster socially inclusive communities. Funding: Young and Well Cooperative Research Centre (CRC). https://www.tech4community.org/
- Eye-tracking and Moving Image (2013-2017). A multi-institutional collaboration exploring the contribution of eye-tracking to understanding cinema and moving image material. Resulted in several research studies and outputs as well as a collaborative network. For example, Dwyer & Robinson's video essay on 'Unseen Screens: Eye Tracking, Magic and Misdirection' for the [in]transition journal.
Research fields
- 470108 Organisational, interpersonal and intercultural communication
- 420302 Digital health
- 4701 Communication and media studies
UN sustainable development goals
- 3 Good Health and Well Being
- 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities
- 10 Reduced Inequalities
Academic positions
- Senior Lecturer
- RMIT University
- Media & Communication
- Melbourne, Australia
- 1 Jan 2012 – Present
- Senior Research Fellow
- Murdoch University
- MediaScience | Audience Research Lab
- Perth, Australia
- 1 Jan 2008 – 31 Dec 2011
- Assistant Professor
- University of Florida
- Public Relations
- Gainesville, United States
- 1 Jul 2004 – 31 Dec 2007
Non-academic positions
- Curriculum Coordinator | TV Production Team
- University of Alabama
- Integrated Science, Center for Communication and Educational Technology
- Tuscaloosa, United States
- 1 Jan 1993 – 31 Dec 2002
Supervisor projects
- Designing Encounter
- 10 Dec 2021
- Pre-Disaster Communication and Engagement in Isolated Communities: Power, Relationships, and Experiences in the Philippines
- 21 Nov 2020
- Perceptions of Artificial Intelligence Service Chatbots and Brand Affection in the Hotel Industry in Australia
- 16 Jan 2020
- From Screen Celebrity to Social Media Influencer.
- 18 Apr 2019
- Influencer Marketing: An Exploratory Study to Investigate Saudi Consumer Knowledge, Perceptions, Attitudes, and Behaviour
- 1 Oct 2018
- Messaging Matters: Improving Conservation Outcomes through Strategic Communication
- 9 Feb 2018
- A Strategic Communication Approach to Biodiversity Conservation
- 19 Sep 2017
- Social Media Influencers in Public Affairs: Framing the Saudi Vision 2030 in the Middle Eastern Context
- 3 Jul 2017
- Branding and Credibility Through the Lens of Political Public Relations in Multicultural Democracy
- 30 Jul 2015
- Aspirational Well-Being and Digital Media: Southeast Asian International Students¿ use of Digital Media and their Pursuit of the Good Life in Melbourne, Australia
- 22 Jul 2013
- Everyday anxieties: Young women, mental illness and social media practices of visibility and connection
- 4 Mar 2013
Teaching interests
Teaching Experience | Current courses
Dr Robinson has over 20 years experience teaching undergraduate and postgraduate courses in public relations, mass communication and communication research. She has taught public relations strategy, writing and research/evaluation as well as courses in crisis & risk communication, health communication, stakeholder engagement and emerging technologies, and special interest research projects at all levels.
In the past 10 years she has spent time in program adminstration and is the current Program Director/Manager for the Master of Communication, Graduate Diploma of Communication and Graduate Certificate in Digital Communication Strategy (online).
Her current course coordinations where she often works with industry sessional lecturers are:
- COMM2930 Research Methods in Communication
- COMM2318 Risk & Crisis Communication
- COMM2316 Change Communication
- COMM1107 Stakeholder Relations & Emergent Media
- COMM2667 Corporate Writing & Editing
- COMM2057 Ethics, Philosophy & Professional Communication
- COMM2850 Digital Marketing Strategy & Implementation
- COMM2851 Audience Engagement, Ethics & Analytics
Supervisor interest areas
Dr Robinson is available to supervise in areas of public relations and strategic messaging, engagement with audiences, stakeholders and communities, as well as different ways of making sense of these interactions including psychophysiology and multisensory measures as well as participatory and user-experience research.
In particular, Jenny can supervise in these areas as they relate to:
- Environmental, science and health communication
- Young people and media
- Seniors and digital technologies
- Advocacy
Please contact her if you are interested in pursuing a research project or degree by research in these areas.
Research interests
Research Projects.
Jenny brings her strategic communication and media effects expertise to many different collaborative research settings, especially where related to community engagement, health and science communication areas. A brief listing of some major current and past projects are included here as indicative of her research interests.
STAIRS (2024, funded; $50,000). Developing a city-wide survey to measure Social Transitions and Adaptations for Inclusive, Resilient and Sustainable Futures. STAIRS will establish a benchmark for how residents are engaging with the city along with how they feel about the future and develop an infrastructure to support ongoing adaptation and relevance for future iterations. Funding: Lord Mayor’s Charitable Fund.
Podcast Plus for Healthy Ageing (2022-2024, funded; $34.500). Initially developing prototypes for trusted research for seniors, the project has now developed into a community-based participatory research phase exploring capacity building as well as health and tech-literacy. Partners: U3A Victoria, Pathways to Healthy Ageing Network. Funding: RMIT Enabling Innovation Platform strategic capability development fund.
TuneChair (2018-2024, funded; $34,700). The TuneChair provides seniors with a vibration + music experience. This research is evaluating the mental wellbeing potential of a vibro-acoustic music experience for seniors with and without dementia using both a living lab experience and an experimental design. Partners: TLC Aged Care, University of Queensland’s Brain Institute. Funding: Dementia Australia Decoding Dementia Award.
Technologies for Supportive Communities Project, Young and Well CRC (2011-2016, funded; $1,106,768). One of twelve major projects within the Young and Well CRC, the Technologies for Supportive Communities project sought to comprehensively understand vulnerable young people’s conceptions of community in order to leverage technology to foster socially inclusive communities. Funding: Young and Well Cooperative Research Centre (CRC). https://www.tech4community.org/
Eye-tracking and Moving Image (2013-2017). A multi-institutional collaboration exploring the contribution of eye-tracking to understanding cinema and moving image material. Resulted in several research studies and outputs as well as a collaborative network. For example, Dwyer & Robinson's video essay on 'Unseen Screens: Eye Tracking, Magic and Misdirection' for the [in]transition journal
Research keywords:
Media Psychology, Public Relations, Engagement, Adolescents & Media, Audience Research, Interactive Advertising, Seniors and Digital Advocacy
