Yara is a PhD candidate at the Richards School of Advertising and Public Relations at The University of Texas at Austin. Her research interests lie at the intersection of sustainability communication and intercultural relations. More particularly, she works on environmental advertising, campaigns, activism, justice, sports, and intercultural groups.
Previously, Yara worked as a Communications Assistant with REVOLVE and as a Research and Development Assistant at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UN‐ESCWA) where she studied the climate change and conflict nexus in the MENA region.
She has presented her research at several academic conferences including NCA, ICA, 4S, AEJMC, IACS, etc. One of the projects she was on won the first prize award at AEJMC.
Yara’s research has been published in the International Journal of Intercultural Relations and the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, and is under review at the Public Relations Review.
Yara is currently teaching Advertising and Popular Culture in the Advertising department at UT-Austin, and she has been a teaching assistant to courses on Advertising Law and Ethics, Psychology of Advertising, International Advertising, Research Methods, etc.
Email: yara.acaf@utexas.edu
EDUCATION HISTORY
M.S. Environmental Policy and Planning, American University of Beirut
B.S. Environmental Sciences, University of Balamand
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Strategic Communication
Science and Environmental Communication
Intercultural Relations (marginalized groups)
Sports Communication
Celebrities in Environmental Campaigns
Environmental Movements and Activism
Consumer Behavior (Pro-Environmental Behaviors, Sport Fans Consumption Behaviors)
Food systems
Artificial Intelligence in Environmental Messaging
Corporate Social Responsibility