Elena joined the Department of Communication in the Fall of 2018 and is faculty and director of the Leadership Communication sub-track. Prior to joining UCCS, Elena was a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Creative Leadership in Greensboro, NC and the Católica-Lisbon School of Business and Economics in Lisbon, Portugal. Elena’s research focuses on the emotional dimensions of communication, whether it be facial expressions of emotion in political leaders, or leader emotion in communicating feedback to subordinates. She is also interested in the intersection between emotion and deception and how emotion influences the way we lie and our decision to do so.

Ph.D., Communication, University at Buffalo, State University of New York.

M.A., Communication, University at Buffalo, State University of New York.

B.A., Psychology (Honors), University of Sydney, Australia.

COMM 2440 Leadership Theory and Practice

COMM 3440 Organizational Leadership

COMM 4160/6160 Communication, Training, and Consulting

COMM 4550 Professional Communication Capstone

COMM 4950 Seminar in Leadership and Organizational Change

COMM 4900 Special Topics: Emotion in Professional Communication