JACOB ROBERT VAN WINKLE

RESEARCH & CIVIC WORK

How media moves people, and what it takes to move a city agency.

RESEARCH

  • Integrating Climate Realities into Short-Form Video2025MPA thesis

    Marxe School of Public and International Affairs, Baruch College. A randomized experiment comparing integrated, direct, and call-to-action climate messaging in influencer-style video. Integrated messaging held attention and interest while reading as significantly less forced than a call to action. Presented at the Baruch Thesis Capstone Research Symposium.

  • Reflective Structured Dialogues for Trust Building and Electoral Action2024 to 2025Research assistant

    With Don Waisanen and Amy Becker, in partnership with Living Room Conversations and Public Agenda. Survey design, fielding, and data validation for a national study of trust and electoral engagement.

  • Leveraging AI for Environmental Risk Prediction and Resilience Building2024Co-author

    White paper proposing an AI platform for climate risk prediction and resilience planning.

  • Noise Pollution and Colorado School Scores2023GIS analysis

    Maps noise from airports and major roadways against school assessment scores across Colorado, controlling for household income.

SELECTED WRITING

  • Reel Change2024Policy brief

    How films like Okja and Mad Max: Fury Road carry environmental messages to audiences that climate documentaries rarely reach.

  • Curtain Call for Change2023Analysis

    The SAG-AFTRA contract and the 2023 strike over AI, read through structural, human resource, political, and symbolic frames.

  • Ctrl+Alt+Deceit: Keys to Unlocking a Safer Digital Democracy2024Essay

    Disinformation, platform accountability, and digital literacy as safeguards for democracy.

  • Traffic in New York City2024Policy memo

    A memo to Governor Hochul, Mayor Adams, and Speaker Adams on reducing vehicle traffic for climate, health, and street safety. Co-authored with Rebecca Chasan, Carolina Cid, and Jacqueline Espinal.

TEACHING

  • City University of New YorkTeaching associate

    Strategic Communications and graduate Philanthropy. Redesigned a four-week philanthropy intensive into a fourteen-week hybrid graduate course.

CIVIC