How Aidan Craig Sundine found her passion and path as a communication scholar
Aidan Craig Sundine
By Selene Lawrence, CLA Student Writer - October 1, 2025
Recent graduate Aidan Craig Sundine, ‘23, M.S. ‘25, is ready to make a name for herself in the field of environmental communication. Once a marine science student, Craig Sundine flourished after realizing her love of communication studies. She became unstoppable after transferring to OSU, completing her bachelor’s and master’s degrees one year earlier than expected. Now leaving Oregon behind to start her Ph.D. at the University of Utah in fall 2025, Craig Sundine reflects on how her past four years of study shaped her life and the start of her career as a scholar-practitioner.
Born and raised in Seattle, Craig Sundine’s childhood and early education were the primary influences on her academic values, love of nature, and sense of community. “I had a really great opportunity to go to the more alternative schools in Seattle, both for elementary and middle school. I got a lot of support when I was struggling to find ways to love learning. It's definitely shown me that learning isn't just studying and memorization, but it's lifelong, and can be something that you can really embody,” she explained. “There were many learning opportunities related to the outdoors and the local community. I knew about the layers of soil in my backyard in first grade, and how those things impact our food. I really grew up connected to the place I was in.”
Craig Sundine’s appreciation for the natural world guided her decision to apply to the University of Hawaii-Hilo’s marine science major for her undergraduate program. However, her propensity for communication studies was realized early during her time there. While taking a public speaking class her first semester, Craig Sundine’s professor urged her to explore her talents in communication; she changed her major soon after. Following her passion, Craig Sundine felt like she was on the right track, but there still seemed to be something missing. The small university, surrounded by miles of forest and sequestered on the east coast of Hawaii’s largest island, was a big change from Craig Sundine’s home in Seattle. Despite her love for nature, she began to feel isolated.
A year and a half after beginning her undergraduate studies, the COVID-19 pandemic began, and Craig Sundine’s classes were moved online. She had already been contemplating transferring schools, so she decided to return to the Pacific Northwest, finishing her sophomore year while staying with her extended family in Salem, Oregon. On an impulse, she took a tour of Oregon State University. For Craig Sundine, that was the day when her path would finally become clear. “I saw the library at OSU, and I just cried,” she said. “I was in tears, and I just knew that I had to be here. I had been touring colleges since I was 14 years old. I heard a lot of people talk about this moment when you just knew where you were supposed to be. It wasn’t until I saw the library that I understood what they meant.” A few months later, Craig Sundine transferred to OSU.
Now at a university with a larger school of communication, Craig Sundine approached her studies with an ever-growing zeal. Just like her first semester at the University of Hawaii-Hilo, her drive as a student and scholar did not go unnoticed for long. “My first quarter here, I was taking visual rhetoric with Dr. Goodnow. Within a few weeks of being in her class, she encouraged me to look into doing a master's here at OSU,” Craig Sundine recalled. “She’s why I went to grad school. From my first term here, it was something that I knew I was going to be doing. I knew that all of my work had to get me ready for it.” In addition to Dr. Goodnow, recently retired professor Dr. Gregg Walker also played a role in shaping Craig Sundine’s academic goals. “I've taught under him; he's given me an astounding number of opportunities to work with him on different projects,” she explained. “He's been huge in helping me figure out the ultimate path I want to have.”
Above all else, Craig Sundine credits her advisor, fellow environmental communication scholar Dr. Yanni Ma, for helping her develop her thesis and build her practice in the field. “She has pushed me when I needed it and has gotten me incredibly far,” said Craig Sundine. “My thesis was my first time creating and running an experiment in quantitative research. To learn about study design, I would read four or five articles every week, then we would sit in her office and she would quiz me. I learned so much. She built a lot of my skills from the ground up.”
After completing her undergraduate program, Craig Sundine decided to focus on environmental communication in graduate school. Her thesis focused on environmental identity and decision-making around sustainable consumption. “Environmental identity is a subset of place theory. It’s rooted in how a place becomes integrated into self-concept, reflecting the meaning individuals assign to themselves in relation to the natural world,” Craig Sundine explained. “Those with a high degree of environmental identity tend to experience a sense of spiritual connection with nature and a heightened concern for both environmental and humanitarian issues. You can use it to see down the line, to estimate what people are willing to engage in or think about.”
Knowing that she would be conducting surveys with a student population, Craig Sundine chose to explore sustainable consumption by researching students’ relationships to the fast fashion industry. Her study weighed responses to both positive and negative messaging around engaging in sustainable choices, with messages about both local and global impacts of fast fashion. “The local and global messaging didn't impact students’ thoughts—a lot of that probably has to do with increased globalization—but positive and negative messaging did,” said Craig Sundine. “When it came to emotional response, we saw that negative emotions had a higher impact on people intending to make more sustainable choices. But those negative emotions can result in fatigue, so people are less inclined to carry out those decisions long-term. Positive emotions like hope and excitement can help with that.” Craig Sundine concluded that there is potential for further research on the source of these emotions and the influence of environmental identity, but for now, she’ll be expanding her horizons on other topics of study.
The next stage of Craig Sundine’s academic journey will take her to the University of Utah, where she will continue to explore environmental communication and branch out into risk communication on environmental concerns. “I want to have sustainable consumption as a line in my overarching work,” she said. “There's a lot of connection between the communication department there and other environmental-focused groups on campus, and a lot of crossover in that research. I'm excited to play into the strengths of the place that I'm moving to.”
Craig Sundine has much to look forward to at the University of Utah, but given her love for OSU, this bittersweet parting may not be the last goodbye. “I really feel like I've built a home here. I'm going to miss seeing the faculty daily and seeing the students the year under me progress day to day,” she said. “I would love to come back and teach at OSU in a decade. I love teaching; it's never been something that I've been scared of. I think that's part of how I know it's what I'm supposed to do. I've learned so much, and I've grown so much as a person while in Corvallis, but I know I have to leave to come back. It'll be good to see what this next stage has in store.”