This presentation describes the design, instruction, and outcomes of a new interdisciplinary environmental communication campaign planning course at a major U.S. university. The goals of the course, taught by a professor with a social science background, were to provide students with an overview of social marketing and its application to environmental issues and firsthand collaborative experience in preparing a comprehensive campaign. The campaign was a community-based semester-long class project for a NOAA-associated extension agency. Floods (e.g., 2016 Louisiana Flood) can displace not only humans but also animals and insects. Residents returning to flooded homes and those assisting in recovery may encounter species (e.g., snakes, rodents, spiders, termites, mosquitos) hazardous to human health (e.g., poisonous bites, viruses), property (e.g., infestations), and the environment (e.g., water insecticide-related contamination). Distressed and preoccupied homeowners may not be alert or lack scientific backgrounds to identify problematic species properly. A campaign to promote awareness and precautions about flood-related environmental pests was needed.

The campaign project involved student-client interaction, Institutional Review Board human subjects research protection training, situation analysis and formative research to identify and understand the problem and target audience, establishing campaign objectives, developing a cohesive plan incorporating a strategic mix of communication and behavior-change tools and techniques within a one-year time frame and specified budget, designing messages, determining campaign evaluation, and describing the proposed campaign in a written report and formal client presentation. The primary outcome was pedagogical success based on multiple measures including student performance (class participation, peer evaluations, case critique, mid-term exam, final project), informal feedback, client feedback, and course evaluations. The course is currently being considered for permanent inclusion in this program’s interdisciplinary curriculum as well as cross-listed with other departments. The presentation concludes by offering recommendations for future course development, relevant literature, and resources.