Dr Jagadish Thaker
Senior Lecturer in Communication
School of Communication and Arts
Affiliate of Centre for Communication and Social Change
Centre for Communication and Social Change
+61 7 334 68240
Researcher biography
JT or JAGADISH THAKER (Ph.D., George Mason University) is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Queensland. He is an affiliate researcher with the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication and the Center for Climate Change Communication at George Mason University. His research examines ways to understand and enhance public, business, and policy engagement with climate change and public health.
Dr. Thaker is the Associate Editor of the 3 Volumes of the Oxford Encyclopedia of Climate Change Communication (2018), Oxford University Press, Co-Editor of International Trends in Environmental Communication (2021), Routledge, and Author of Corporate Communication on Climate Change: Villains, Victims, and White Knights (2025), Routledge.
Dr. JT Thaker has received over $1.01 million in funding as a PI or a Co-PI from the government (MBIE, National Science Challenges) and other private organisations.
His research was covered by over 1000 media outlets, including The Guardian, The New York Times, Reuters, CNN, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New Zealand Herald, and The Hindu. He has appeared several times on national TV and radio in New Zealand. His research was featured by the Royal Society of New Zealand.
He has won several awards, including the 2022 Golden Anniversary Monograph Award from the National Communication Association, the 2023 and 2022 Top Paper Awards in Environmental Communication from the International Communication Association, the 2021 Outstanding PhD Aulmus from the George Mason University's Department of Communication, Massey Business School's Excellence in Research award, and the Top 40 under 40 inspiring teachers award from The Indian Express, a leading newspaper in India. His co-edited book, The Oxford Encyclopedia of Climate Change Communication, was a finalist in the Association of American Publishers' 2019 PROSE Award.
He has served as an expert reviewer or jury for the National Geographic Society, Canada Research Coordinating Committee (CRCC), European Science Foundation, and Health Research Council New Zealand, among other funding agencies.
Publications
Book
Takahashi, Bruno, Metag, Julia, Thaker, Jagadish and Comfort, Suzannah Evans (2021). The handbook of international trends in environmental communication. New York, NY, United States: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780367275204
Book Chapters
Thaker, Jagadish (2022). Climate change. The International Encyclopedia of Health Communication. (pp. 1052-1062) edited by Evelyn Y. Ho and Iccha Basnyat. New York, NY United States: Wiley. doi: 10.1002/9781119678816.iehc0857
Thaker, Jagadish (2021). Environmentalism of the poor: global south perspectives on environmental communication. The handbook of international trends in environmental communication. (pp. 193-205) edited by Bruno Takahashi, Julia Metag, Jagadish Thaker and Suzannah Evans Comfort. New York, NY, United States: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780367275204-15
Takahashi, Bruno, Metag, Julia, Thaker, Jagadish and Comfort, Suzannah Evans (2021). Expanding conceptualizations of environmental communication research. The handbook of international trends in environmental communication. (pp. 3-13) New York, NY, United States: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780367275204-2
Thaker, Jagadish and Dutta, Mohan J. (2019). Women farmers' voices on climate change adaptation in India. Environmental communication among minority populations. (pp. 101-118) edited by Bruno Takahashi and Sonny Rosenthal. Abingdon, Oxon, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781351127080
Thaker, Jagadish, Dutta, Mohan Jyoti, Nair, Vijay and Rao, Vishnu Prasad (2018). Media portrayal stigma among gender and sexual minorities. Communicating for social change: meaning, power, and resistance. (pp. 383-407) edited by Mohan Jyoti Dutta and Dazzelyn Baltazar Zapata. Singapore, Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore. doi: 10.1007/978-981-13-2005-7_18
Rowan, Katherine E., Kotcher, John, Walsh-Thomas, Jenell, Baldwin, Paula K., Trowbridge, Janey, Thaker, Jagadish T., Joe Witte, H., Klinger, Barry A., Cohen, Ligia, Tresch, Candice and Maibach, Edward W. (2018). Best practices of “innovator” TV meteorologists who act as climate change educators. Risk and health communication in an evolving media environment. (pp. 123-155) edited by H. Dan O'Hair. New York, United States: Taylor and Francis. doi: 10.1201/9781315168821
Thaker, Jagadish (2017). Climate change communication in India. Oxford research encyclopedia of climate science. (pp. 1-1) edited by Matthew C. Nisbet, Shirley S. Ho, Ezra Markowitz, Saffron O’Neill, Mike S. Schäfer and Jagadish Thaker. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/acrefore/9780190228620.013.471
Thaker, Jagadish and Dutta, Mohan (2016). Millet in our own voices: a culturally-centred articulation of alternative development by DDS Women Farmers’ Sanghams. Globalisation and the challenges of development in contemporary India. (pp. 131-144) edited by Sita Venkateswar and Sekhar Bandyopadhyay. Singapore, Singapore: Springer Singapore. doi: 10.1007/978-981-10-0454-4_7
Kostadinov, Kosta and Thaker, Jagadish (2013). Sustainable development and climate change: beyond the Rio + 20 Summit. Sustainable development and green communication: African and Asian perspectives. (pp. 43-57) edited by Jan Servaes. Basingstoke, Hampshire, United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan. doi: 10.1057/9781137329417
Journal Articles
Jayan, Pooja, Dutta, Mohan J. and Thaker, Jagadish (2025). ‘I am not complete without my family’: a culture-centred exploration of meanings of health and well-being among migrant Indian nurses in Aotearoa New Zealand. Communication Research and Practice, ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print), 1-16. doi: 10.1080/22041451.2025.2456397
Goldberg, Matthew H., Thaker, Jagadish, Scheuch, Eric G., Thomas-Walters, Laura, Rosenthal, Seth A. and Leiserowitz, Anthony (2025). Understanding the policy features that affect Indians' support for India's 2070 net-zero goal. Climatic Change, 178 (2) 21. doi: 10.1007/s10584-025-03863-1
Malecki, W. P., Thaker, Jagadish and Schneider-Mayerson, Matthew (2025). Climate and authoritarianism in two global powers: exploring right-wing and left-wing authoritarianism, social dominance orientation, and climate concern and activism in the USA and India. Climatic Change, 178 (2) 23. doi: 10.1007/s10584-025-03862-2
Thaker, Jagadish (2025). The ‘think-and-do tank’ model of the Center for Climate Change Communication. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 53 (1), 70-72. doi: 10.1080/00909882.2025.2472810
Malecki, W. P., Schneider-Mayerson, Matthew, Petterson, Aino, Dobrowolska, Małgorzata and Thaker, Jagadish (2025). The role of hope and fear in the impact of climate fiction on climate action intentions: Evidence from India and USA. Poetics, 108 101960, 101960. doi: 10.1016/j.poetic.2024.101960
Thaker, Jagadish, Painter, James, Borwankar, Vinamrata, Jain, Gunjan and Negi, Kartiki (2024). English and Regional Media Coverage of the 2022 Heatwave in India. Environmental Communication, ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print), 1-17. doi: 10.1080/17524032.2024.2420799
Thaker, Jagadish (2024). Cross-country analysis of the association between media coverage and exposure to climate news with awareness, risk perceptions, and protest participation intention in 110 countries. Environmental Communication, 18 (3), 233-249. doi: 10.1080/17524032.2023.2272299
Thaker, Jagadish (2024). Do we care to listen?: Commitments of care in environmental communication from the fields of India. Environmental Communication, 18 (1-2), 206-209. doi: 10.1080/17524032.2023.2296849
Thaker, Jagadish, Richardson, Lucy M. and Holmes, David C. (2023). Australians' perceptions about health risks associated with climate change: exploring the role of media in a comprehensive climate change risk perception model. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 89 102064, 1-13. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2023.102064
Thaker, Jagadish and Ganchoudhuri, Somrita (2023). Trust in social media is associated with misperceptions about COVID-19. Health & New Media Research, 7 (1), 1-13. doi: 10.22720/hnmr.2023.00031
Thaker, Jagadish, Richardson, Lucy M. and Holmes, David C. (2023). Audience segmentation analysis of public intentions to get a COVID-19 vaccine in Australia. Public Understanding of Science, 32 (4), 470-488. doi: 10.1177/09636625221138494
Richardson, Lucy M., Thaker, Jagadish and Holmes, David C. (2023). Comparative analysis of Australian climate change and COVID-19 vaccine audience segments shows climate skeptics can be vaccine enthusiasts. Scientific Reports, 13 (1) 1118, 1-14. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-26959-5
Maibach, Edward W., Uppalapati, Sri Saahitya, Orr, Margaret and Thaker, Jagadish (2023). Harnessing the power of communication and behavior science to enhance society's response to climate change. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 51 (1), 53-77. doi: 10.1146/annurev-earth-031621-114417
Wynes, Seth, Dickau, Mitchell, Kotcher, John E., Thaker, Jagadish, Goldberg, Matthew H., Matthews, H. Damon and Donner, Simon D. (2022). Frequent pro-climate messaging does not predict pro-climate voting by United States legislators. Environmental Research: Climate, 1 (2) 025011, 1-11. doi: 10.1088/2752-5295/aca8c4
Umamaheswaran, Swarnalakshmi, Dar, Vandita and Thaker, Jagadish (2022). The evolution of climate change reporting in business media: longitudinal analysis of a business newspaper. Sustainability, 14 (22) 15214, 1-21. doi: 10.3390/su142215214
Thaker, Jagadish and Cook, Christopher (2022). Planning for a COVID-19 vaccination campaign in New Zealand: Trust, affective and
cognitive attitudes, and COVID-19 vaccine intention. Communication Research and Practice, 8 (1), 54-69. doi: 10.1080/22041451.2021.2022325
Thaker, Jagadish and Floyd, Brian (2021). Shifting COVID-19 vaccine intentions in New Zealand: next steps in the vaccination campaign. The Lancet Regional Health. Western Pacific, 15 100278. doi: 10.1016/j.lanwpc.2021.100278
Thaker, Jagadish and Cook, Christopher (2021). Experience or attribution? Exploring the relationship between personal experience, political affiliation, and subjective attributions with mitigation behavioural intentions and COVID-19 recovery policy support. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 77 101685. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2021.101685
Thaker, Jagadish and Subramanian, Arun (2021). Exposure to COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy is as impactful as vaccine misinformation in inducing a decline in vaccination intentions in New Zealand: results from pre-post between-groups randomized block experiment. Frontiers in Communication, 6 721982, 1-8. doi: 10.3389/fcomm.2021.721982
Jackson, Jonathan and Thaker, Jagadish (2021). Letting the team down? Examining sport fans reactions to Aaron Smith’s ‘Toilet Tryst’
on social media. Communication Research and Practice, 7 (2), 148-172. doi: 10.1080/22041451.2021.1905942
Thaker, Jagadish (2021). The persistence of vaccine hesitancy: COVID-19 vaccination intention in New Zealand. Journal of Health Communication, 26 (2), 104-111. doi: 10.1080/10810730.2021.1899346
Thaker, Jagadish and Floyd, Brian (2021). Co-benefits associated with public support for climate-friendly COVID-19 recovery policies and political activism. Jcom-Journal of Science Communication, 20 (5), 1-24. doi: 10.22323/2.20050208
Thaker, Jagadish and Ganchoudhuri, Somrita (2021). The role of attitudes, norms, and efficacy on shifting COVID-19 vaccine intentions: a longitudinal study of COVID--19 vaccination intentions in New Zealand. Vaccines, 9 (10) 1132, 1-10. doi: 10.3390/vaccines9101132
Thaker, Jagadish, Smith, Nicholas and Leiserowitz, Anthony (2020). Global warming risk perceptions in India. Risk Analysis, 40 (12), 2481-2497. doi: 10.1111/risa.13574
Thaker, Jagadish (2020). Corporate communication about climate science: A comparative analysis of top corporations in New Zealand, Australia, and Global Fortune 500. Journal of Communication Management, 24 (3), 245-264. doi: 10.1108/JCOM-06-2019-0092
Dutta, Mohan J. and Thaker, Jagadish (2020). Sustainability, ecology, and agriculture in women farmers' voices: culture-centering gender and development. Communication Theory, 30 (2), 126-148. doi: 10.1093/ct/qtz029
Keller, Tobias R., Hase, Valerie, Thaker, Jagadish, Mahl, Daniela and Schäfer, Mike S. (2020). News media coverage of climate change in India 1997–2016: using automated content analysis to assess themes and topics. Environmental Communication, 14 (2), 219-235. doi: 10.1080/17524032.2019.1643383
Dutta, Mohan, Pandi, Asha Rathina, Zapata, Dazzelyn, Mahtani, Raksha, Falnikar, Ashwini, Tan, Naomi, Thaker, Jagadish, Pitaloka, Dyah, Dutta, Uttaran, Luk, Pauline and Sun, Kang (2019). Critical health communication method as embodied practice of resistance: culturally centering structural transformation through struggle for voice. Frontiers in Communication, 4 67, 1-14. doi: 10.3389/fcomm.2019.00067
Thaker, Jagadish, Howe, Peter, Leiserowitz, Anthony and Maibach, Edward (2019). Perceived collective efficacy and trust in government influence public engagement with climate change-related water conservation policies. Environmental Communication, 13 (5), 681-699. doi: 10.1080/17524032.2018.1438302
Dutta, Mohan Jyoti and Thaker, Jagadish (2019). ‘Communication sovereignty’ as resistance: strategies adopted by women farmers amid the agrarian crisis in India. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 47 (1), 24-46. doi: 10.1080/00909882.2018.1547917
Thaker, Jagadish (2019). Business communication of drivers and barriers for climate change engagement by top New Zealand,
Australian and Global Fortune 500 corporations. Asia Pacific Public Relations Journal, 20, 74-96.
Thaker, Jagadish, Dutta, Mohan, Nair, Vijay and Rao, Vishnu Prasad (2018). The interplay between stigma, collective efficacy, and advocacy communication among men who have sex with men and transgender females. Journal of Health Communication, 23 (7), 614-623. doi: 10.1080/10810730.2018.1499833
Thaker, Jagadish, Zhao, Xiaoquan and Leiserowitz, Anthony (2017). Media use and public perceptions of global warming in India. Environmental Communication, 11 (3), 353-369. doi: 10.1080/17524032.2016.1269824
Thaker, Jagadish, Maibach, Edward, Leiserowitz, Anthony, Zhao, Xiaoquan and Howe, Peter (2016). The role of collective efficacy in climate change adaptation in India. Weather, Climate, and Society, 8 (1), 21-34. doi: 10.1175/WCAS-D-14-00037.1
Trowbridge, Janey G. and Thaker, Jagadish (2015). The case of the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign: A critical analysis from a strategic communication perspective. Cases in Public Health Communication and Marketing, 8, 136-169.
Howe, Peter D., Thaker, Jagadish and Leiserowitz, Anthony (2014). Public perceptions of rainfall change in India. Climatic Change, 127 (2), 211-225. doi: 10.1007/s10584-014-1245-6
Thaker, Jagadish and Leiserowitz, Anthony (2014). Shifting discourses of climate change in India. Climatic Change, 123 (2), 107-119. doi: 10.1007/s10584-014-1059-6
Dutta, Mohan J., Thaker, Jagadish and Sun, Kang (2014). Neoliberalism, neocolonialism, and communication for social change: a culture-centered agenda for the social sciences. Global Media Journal, 2014.
Thaker, Jagadish (2013). Book Review: Constructing Culture of Science: Communication of Science in India and China. Science Communication, 35 (4), 539-540. doi: 10.1177/1075547013492433
Conference Papers
Morris, J., Goldberg, M., Thomas-Walters, L., Thaker, J., Goddard, E., Carman, J., Talwar, M., Verner, M., Rosenthal, S. and Leiserowitz, A. (2025). Differences in Indians’ climate change beliefs across levels of education. Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Denver, CO, United States, 20-22 February 2025.
Thaker, Jagadish (2023). Cross-country analysis of the association between media coverage and exposure to climate news with awareness, risk perceptions, and protest participation intention in 110 Countries. International Communication Association conference, Toronto, Canada, 20-25 May 2023.
Thaker, Jagadish, Richardson, Lucy and Holmes, David (2023). Australians' perceptions about health risks associated with climate change: exploring the role of media in a comprehensive climate change risk perception model. 73rd Annual International Communication Association conference, Toronto, Canada, 20-25 May 2023.
Thaker, Jagadish (2023). Climate change communication. Prince Mahidol-WHO conference, Bangkok, Thailand, 27 January 2023.
Creative Work
Gillreath-Brown, Andrew, Carman, Jennifer, Goddard, Emily, Jefferson, Martial, Leiserowitz, Anthony, Rivas, Adán, Rosenthal, Seth, Thaker, Jagadish and Marlon, Jennifer (2025). India climate opinion factsheets. New Haven, CT, United States: Yale University, Yale Program on Climate Change Communication.
Research Reports
Marlon, Jennifer, Leiserowitz, Anthony, Thaker, Jagadish, Goddard, Emily, Rosenthal, Seth, Carman, Jennifer, Jefferson, Martial, Sircar, Arunima, Neyens, Liz, Modala, Naga Raghuveer and Kolluri, Swetha (2024). India climate opinion maps. New Haven, CT USA: Yale Program on Climate Change Communication.
Leiserowitz, Anthony and Thaker, Jagadish (2024). Climate change in the Indian mind, 2023. New Haven, CT, United States: Yale Program on Climate Change Communication.
Painter, James, Thaker, Jagadish, Borwankar, Vinamrata, Jain, Gunjan and Negi, Kartiki (2024). The 2022 Indian heatwaves: exploring media coverage in English, Hindi, Marathi, and Telugu. New Delhi, India: Climate Trends.
Leiserowitz, Anthony and Thaker, Jagadish (2023). Global warming’s four Indias, 2022: an audience segmentation analysis. New Haven, CT, United States: Yale University.
Leiserowitz, Anthony and Thaker, Jagadish (2022). Climate change in the Indian mind, 2022. New Haven, CT, United States: Yale University.
Richardson, Lucy and Thaker, Jagadish (2021). Australia’s COVID-19 vaccine audiences. Palmerston North, New Zealand: Massey University.
Thaker, Jagadish (2021). Aotearoa New Zealand public attitudes and intentions for COVID-19 vaccination: March 2021. Palmerston North, New Zealand: Massey University. doi: 10.13140/RG.2.2.15555.12327
Thaker, Jagadish (2021). Climate change in the kiwi mind: an audience segmentation analysis. Palmerston North, New Zealand: Massey University.
Thaker, Jagadish (2021). Audience segmentation of COVID-19 vaccination intentions in Aotearoa-New Zealand. . Palmerston North, New Zealand: Massey University. doi: 10.13140/RG.2.2.30203.23841
Thaker, Jagadish (2021). Aotearoa New Zealand public responses to COVID-19: March 2021. Palmerston North, New Zealand: Massey University.
Thaker, Jagadish (2021). Aotearoa New Zealand public attitudes and intentions for COVID-19 vaccination: Panel survey between March and May 2021. Palmerston North, New Zealand: Massey University. doi: 10.13140/RG.2.2.26394.16320
Thaker, Jagadish (2020). Aotearoa New Zealand public responses to Covid-19 and climate change. . Palmerston North, New Zealand: Massey University.
Thaker, Jagadish and Menon, Vishnu (2020). Aotearoa New Zealand public responses to COVID-19. Palmerston North, New Zealand: Massey University.
Dutta, Mohan and Thaker, Jagadish (2016). Culture-centered method: the nuts and bolts of co-creating communication infrastructures of listening in communities. Singapore: Department of Communications and New Media, National University of Singapore.
Dutta, Mohan, Thaker, Jagadish and Abid A (2014). Bt brinjal: A review of key debates. Unknown:
Leiserowitz, Anthony and Thaker, Jagadish (2013). Global warming’s Six Indias. New Haven, CT, United States: Yale Project on Climate Change Communication.
Leiserowitz, Anthony and Thaker, Jagadish (2012). Climate change in the Indian mind. New Haven, CT, United States: Yale Project on Climate Change Communication.
Maibach, Ed, Cobb, S., Leiserowitz, A., Peters, S., Schweizer, V., Mandryk, C., Witte, J. and Thaker, Jagadish (2011). A national survey of television meteorologists about climate change education.. Fairfax, VA, United States: Center for Climate Change Communication. doi: 10.13140/RG.2.2.17214.48964
Newspaper Articles
Deshmukh, Yashwant, Guru, Sutanu, Leiserowitz, Anthony and Thaker, Jagadish (2024, 06 13). Indians are worried about global warming and support the 2070 Net Zero goal India Today
Deshmukh, Yashwant, Leiserowitz, Anthony, Guru, Sutanu and Thaker, Jagadish (2022, 10 26). Global warming: Indians say it’s real and want concrete action India Today
Thaker, Jagadish (2021, 07 14). Four in five New Zealanders plan to get vaccinated, but many people want more information about vaccine safety The Conversation
Thaker, Jagadish (2021, 05 19). A year after New Zealand’s first COVID-19 lockdown, discrimination and racism are on the rise The Conversation
Thaker, Jagadish (2021, 05 17). Survey shows three in four Kiwis adopted Covid-19 protective behaviours Massey News: Rongo kōrero ā roto
Thaker, Jagadish (2021, 03 08). More than 1 in 3 New Zealanders remain hesitant or sceptical about COVID-19 vaccines. Here’s how to reach them The Conversation
Thaker, Jagadish (2020, 10 09). New Zealand companies lag behind others in their reporting on climate change, and that's a risk to their reputation Institute of Directors New Zealand
Thaker, Jagadish (2020, 09 03). Survey shows 1 in 4 New Zealanders remain hesitant about a coronavirus vaccine The Conversation
Thaker, Jagadish (2020, 08 11). Public support for green Covid-19 recovery Sustainable Business Council
Thaker, Jagadish (2020, 05 20). The difference between good and bad science communication during a pandemic The Wire
Thaker, Jagadish (2019, 05 21). Research limited. Merchants of corporate influence Deccan Chronicle
Thaker, Jagadish (2018, 08 27). Dwindling career prospects in the Indian academia Asian Age
Thaker, Jagadish (2013, 01 01). What does rural and urban India think about climate change Climate Eye Magazine
Thaker, Jagadish (2013, 01 01). Climate change in the Indian mind All India Disaster Mitigation Institute News 8-8.