Debra Merskin, PhD, is Professor Emerit in the School of Journalism & Communication at the University of Oregon. Her research focuses on the psychological process of stereotyping in media and popular culture in general and the impact on vulnerable populations in particular. Her books include Media, Minorities, and Meaning: A Critical Introduction (2010), which is an examination of how and why American mass media, including advertising, presents Otherness—anyone or anything constructed as different from an established norm—in terms of gender, race, sex, disabilities, and other markers of difference.  Sexing the Media: How and Why We Do It (2012), explores how and why media and other social institutions use sex and sexuality to advance economic and ideological interests. Seeing Species: Re-presentations of Animals in Media & Popular Culture (2018) explores the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, and species through an examination of re-presentations of animals in media and the impact of the of these portrayals on their lived experiences. She is the co-creator of the media style guide animalsandmedia.org.  Other recent publications include “Fostering human animal earthling identities in Just One Health messages for multi-species food justice,” “He, she, not it: Personal pronouns and animal advocacy,” “Coyote killing contests: Persistence of differences among Oregonians,” and “Intelligence, complexity, and individuality in sheep.” She is the co-creator, with Dr. Carrie Freeman, of the media style guide animalsandmedia.org.