Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Becky Bromley-Trujillo Meet our faculty

We are excited to kick off our faculty spotlight series by featuring Dr. Becky Bromley-Trujillo! Hailing from Texas, she joined our faculty the fall of 2011. We sat down with Dr. Bromley-Trujillo to talk about her interests.

What is your favorite topic to teach? Why?

While I enjoy teaching generally, my favorite topic to teach is state policy-making. I grew up traveling the US and have been to about 40 states; I have always appreciated the diversity of policy making across the US. While most people are somewhat aware of what is happening on the national stage, states get overlooked despite their abundant policy making efforts. I simply love to share this kind of information with our students and hear their thoughts as well.

What research are you currently working on?

I have a variety of research projects going on right now concerning how public opinion and issue salience influence environmental policymaking in the states, how the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is shaping state policy adoption, and considering the ways in which scientific news coverage of policy issues affects policy diffusion.

What is the "hot topic" in your field right now? 

Because my work covers a variety of subfields (environment, policy process and state politics) it is somewhat difficult to pin down one “hot topic.” That being said, all of these fields are currently using very advanced methodology to answer important questions about how the democratic process works and whether policy efforts are having their desired impact.

What is your favorite thing about the Martin School? 

I could spend a day writing up great things about the Martin School, and still not cover it all. The faculty and students are highly engaged and excited about what they are doing. There is a feeling of family- we are all in this together and support each other, push each other to do great and seek out challenges. There is a level of collegiality and friendliness that I have not seen in any other department.

If you had a spirit animal, what would it be and why?

I suppose my spirit animal would be something like a tiger- very protective of those I care about, adventurous and independent.