Delaney Grace Harness

Dr. Delaney Harness's work focuses on inter-organizational and collective action networks in sustainability and human rights initiatives, examining how transparency and surveillance practices shape global governance. Her research examines the digitization and datafication of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices, focusing on how emerging technologies like blockchain enhance accountability and traceability in environmental governance spaces such as carbon markets and sustainability reporting. Her most recent research interrogates transparency practices within the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC). 

Dr. Harness has received distinctions from the National Communication Association and International Communication Association, and was awarded the inaugural C-SPAN Graduate Fellowship for her work on norm entrepreneurship in U.S. policy. She has received grant-funding with the Swedish Center for Environmental Research (MISTRA) to work on sustainability in market-based organizations and with the Omidyar Network on the role of democracy in digital spaces.

Her scholarship has been published in The Journal of Environmental Planning & Management, New Media & Society, Public Relations Review, and Communication Theory. She has also collaborated with organizations like IKEA, the Environmental Defense Fund, and APCO Worldwide on sustainability strategy and human rights initiatives, bridging academic insights with practical applications.

PhD: Univeristy of Texas at Austin 2022 (Organizational Communication & Technology)

MA: Purdue University 2017 (Strategic Communication with an emphasis in Computational Methods)

BA: University of Oklahoma 2015 (Public Relations and International Studies)

Peer Reviewed Publications

Delaney Harness, Shiv Ganesh, Cynthia Stohl (2022. ) Visibility Agents: Organizing Transparency in the Digital Era.New Media and Society, , More Information

Delaney Harness (2023. ) The constant report: Everything, everywhere, all at once? .Public Relations Review, ,

Ganesh, S., Harness, D., James, S., Klingelhoefer, J.Schnell, M., Palakshappa, N (2023. ) The powerpoint imagination: Visualization and managerial vocabularies in sustainability reports .Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, ,

Book Chapter

Harness, D., Klingelhoeffer, J., & Ganesh, S. (2022 ) The Forgotten SDGs: Factors in Hierarchies of Sustainability Reporting The Mediation of Sustainability: The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, Social Movements and Public Discourses .Liecester, UK, De Montfort University Press.

Harness, D. (2021 ) Shifting New Roles in the NGO Fight for Refugee Rights NGO Communication for Social Change .(pp. 58 -79).New York, Routledge

Scacco, J.M., Coe, K., & Harness, D (2018 ) From Interactions to incitement: Donald Trump, Twitter, and the ubiquitous presidency An unprecedented election Campaign coverage, communication, and citizens divided .(pp. 296 -316).New York, Praeger

Harness, D. & Scacco, J.M. (2018 ) Donald Trump meets the ubiquitous presidency The Year in C-SPAN Archives Research—Volume 4 .(pp. 145 -172).West Lafayette, IN, Purdue University Press

Editorial

Ganesh, S & Harness, D (2022. ) Down to Earth,

COP 27: The Forgotten SDGs

Invited Presentations

Harness, D (2022. ) Shifting News Roles in the NGO Fight for Refugee Rights .University of Tübingen , Tübingen, Germany.

Harness, D., Ganesh, S., & Schnell, M. (2022. ) Lost in Translation? Communicating the Chaos & Complexity of Reporting. Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences , Uppsala, Sweden.

Harness, D. (2021. ) Rethinking Transparency and Reporting Practices in Sustainability Management .APCO China Working Group, Washington, D.C..

Harness, D., & Klingelhoeffer, J (2021. ) The Forgotten SDGs .Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (Sverige Landbruksuniversitet) , Uppsala, Sweden.

Ganesh, S., Harness, D. & Schnell, M. (2021. ) Visibility and Visualization—Transparency and Sustainability in Networks of Market Based Organizations .Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (Sverige Landbruksuniversitet), Uppsala, Sweden.

Ganesh, S., Harness, D. & Palakshappa, N (2020. ) Transparency and Sustainability in Global Networks .Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (Sverige Landbruksuniversitet) , Uppsala, Sweden.

Ganesh, S. & Harness, D (2020. ) Exploring Perspectives of Transparency .Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (Sverige Landbruksuniversitet), Uppsala, Sweden.

Harness, D. (2021. ) Rethinking Gun Legislation: American Gun Discourses in the US .University of Texas, Austin, TX.

Harness, D. (2019. ) The Collective Action of American Gun Discourses .University of Texas, Austin, TX.

Harness, D. (2016. ) Journalism in the Fight for Human Rights .Brian Lamb School of Communication, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN.

Paper Presentations

Harness, D. (2022. ) Rethinking Governance by Disclosure: A relational approach to transparency in environmental governance .New Orleans, LA. Conference.

Harness, D., Klingelhoeffer, J., & Ganesh, S. (2022. ) The Forgotten SDGs: Factors in Hierarchies of Sustainability Reporting .New Orleans, LA. Conference.

Harness, D (2022. ) Rethinking governance by disclosure: The history of transparency in the United Nations .Paris, France. Conference. Level:International

Harness, D. (2021. ) Shifting news roles in the NGO fight for refugee rights .Denver, CO. Conference. Level:International

Harness, D. (2021. ) The transparency paradox: Reimagining visibility and opacity .Denver, CO. Conference. Level:International

Harness, D. (2020. ) Paradigms and paradoxes: Beyond the extant approaches to transparency .Indianapolis, IN. Conference. Level:National

Harness, D. (2020. ) Fetishizing transparency in the camera obscura: A Marxist critique of transparency in communicative capitalism .Indianapolis, IN. Conference. Level:National

Harness, D. (2020. ) Some assembly required: Towards an Assemblage of Networks of Collective Action. .Indianapolis, IN. Conference. Level:National

Harness, D., Ganesh, S., & Stohl, C. (2020. ) Visibility agents: Organizing transparency in the digital era. .Gold Coast, Australia. Conference. Level:International

Harness, D. (2020. ) Curating capital in the attention economy: Partnership as a branding strategy for NGOs and organizing .Gold Coast, Australia. Conference. Level:International

Harness, D. & Miller, K (2019. ) After the smoke clears: Framing problem definitions spaces in the gun debate .Baltimore, MD. Conference. Level:National

Harness, D., Santillana, M., Miller, K. (2019. ) Fighting for their lives: Networking and connective action after school shootings .Baltimore, MD. Conference. Level:National

Harness, D. (2019. ) Habermasian perspective of religion in the public sphere: The papal address as an agent of change for environmental rights .Baltimore, MD. Conference. Level:National

Harness, D. (2019. ) Sensemaking and survival: Communicative approaches in the aftermath of school shootings .Baltimore, MD. Conference. Level:National

Harness, D. (2019. ) Consensus and contentious: Revisiting nuances in issue ownership .Washington, D.C.. Conference. Level:International

Harness, D. (2019. ) Witnessing, advocating, memorializing: Religious and Secular .Washington, D.C.. Conference. Level:International

Harness, D. (2019. ) Networking non-governmental actors: Promoting human rights through identity in discursive structures .Washington, D.C.. Conference. Level:International

Harness, D. (2019. ) Research or service: Considering engaged scholarship as a means to work-life balance. Washington, D.C.. Conference. Level:International

Harness, D. (2018. ) To urge or demand: Promoting NGO agency through organizational identity in discursive structures .Salt Lake City, UT. Conference. Level:National

Harness, D. (2018. ) Socially networked: Testing social impact theory in Trump’s social media .Salt Lake City, UT. Conference. Level:National

Harness, D. (2018. ) The fight for equality in the #MeToo movement: Explorations of American and French Feminism in the Third Wave .Salt Lake City, UT. Conference. Level:National

Harness, D. (2018. ) It’s all fake news: A grounded theory approach to fake news and the individual. .Boston, MA. Conference. Level:National

Blake, C. & Harness, D (2017. ) Privacy is…: A metaphorical analysis of 10 years of tech-policy debates .Dallas, TX. Conference. Level:National

Harness, D. & Scacco, J.M. (2017. ) The Twitter president: Ubiquitous appeals for presidential communication .West Lafayette, IN. Conference. Level:State

Browning, R.X. & Harness, D (2017. ) Policy entrepreneurship and innovation: The case of U.S. telecommunications policy in the 1970s .Chicago, IL. Conference. Level:Regional

Harness, D. (2016. ) Fixing Flint, Michigan: A continuation of the environmental justice framework .Philadelphia, PA. Conference. Level:National

Harness, D. & Curth, J. (2015. ) Strength in numbers: Testing social impact theory in social media and political campaigns .West Lafayette, IN. Other Institution. Level:University

Harness, D (2023. ) Strategic Silence and Organizational Transparency: Failure to Communicate in the East Palestine Chemical Spill .National Harbor, MD. Conference. Level:National

Harness, D., Ganesh, S., Klingelhoefer, J., Schnell, M.A. (2023. ) Politics, Power Relations, and the UNGC: A Relational Orientation Toward Transparency .National Harbor, MD. Conference. Level:National

Ganesh, S., Harness, D., Klingelhoefer, J., Schnell, M.A.; James, S. Palakshappa, N. (2023. ) Powerpoint Imagination: Visualization and Managerial Vocabularies in Environmental Reporting .National Harbor, MD. Conference. Level:National

2022 Dissertation Fellow University of Texas Status:Recipient Level:University Type:Fellowship

2020 Top Three Student Paper National Communication Association Status:Recipient Level:National Type:Recognition

2020 Top Four Paper in Organizational Communication International Communication Association Status:Recipient Level:International Type:Recognition

2017 -2021 Graduate Communication Fellowship Moody College of Communication, University of Texas Status:Recipient Level:College Type:Monetary

2017 -2018 Graduate School Fellowship University of Texas Status:Recipient Level:University Type:Fellowship

2017 -2021 Moody College Fellowship University of Texas Status:Recipient Level:University Type:Fellowship

2017 Harlan Teaching Award Brian Lamb School of Communication, Purdue University Status:Nomination Level:Department Type:Recognition

2016 -2017 C-SPAN Graduate Fellow C-SPAN Archives Status:Recipient Type:Fellowship

2023 Top Four Paper Award Environmental Communication Division of NCA Status:Recipient Level:National Type:Recognition

Environmental Defense Fund Consultant Type:Service to Professional Associations Level:Prof. Org. 2021

APCO Worldwide Consultant Type:Service to Professional Associations Level:Prof. Org. 2021

Mexican Football Federation Consultant Type:Service to Professional Associations Level:Prof. Org. 2021

Social Media + Society Reviewer Type:Editorial Service Level:Prof. Org.

Journal of Business Research Reviewer Type:Editorial Service Level:Prof. Org.

Management Communication Quarterly Reviewer Type:Editorial Service Level:Prof. Org.

National Communication Association (Organizational Communication Division ) Reviewer Type:Service to Professional Associations Level:Prof. Org.

International Communicaiton Association (Environmental Communication Division ) Reviewer Type:Service to Professional Associations Level:Prof. Org.

International Communicaiton Association (Organizational Communication Division ) Reviewer Type:Service to Professional Associations Level:Prof. Org.

International Communicaiton Association (Organizational Communication Division ) Reviewer Type:Service to Professional Associations Level:Prof. Org.

International Communicaiton Association (Political Communication division ) Reviewer Type:Service to Professional Associations Level:Prof. Org.

sustainability, environmental, communication, transparency, climate, climate change, human rights, ESG, environmental governance, social governance, corporate social responsibility, CSR,

-COMM-3008 INTRO TO ORG COMM Level:Undergraduate

-COMM-3000 PR RESEARCH Level:Undergraduate

15-COMM-406 ORGANIZ DIVERSITY Level:Undergraduate