Dr. Martell (Ph.D., Human Ecology, Michigan State University, 1993) has been the Executive Director of the National Social Norms Center since 2016 and oversees the operation and direction of the NSNC in its new home in the College of Communication Arts and Sciences at Michigan State University. He served as the Director of the Health Promotion Department at what is now University Health & Wellbeing on the campus of Michigan State University from 2003 to 2023. From 1998 to 2000 he served as the research and policy advisor on alcohol for President M. Peter McPherson’s Michigan State University/Community Action Team, which produced the document “Challenging the Environment of High-Risk Drinking”.
Dr. Martell’s collaborative work on celebration drinking has been a focus of many prevention initiatives as well as being featured in such publications as the Anheuser-Busch’s “College Talk: A Parent’s Guide on Talking to Your College Bound Student About Drinking”. He served as the co-principal investigator for a U.S. Department of Education Celebration Drinking grant at MSU and has been principal co-PI for the past 20 years on a Social Norms grant funded by the Anheuser-Busch Foundation. Dr. Martell co-authored Effective Health Risk Messages (Sage Publishing, 2001). His innovative work with operationalizing efficacy and threat-based theory has led to effective assessments being designed to ascertain tailored messages to be given to individuals and populations for the prevention of risky behavior. He has presented his work on social norming, environmental management prevention, and effective health message creation at several national conferences including ACHA, MACHA, and the National Conference on Social Norms.
