With a doctorate degree from the University of Texas, Mackin teaches several courses, including “Introduction to Personal Communication,” “Public Address,” “Environmental Communication,” and “Communication Ethics.” His research interests are Environmental Communication, Communication Ethics, Rhetorical Criticism, Rhetorical Theory, Irish Revolutionary Rhetoric, and Irish-American Labor Rhetoric. He also wrote the book, Community over Chaos: An Ecological Perspective on Communication Ethics (University of Alabama Press, 1997).