Lori is interested in how people organize to meet community needs and how language shapes those efforts in particular ways. At JMU, she promotes training and engaging students as public process facilitators to investigate, explore, and develop productive conversations designed to help address complex community needs. She is the director of the JMU Institute for Constructive Advocacy and Dialogue, and has been a research partner with the Kettering Foundation conducting applied research on framing and facilitating public dialogue and deliberation in communities.