Don Zimmerman is a professor in the Department of Community & Behavioral Health at the Colorado School of Public Health. He holds a special appointment as a research professor in Colorado State University (CSU) Libraries. He served in CSU’s Department of Journalism and Technical Communication for 36 years, where he holds an emeritus professor honor. He played a key role in developing CSU’s MS in Technical Communication and PhD in Public Communication & Technology.
His research has focused on health, science, and technical communication. As a principal investigator or co-principal investigator, Don has received $5.5 million in grants from Colorado Commission on Higher Education, CSU, EPA, National Cancer Institute, National Institute on Alcohol Addiction & Abuse, Hewlett Packard, IBM, National Park Service, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, USDA Forest Service, & others.
He has authored or co-authored more than 125 academic refereed journal articles and presentations at regional, national, and international conferences; four books and five book chapters published by Allyn & Bacon; Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich; Oryx Press; and Random House. Don advised 25 graduate students completing theses for their MS in Technical Communication, and he served as an outside committee member on 125 MS and PhD students’ committees (theses & dissertations) across 20 CSU departments.
Areas of Expertise
- Health communication
- Health website design
- Health website usability
- Writing about health and science communication
Education, Licensure & Certifications
- PhD, Mass Communication, University of Wisconsin- Madison, 1977
- Additional coursework, journalism, Kansas State University, Fall 1970
- MS, Technical Journalism, Kansas State University, 1968
-
BS, Biological Sciences, Kansas State University, 1966
Courses
- JTC 461 Writing About Science, Health, and Environment
- JTC 661 Information Design
- JTC 662 Communicating Science and Technology
Publications and Presentations
- Buller D.B., Borland R., Bettinghaus E.P., Shane J.H., Zimmerman D.E. (2013) Randomized trial on smoking cessation mobile application. Telemedicine and e-Health. 20, 3, 206-214.
- Cross, J., Zimmerman, D., & O’Grady, M. (2009). Residence hall room type and alcohol use among college students living on campus. Environment & Behavior, 41,4,538-603.
- Buller, D.B., Woodall, W.G., Zimmerman. D., Slater, M.D., Heimendinger, J., Rogers, E.M., Waters, E., Hines, J.M., Starling, R., Hau, B., Burris-Woodall, P., Davis, G.S., Saba, L., & Cutter, G.R. (2008). Randomized trial on the 5 a Day, the Rio Grande Way website, a web-based program to improve fruit and vegetable consumption in rural communities. Journal of Health Communication, 13:230-249.
- Woodall, W. G., Buller, D., Saba, L., Zimmerman, D.E., et al. (2007). Effects of e-mail notification on return use of a nutrition education Web site and subsequent change in dietary behaviors. Journal of Medical Internet Research. 9(3)e27.
- Zimmerman, D.E., Akerelrea, C. A., Buller, D.B, Hau, B., & LeBlanc, M. (2003). Integrating usability testing into the development of a 5 a Day nutrition Web site for at-risk populations in the American Southwest. Journal of Health Psychology, 8(1), 119-134.
