A University of Arkansas at Little Rock researcher is one of only five U.S.-based scientists nominated for a prestigious international IARIA fellowship.

The International Academy, Research, and Industry Association (IARIA) nominated Dr. Nitin Agarwal, UALR Jerry L. Maulden-Entergy endowed chair and information science professor, as a winter 2016/spring 2017 fellow.

Each semester, the international organization recognizes about 10 scientists for their outstanding research, their scientific contributions to the organization’s events, and their continuous leadership roles in conferences.

Agarwal, who also is the director of the UALR Center of Social Media and Online Behavioral Studies (COSMOS), is highly respected for his social media research, and he continues to work with influential national and international organizations such as NATO.

His recent research included studying how governments and groups such as ISIS use social media to spread deviant messages and affect opinions, behavior, and media coverage.

In addition to NATO, Agarwal has collaborated and received funding from the U.S. Office of Naval Research, the Air Force Research Lab, the U.S. Army Research Office, and the National Science Foundation.

Recently, Agarwal and two of his doctoral students presented their research findings during a NATO conference in Virginia. Agarwal and the students — Samer Al-Khateeb and Nihal Hussain — studied and tracked social media responses to NATO exercises during the summer, including anti-NATO narratives from pro-Russian outlets.  

Agarwal joined the UALR Department of Information Science in 2009.