Andrew Russo

Writer · Scholar · Dungeon Master

Andrew Russo

Stay awhile and listen...

I'm a public speaker, experienced professor, and writer based on Vancouver Island, BC. My work sits at the intersection of public policy, nonprofit management, and disaster resilience, with particular attention to critical and decolonial perspectives on how communities survive and rebuild. At the University of Oregon's School of Planning, Public Policy and Management, I was voted Outstanding Teacher of the Year by a student-driven committee in 2025. I write publicly about democracy, the environment, and education at Lectern Media. I've written about, and worked in, Specialty Coffee. A field I'm reconnecting with in my new home. My books range from coffee culture to science fiction. My smaller works include world building and adventure guides for popular TTRPGs.

Explore My Work
Current Project

The
Signal

A speculative science fiction novel examining political fracture, technology, and the cost of silence in a world awash in destruction. My most ambitious work to date. The Signal explores what happens if institutions fail, when the noise becomes deafening, and when one person decides to find what's real. A work of speculative science fiction for the political present.

Get progress updates and sample pages All Books →

Books

Publishing Soon

The Coral Flyer

Children's · Adventure · Ages 7-12

A tropical island adventure for young readers, where two pilots help and mentor the island's inhabitants. Influenced by lessons from childhood.

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Out Of Print

Coffee Taster's Compendium

Specialty Coffee · Reference

About tasting notes and coffee tasting written during my Q Grading days

Contact me for a free copy →

Out of Print

Coffee Spanish

Specialty Coffee · Latin American Culture

A guide to buying and enjoying coffees from Latin America and Brazil.

Find It →

Writing

2026 Cry the Beloved Administrative State: Predatory Kleptocracy and the Trumpian Age of American Public Administration Administrative Theory & Praxis 2025 But the Levee Was Dry: What Disaster Zones Reveal About Governance Under Pressure John Adams Institute 2025 Navigating the Neoliberal Assemblage: The Role of a Nonprofit Organization Shaping Disaster Governance and Community Resilience Portland State University 2025 Disaster Time: Reconceptualizing Disasters and Temporal Politics Disaster Prevention and Management 34 (3) 2024 Beyond "Psychic Income": Interventions to Address Work-Life Imbalances, Burnout, and Precarity in Contemporary Nonprofit Work Nonprofit Policy Forum 15 (2) 2024 Acknowledge, Elevate, and Reclaim: Critical and Decolonial Perspectives on Contemporary Disaster Resilience Administrative Theory & Praxis 46 (3) 2024 Oppression, Exploitation, and Possibilities for Emancipation Under Neoliberalism: Nonprofit Organizing and Voluntary Action Handbook of Critical Perspectives on Nonprofit Organizing 2023 Re-envisioning the Role of "Big Data" in the Nonprofit Sector: A Data Feminist Perspective VOLUNTAS 34 2022 Exploring the Gendered Dimensions of Meaningful Non-Profit Work Under Marketised Conditions Voluntary Sector Review 13 (1) 2022 Beyond 'Psychic Income': Policy Interventions to Address Work-Life Imbalances, Burnout, and Precarity in Contemporary Nonprofit Work Burnout and Precarity in Nonprofit Work 2019 Emergency Management Appropriations in Non-Event Municipalities Graduate Research Paper at PDX Scholar 2018 Oregon Nonprofit Disaster Preparedness: Findings from the 2018 Survey White Paper at PDX Scholar 2018 Lessons from the Past: Analyzing a Multipolar World and Shifting Transatlantic Relationships The Ashburn Institute 2016 Coffee in Kathmandu Fresh Cup Magazine 2015 Coffee History and Roastery Planning Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine
Full profile on Google Scholar →

Lectern Media

University-level analysis of democracy, education, and the environment, translated into accessible language without the rage and clickbait. Essays on policy, power, and the institutions that hold societies together, written for readers who want depth without jargon.

Published on Substack. Free to read. Subscriber support keeps it independent.

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"Without the rage and clickbait."

Lectern Media covers the stories that matter to informed citizens: how democracy functions under pressure, what education actually produces, and what environmental policy gets wrong. Written by a scholar, for everyone.

Topics Covered

Democracy · Education Policy · Environmental Governance · Disaster Resilience · Nonprofit Sector · Public Affairs

Fiction & the Dungeon

A distinct creative practice, separate from the scholarship and equally serious.

Dungeon Mastering

Tabletop roleplaying is world-building under pressure. As a DM, the craft lives in improvisation, narrative design, and the ability to hold a room of storytellers together.

Fiction Projects

Alongside The Signal, shorter fiction explores themes of environment, identity, and political dislocation.