Reslie Cortés received their PhD in Communication Studies from Arizona State University in 2022 (M.A. Communication Studies, University of New Mexico, 2014; B.A. Communication Studies- Cultural Criticism Concentration, Rowan University, 2012). Her general area of research is in critical intercultural communication and more specifically their work centers around identity and settler/post/neo colonial studies. Her dissertation examines the various ways Puerto Rican cuisine can serve as a form of resistance or a reproduction of colonial logics. Cortés is especially interested in how Puerto Rican women's sociocultural processes in foodwork contribute important yet underexamined sources of cultural production. Though many immediately think of food when thinking about culture, few rarely consider how sociocultural and communicative practices of gossip, storytelling, consejos, and bacilando are inseparable from the knowledge transmission and caretaking task of foodwork. Cortés employs a variety of methods in their research including rhetorical, qualitative, performance, and arts-based methods. She is currently developing a continuation to her doctoral work using ethnography to engage in participant observation with Puerto Rican women as they procure, prepare, consume, and store their traditional dishes (and of course there is the very important step of cleaning up after!).

As an instructor, Cortés teaches within the Cultural Communication concentration including SCOM 248 Intercultural Communication, SCOM 347 Communication, Diversity, and Popular Culture, and SCOM 348 Communication and Gender. They hope to develop new courses in colonial studies and food studies in the near future.

When they are not teaching and researching Cortés nurtures a number of hobbies. She has a deep appreciation for food outside of the research realm and enjoys cooking and experimenting with new recipes or trying new cuisines around town. Cortés is an amateur forager and tries to learn as much as they can about mushrooms, nuts, berries, and other forest delicacies as well as the non-human locals. They've been known to indulge in knitting, painting, clay work, drawing, and embroidery or any craft they can get their hands on. They also enjoy taking care of their many plants and their two cats, Yams and Maci.