About me:
I'm an Associate Professor at Michigan State University with interests that span the fields of Developmental Psychology, Social Psychology, Community Psychology, Sociology, and Education. My research focuses on understanding social networks in K-12 educational contexts. I've studied the role of children's classroom peer networks in shaping prosocial and aggressive behaviors and the role of educator networks in facilitating the adoption and use of new programs and practices. When I'm not studying kids and schools, I enjoy traveling to new places, learning about wine, and hanging out with my husband (Zachary Neal) and two cats (Pomodoro & Cece).
Education and Work
2015 - Present
Associate Professor, Psychology
Michigan State University
_____________________________________________
2009 - 2015
Assistant Professor, Psychology
Michigan State University
_____________________________________________
2008 - 2009
NIMH F32 Postdoctoral Fellow
University of Illinois at Chicago
_____________________________________________
Ph.D. in Psychology, 2008
Minor: Statistics, Methods, & Measurement
University of Illinois at Chicago
_____________________________________________
M.A. in Psychology, 2004
Minor: Statistics, Methods, & Measurement
University of Illinois at Chicago
_____________________________________________
B.S. in Psychology, 2001
Minor: Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
University of Arizona
_____________________________________________
B.A. in Sociology, 2001
Minor: Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
University of Arizona
_____________________________________________
Awards
Early Career Award, 2016
Society for Community Research & Action
APA Division 27
_____________________________________________
Best Dissertation Award, 2010
Society for Community Research & Action
APA Division 27
_____________________________________________
Leonard D. Eron Award, 2008
University of Illinois at Chicago
_____________________________________________
Editorships
2016 - Present
Editorial Board,
American Journal of Community Psychology
_____________________________________________
2015 - Present
Associate Editor,
Social Development
_____________________________________________
Research
Understanding the Research-Practice Gap in K-12 Education. Public schools are an important venue for delivering high quality instructional, health, and social skills programs and practices to kids. However, a research-practice gap persists. I'm interested in exploring how we can leverage educators' social networks to narrow this research-practice gap. See more at the Michigan School Program Information Project website.
_____________________________________________
Children's Networks and Social Behaviors. Kids spend a great deal of their daily lives in classrooms. I'm interested in understanding how their classroom relationships shape their aggression, prosociality, and personalities and vice versa. My work in this area has involved kids ranging in age from preschool to early adolescence.
_____________________________________________
Child & Teacher Perceptions of Networks. How do kids and teachers perceive classroom relationships and how "accurate" are they in these perceptions? What drives the accuracy of these perceptions? I've used a method called cognitive social structures to look at some of these questions.
_____________________________________________
Social Network Theory & Methods. I've applied key concepts related to social networks to refine several theories such as ecological systems theory and empowerment. I'm also interested in improving methods for network data collection and analysis in schools and in community psychology.
_____________________________________________
Teaching
Research Methods. I enjoy teaching courses on research methods at both the undergraduate and graduate level. I've taught courses that focus on aspects of epistemology, research design and sampling. I've also taught courses that focus on quantitative (e.g., survey design, experiments) and qualitative (e.g., semi-structured interviewing) field-based methods.
_____________________________________________
Social Network Analysis. I love teaching courses on social network analysis. In the past, I've focused my classes on understanding the theoretical concepts behind network analysis, data collection, and common analyses.
_____________________________________________
Community Psychology. I taught graduate level courses on the history and theory of community psychology for several years. These courses focus on exposing students to some of the core theories in the discipline including ecological theories, prevention and promotion, empowerment, dissemination and implementation, and social networks.
_____________________________________________