News / Blog

DATA News: September 2018

Administrative Updates and Announcements

The Department of Psychology is excited to welcome Dr. Iris Vilares from University College London and the Virginia Tech Carillion Research Institute. Iris will be joining our faculty in the Cognitive and Brain Sciences area as an Assistant Professor. Please feel free to welcome Iris at idongavi@umn.edu 

We're also excited to welcome Dr. Richard Landers from Old Dominion University. Richard will be joining us as the John P. Campbell Distinguished Professor of I-O Psychology. If you would like to reach out to welcome Richard, his email address is lande065@umn.edu


We're happy to announce that we've hired our newest IT staff member, Silke Moeller, to the Department of Psychology. Silke is the new Academic Technologist who will be working with department faculty, staff, and students to identify, develop, and implement digital solutions for teaching and learning. Silke is coming to us from working in instructional technology at the UM School of Kinesiology, and will be located in N211 Elliott Hall. You can welcome Silke at smoeller@umn.edu 
 

We're also excited to announce that we've hired Charisma Love in our department! Charisma is temping for us part-time to help cover area support for I/O and CAB, and will be working on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays for the next 3 months. Charisma has a solid background of professional experience, including previous administrative experience at Rasmussen College. Fell free to welcome Charisma at lovec@umn.edu


Psych Undergraduate Advising has launched a new online research contract for undergrad students (4993/5993). In collaboration with PsyIT, they launched the new contract in late August using Knack for contract submission and approvals. The new online research contract makes it easier for students to submit contracts, for faculty members to sign off on contracts, and for our Psych Advising staff to monitor the process and assist with registration in PSY 4993/5993 for Undergraduates. If you have any questions about the new online Undergraduate Research Contract, please contact psyadvis@umn.edu. Visit z.umn.edu/5993 for more details. 
 

The Office for Public Engagement is pleased to announce the call for nominations for the 2019 University of Minnesota Outstanding Community Service Awards (OCSA). The OCSA recognizes faculty, staff, students and University-affiliated community members who have made significant, demonstrable contributions to the public good through research, teaching, and/or public service. Nominations for awards are due by 5 p.m., Friday, December 14th, Full nomination guidelines can be found on the award's web page.

Awards and Accomplishments

Congratulations to our 2018-2019 Quell Scholars! The Quell Foundation works to educate communities about issues and concerns surrounding mental health, promoting open, judgement-free dialogue. This scholarship was established by Quell Foundation's Project Access as a means of fulfilling its mission to increase the talent pipeline through scholarship awards to students entering the mental health care profession, to expand the delivery of needed mental health care services, and to promote reformation to extend the scope of clinical behavioral health professional services. Department of Psychology students Hanna Boleman, Brianna Lundgren, and Abigail Runyon were selected by the Undergrad Awards committee after a competitive application process.

Adjunct Professor Brian Engdahl PhD, Minneapolis VA Brain Sciences Center, and holder of the Anderson Chair for PTSD Research, was recognized on August 24th during the national convention of the American Legion by their TBI / PTSD Committee for “unwavering commitment to our nation’s veterans, and for inspiring us with your motivating words during our 100th national convention”.

Co-edited by Adjunct Professor Ken Winters, A scholarly book on the contemporary health issues on marijuana, was just recently published. Sabet, K.A. & Winters, K.C. (2018) (Eds.). Contemporary health issues on marijuana. New York: Oxford University Press.

Graduated

Congratulations to our recent Department of Psychology Ph. D graduates!

Samantha Abram
Area: CSPR
Advisor: Angus MacDonald
Dissertation Title: Normalizing Discourses of Upward Mobility: Working Class Roots, Motherhood, and Idealized White Femininity 
 
Jacob Appleby
Area: Social
Advisors: Gene Borgida, Chris Federico
Dissertation Title: Do they like us? Meta-stereotypes and meta-evaluations between political groups
 
Pierce Ekstrom
Area: Social
Advisors: Marti Gonzales, Chris Federico
Dissertation Title: We're Good People: Moral conviction as social identity
 
Mary Panos
Area: Social
Advisors: Traci Mann, Alex Rothman
Dissertation Title: Treat Yourself or Promote Your Health: A Presentation and Examination of the Mechanisms Behind Health Behavior Spillover
 
Jacob Paulsen
Area: Counseling
Advisors: Jo-Ida Hansen, Pat Frazier
Dissertation Title: Correlates of Measures of Adaptive and Pathological Narcissism

Upcoming Events

Psy & CPSY Undergraduate Advising Present
2018 Career Exploration and Alumni Connections Event
 
9/21 3:00-4:00pm
312 Bruininks Hall
 
RSVP at
z.umn.edu/PsyCareerRSVP for Psy Majors
z.umn.edu/CPsyCareerRSVP for CPSY Majors
 
Wondering what you can do with your major in Psychology or Child Psychology? You are not alone! Visit the Psy and CPsy Exploration & Alumni Connections Event to talk to alumni about various Psy/CPsy career pathways. Stop by as your schedule allows. Light refreshments provided!

DATA News: August 2018

Administrative Updates and Announcements

August 3rd was Terry Klosterman's last day with the Department of Psychology. She is retiring after 7 years in the department as our Accounting Supervisor. Terry was instrumental in shoring up our department's finances; she has been steadfast in providing expert guidance to departmental leadership and colleagues; and she has been a wonderful supervisor, colleague, and friend. She will be missed and we offer her our deepest thanks. In lieu of a gift, Terry has asked that colleagues donate to her daughter Kate's Walk to End Alzheimer's donation page, which can be found here.

Please join us in welcoming Sarah Jahn, Accounting Supervisor (Finance Professional 4), to the Department of Psychology. Sarah is replacing Terry Klosterman in accounting. Sarah has a bachelors degree in business and marketing and a masters degree in applied kinesiology, both from the University of MN. Sarah's first day was August 13th, and she can be reached at swen0432@umn.edu. Please stop by S256 and welcome her!

Please join us in also welcoming Lisa Keith, Executive Office and Administrative Specialist, to the Chair's Office in the Department of Psychology. Lisa's first day was July 17th, and she will be working in N210. Lisa has worked at the University since 2006 in a variety of Administrative Specialist roles; she brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in that area. She is also working toward a B.A. in American Indian Studies here at the University.

Also joining us is Amy Landers, who will be our Communications and Outreach Specialist in the Department of Psychology starting August 13th. Amy is a graduate of our PhD program in Cognitive and Brain Sciences. For this one-year appointment, Amy has been charged with producing a strategic plan for communications and outreach for our Department, including suggestions for a sustainable infrastructure and who will do what over the long-term. She will also focus on how can Psychology best communicate the great work being done here to potential graduate students, alumni, and the public at large. In addition, Amy will teach PSY 3896, Internship in Psychology, in the fall and spring semester. Her email is kuriv002@umn.edu. Please stop by her office in Elliott S246 and say hello!

Awards and Accomplishments

Professor Mark Snyder and his research on the psychology of volunteerism were featured in a report on CNN.com. The article can be found here.

Samantha Abram, a 2018 CSPR graduate, along with Professors Angus MacDonald and Mark Thomas, co-authored a paper appearing in Science, entitled “Sensitivity to "Sunk Costs" in Mice, Rats, and Humans". First authored by Brian Sweiss, an MD/PhD student, this work represents a longterm collaboration between MacDonald’s and Thomas’ labs, along with that of David Redish from the AHC Neuroscience Department. These efforts have been focused on developing parallel foraging paradigms that can provide insights across all three species. The article can be found here.

Assistant Professor Nicola Grissom was recently featured in a "Beyond the Bench" interview in Spectrum, an autism news organization run by the Simons Foundation. The article can be found here.

Research Associate Ying-zi Xiong, who works in the Lab for Low Vision Research in our department, won the 2018 Envision-Atwell Award last month for research in low vision and low vision rehabilitation. Ying-zi received the award, which includes a $1,000 stipend and a trophy, at a gathering of the Low Vision Research Group at the 2018 Annual Meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) in Honolulu, Hawaii. The award is sponsored by the Gigi & Carl Allen Envision Research Institute in Wichita. Details on the award may be found here.

Upcoming Events

Psy & CPSY Undergraduate Advising Present

2018 Career Exploration and Alumni Connections Event

9/21 3:00-4:00pm

312 Bruininks Hall

RSVP at

z.umn.edu/PsyCareerRSVP for Psy Majors

z.umn.edu/CPsyCareerRSVP for CPSY Majors

Wondering what you can do with your major in Psychology or Child Psychology? You are not alone! Visit the Psy and CPsy Exploration & Alumni Connections Event to talk to alumni about various Psy/CPsy career pathways. Stop by as your schedule allows. Light refreshments provided!

 

Minnesota State Fair – August 23rd to September 3rd, 2018

If you’re heading to the Great Minnesota Get-together, The  College of Liberal Arts departments and researchers will be in the U of M Central (Crossroads) building at Dan Patch Avenue & Underwood Street or in the Driven to Discover building on Cosgrove Street. Stop by for a visit!

DATA News: July 2018

 

Administrative Updates & Announcements

Nasser Al-Rasbi, an undergraduate major in aerospace engineering, is our new student tech support for instructional technology.  Nasser will be primarily focused on supporting the video production work we do for numerous courses and he will be working on specific Moodle-Canvas transition projects.  Nasser will be working in Elliott N211, downstairs in the N108b studio and with the CLA Moodle-Canvas web team on the west bank as well.  If you need Moodle-Canvas support, please let me know and we will get you connected to support.  It is great to have Nasser on board as IT itself transitions.  
 
The Department of Psychology is currently hiring for 3 staff positions: 
 
Ed and Media Tech Coordinator - Academic Technologist 2
Responsibilities include collaborating with instructors, researchers, and other department staff to develop and implement appropriate technology solutions for teaching and learning; providing audio/visual media production for instruction, research, service, and training; and coordinating with faculty and staff on updating the main Department website, Intranet, and individual laboratory sites. To read more about the position, and/or to apply, visit visit https://humanresources.umn.edu/jobs and search for position ID 324610.
 
Executive Office and Admin Specialist
Responsibilities include providing faculty and staff support (e.g., hiring, personnel files, etc.), visa coordination, space coordination, scheduling, and accounting. To read more about the position, and/or to apply, visit https://humanresources.umn.edu/jobs and search for position ID 324431.
 
Finance Professional 4 Supervisor
Responsibilities include sponsored project management, fiscal oversight and coordination, non-sponsored financial management, and employee management and development. To read more about the position, and/or to apply, visit https://humanresources.umn.edu/jobs and search for position ID 324469.
 

Awards & Accomplishments

 
Professor Richard Lee was selected for the Distinguished Career Contribution to Research Award by The Society for the Psychological Studies of Culture, Ethnicity and Race (APA Division 45). This award was created to honor the contributions of a senior person in the field of psychology who has made significant contributions in research related to ethnic minority populations. Candidates for this award should have been in the field 15 or more years, and have made scholarly contributions in writing, publishing, and disseminating information on ethnic minority populations and issues, thereby substantively contributing to the current understanding of ethnic minorities. The award will be presented at the 2018 APA Convention in San Francisco during the Division 45 Presidential Address, Business Meeting and Awards Ceremony
 
Associate Professor Bonnie Klimes-Dougan and graduate student Michelle Thai have been awarded the Brain Imaging Grant and the OFAA-Social Sciences grant through CLA at UMN to conduct a study titled: Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Adolescents with Depression: Examining the Tolerance, Efficacy, and Mechanisms
 
At the annual meeting of the Behavior Genetics Association in Boston, Assistant Professor Scott Vrieze was awarded the association's early career award (Fuller Scott Award). You can learn more about the award here.
 

Upcoming Events

Dr. Marc Lewis, a neuroscientist and professor of developmental psychology formerly at the University of Toronto and now at Radboud University in the Netherlands, will be giving a talk titled "Addiction as learning (not disease): The view from embodied cognition" on Wednesday, July 18 at 1 pm in N219 Elliott Hall.

DATA News: June 2018

 

Administrative Updates & Announcements

 
Department Administrator Guillermo De Paz, who has been with the University of Minnesota for 32 years, will be retiring on June 8th. Guillermo has spent the last 17 years with the Department of Psychology, and we can attribute many of our successes as a department to his great leadership as the administrator. He looks forward to traveling and spending time with his grandchildren in his retirement. Congrats, Guillermo!
 
IT staff member Nou Yin, has resigned from her position effective 6/6/18. Nou has accepted an offer to be a security risk analyst with Securian in St. Paul.  Nou has been interested in IT security and she is looking forward to building on what she has learned here at the U. The position is a promotion and it is much closer to home.
 
IT staff member Ben Cowper, has resigned from his position effective 5/14/18. Ben has decided to pursue freelance work and focus on his first love - film-making.  In the short time with the department Ben has helped us transition Psych 1001 to Canvas - no small feat - and make improvements in quality and navigability in our online presence. 

Awards & Accomplishments

 
Graduate students Max Bai, Jill Fish, Lexi Scharmer, and Jingyuan Tian were each awarded a $4,000 Robert W. Eichinger and Korn/Ferry Fellowship for 2018-2019. The purpose of the fellowship is to support exceptional third, fourth, or fifth year graduate students in the Counseling, I/O, PIB and Social programs. Eligible students are interested in pursuing professional careers outside of academia, in industry, consulting, government, or non-profit sectors.
 
Alumna Dr. Yingchen He received the U of M Graduate School's "Best Dissertation Award" in the Social Sciences and Education for 2018.
 
Alumnus Dr. Joseph Vitriol received a Federation of Associations in Behavioral & Brain Sciences (FABBS) Doctoral Dissertation Research Excellence Award for 2017-2018. FABBS brings together organizations with interests in advancing the sciences of mind, brain, and behavior. The purpose of the award is to acknowledge and honor graduate student scientists who have conducted doctoral dissertation research of superior scientific quality and broader impact.
 
Dr. David Wark, alum of the Counseling Psychology program, recently received the Morton Prince Award which is conferred annually by the members of the American Board of Psychological Hypnosis to an individual who has demonstrated distinguished contributions to the development of hypnosis in the science and profession of psychology. Dr. Wark was honored for his decades of work studying the role of hypnosis in improving student academic performance.

DATA News: May 2018

Administrative Updates & Announcements

We are very pleased to announce that Holley Locher will be joining our department as our new administrator, replacing Guillermo De Paz, who is retiring in early June. Holley currently serves as Chief of Staff in the College of Design. She will begin her position in our department on May 21, 2018, allowing some overlap before Guillermo's departure.

Richard Landers from Old Dominion University has accepted our faculty offer, and will be joining us as the John P. Campbell Distinguished Professor of I-O Psychology in Fall of 2018 as an Associate Professor.

Korrina Griffith joined the Psychology Undergraduate Advising staff in late March as our new Advisor (replacing Kelley Redmond, who moved to a new role at the Learning Abroad Center). Korrina will be working directly with Psychology Undergraduates and also helping to manage many of our office processes

Awards & Accomplishments

On March 21, Professor Gordon Legge received the inaugural Inspirational Vision Research Award from NIH “established in recognition of the 50th Anniversary of the National Eye Institute honors research to preserve the independence and quality of life of individuals with low vision or blindness.” The award was presented to Gordon by Congressman Pete Sessions at a reception on Capitol Hill honoring the National Eye Institute’s 50th anniversary. Information on the award ceremony can be found here.

Associate Professor Mark Thomas was interviewed by the Minnesota Daily about his work to create a vaccine to prevent opioid addiction. The article can be found here.

Professors Emeritus, John Campbell and Jo-Ida Hansen, received the BraVada Garrett-Akinsanya Distinguished Elders Award for Leadership in Minnesota Psychology from the Minnesota Psychological Association (MPA). MPA held a recognition ceremony at their Annual Convention to honor awardees who have made significant contributions to mental health in Minnesota through their roles as scholars, teachers, mentors, practitioners, and/or advocates for rights and just causes.

Counseling Psychology doctoral student Jillian Fish has been awarded the 2018 Graduate and Professional Scholarly Excellence in Equity and Diversity (SEED) Award at the University of Minnesota. SEED recipients are recognized for their contributions to equity and diversity in research, teaching, and service with a $2000 award and recognition at the annual Equity and Diversity Breakfast.