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Psychology

Faculty Accomplishments

Media

  • Laurie Mintz’ research on sexual health has been featured in several publications, including Women’s Health (January 2016), Global Health and Travel Magazine (January 2016), The Onion (February 2016), The Look (March 2016), Romper (September 2016), and Cosmopolitan (March 2017).
  • Dorothy Espelage is hitting the news with her research; check out the Huffington Post article on bullying and sexual harassment.
  • Ron Chandler’s work in saving elephants in India was featured in the Independent Florida Alligator.
  • James Shepperd was mentioned in a Wall Street Journal article entitled “When you need to face facts in your life.”
  • Emily Mroz’ and Susan Bluck’s research was discussed in an article in Psychology Today entitled “Maintaining the Bond through Living Memorialization.”
  • Kate Ratliff was quoted in the New York Times discussing Hillary Clinton’s rhetorical tactics.

Invited Talks

  • Darragh Devine presented “Development of the Nervous System: Sensory Systems, Sensory-motor Integration, and Reflexes” at the Institute for Neuro-Physiological Psychology in Miami, FL in April 2016. He also presented “Environmental impoverishment: A rodent model of pathological behavior in autism” at the Gatlinburg Conference on Research & Theory in Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities, in San Diego, CA in March 2016.
  • Tim Vollmer presented “Resistance to Change in Children and Adolescents with Autism” at the International Conference on Applied Behavior Analysis, in Naples, Italy, in April 2016.
  • Several of our faculty and post-docs participated in the Early Childhood National Summit in Orlando.  Darlene Kertes was an invited panelist, Lisa Scott was a Summit Facilitator, and Ryan Barry-Anwar was a participant. This summit considered the science of brain development and early learning, and the many influences in a young child’s life, such as medical care, legal protection, parental and caregiver support, early learning opportunities and early interventions.
  • Kate Ratliff was one of the featured speakers at the 2017 Annual Provost Symposium on January 26 and 27 in Emerson Alumni Hall and presented “Implicit Bias: Understanding Automatic Thoughts and Feelings.”

Grants and Recognition Received

  • Darragh Devine: “A Neurodevelopmental Theory of Social and Environmental Isolation in Autism” was  funded by the Research Opportunity Fund.
  • Natalie Ebner: “Neurobiological Mechanisms of Oxytocin’s Pain-Modulatory Role in Aging” was funded by the Institute of Aging.
  • Natalie Ebner also received an Excellence Award for Assistant Professors.  The letter from the Provost stated, “All of the candidates presented extremely intriguing research. The selection committee members were inspired by the letters written on behalf of the nominees and gratified to see the strength of research on this campus. The committee focused on the quality and innovativeness of the research and sought to balance the diverse intellectual streams the candidates represented. In the course of the committee’s deliberations, Dr. Ebner emerged as being uniquely worthy of this award.”
  • Natalie Ebner also was the recipient of a 2016 CLAS International Educator of the Year Award, which recognizes faculty with outstanding international accomplishments and their impact on the recipient’s field of study, students, and international partners.
  • Natalie Ebner also was elected a member of the Organizing Committee for the 6th Indonesian-American Kavli Frontiers of Science symposium, National Academy of Sciences, in Malang, East Java, Indonesia
  • Dorothy Espelage has received a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the amount of $450,000 (year 1 of a four-year project) for her proposal entitled “The Impact of Sources of Strength, a Primary Prevention Youth Suicide Program, on Sexual Violence Perpetration among Colorado High School Students.”
  • Lisa Scott was selected to participate in UF’s Strategic Communications Academy for UF Leaders and Scholars, a competitive professional development program offered by UF’s College of Journalism and Communications and UF Training & Organizational Development.
  • Carolyn Tucker received a $50,000 grant from the National Institute of Health to support a conference to promote minority health.  The conference will be held September 22-23, 2017.
  • Tim Vollmer’s Behavior Analysis Research Clinic received a $10,000 gift from the Chelsey G. Magruder Foundation to provide relevant services to families in the Orlando area.
  • Tim Vollmer also received a grant from the Florida Autism Center.
  • Greg Webster has received a grant from the National Science Foundation in the amount of $414,962 for his proposal entitled “Extreme Weather Events and Individual Differences in Threat Perception and Behavior.”
  • Allison Bechard, a postdoc working with Lori Knackstedt, won the University of Florida Chapter of Sigma Xi Research Award for 2017. This award recognizes excellence in research.