Please join me in welcoming three new Visiting Assistant Professors to our department: Samantha Clark, Brandon Humphrey, and Shannon Pinegar.

Sam Clark received her PsyD in Clinical Psychology from Nova Southeastern University (Fort Lauderdale, FL) in 2020, where her scholarship focused on post-traumatic stress experiences involving young children. She completed her internship as a family crisis therapist at the Terry Children’s Center (New Castle, DE). Sam will be teaching courses in clinical and developmental psychology this fall.

Brandon Humphrey received his PhD in Social Psychology from Miami University in 2021, where his research focused on encouraging pro-environmental behavioral and on the benefits of pets. Brandon will be teaching courses in social psychology, foundational experiences in psychology, and research methods this fall.

Shannon Pinegar received her PhD in Experimental Psychology from Ohio University in 2015. Subsequently, she served as a post-doctoral scholar and then a visiting assistant professor at CUNY’s Baruch College in New York City. Her scholarly interests include false confessions, metacognitive processes, and psychology experiences involving fictional characters. Shannon will be teaching courses in social psychology and statistics this fall.

Congratulations go to the following doctoral students (and their advisors), who will receive their Ph.D. in Psychology during graduation ceremonies on Friday, August 13, 2021. We could not be more proud of our graduates, and we wish them the best of luck in the next chapter of their lives: Alejandro Trujillo (Heather Claypool), Brandon Humphrey (Allen McConnell), Dani Tapp (Matt McMurray), Joey Fredrick (Aaron Luebbe), Kathy Lin (Vaishali Raval), Lisa Velkoff (April Smith), Max Teaford (Jay Smart), Mitch Dandignac (Chris Wolfe), Prachi Bhuptani (Terri Messman), Randi Phelps (Liz Kiel), and Seyma Inan (Yvette Harris).

Graduation will take place at Armstrong Pavilion on Friday, August 13, 2021, at 4 p.m. (graduates and advisees should arrive at 3:30, per emailed instructions). The event will also be live streamed as well.

Congratulations goes to Allen McConnell and his colleagues at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center who received word that their NICHD R01 grant ($1.68M) was funded. The five-year project, entitled “Using dogs to promote therapeutic engagement during inpatient rehabilitation following pediatric acquired brain injury: Understanding mechanisms and moderators of treatment response,” will assess the value of therapy dogs used with children recovering from traumatic brain injuries. The team recently wrapped up work on their R21 project, which provided initial feasibility evidence for the approach. The new project will run through June 2026. Congrats to Allen and the entire team!

A recently published analysis examining career-long scholarly influence of more than 150K authors based on citation impact metrics has identified two Department of Psychology faculty as among the top 2% of scientists in their disciplines: Allen McConnell and Gary Stasser (Professor Emeritus). They were among 20+ Miami scholars recognized for being in the top 2% in terms of career-long impact.

Following the departure of Anna Liss Jacobsen, who accepted a new job as a Medical and Research Services Librarian at the University of Washington in Seattle, Ginny Boehme has assumed the position as interim psychology librarian. Boehme serves many other Miami departments, including biology, microbiology, nursing, environmental sciences, and kinesiology, nutrition, and health. She will serve as our psychology librarian until a replacement hire is announced. Please join me in welcoming Ginny to this role.