Research Interests
My primary areas of interest include behavioral health and gender issues in behavior analysis. My dissertation topic investigates the effects of an online training on psychotropic medication geared towards behavior analytic practitioners. Within behavioral health, I am specifically interested in the effects of psychotropic medication on behavioral issues and predictors of addiction and/or pathology. Applied behavioral pharmacology combines my background as an experimental behavior analyst with my applied experience. Individuals with autism and developmental disabilities are one of the highest medicated populations: common practice is to prescribe psychotropic medications to treat aberrant behavior. Although the majority of behavior analysts work with individuals taking psychotropic medications, there is a wide discrepancy in training received and monitoring practices to evaluate effects of these drugs on behavioral therapy. This has significant clinical implications as the interaction between biological factors and behavior may affect therapeutic outcomes.

Additionally, I have published multiple articles on the topic of diversity within the field of behavior analysis. Topics include participant characteristics, representation of women in academia, and gender wage gap in academia. At the 2019 annual ABAI convention, I was heartened to discover that attendance at our women in behavior analysis symposium was standing room only. The article was then featured by ABAI in a news release in September. Subsequently, I had have participated in panels, showcasing women in research and as well as perspectives and struggles of behavior analysts of diverse ethnic backgrounds.

Grants
I assisted in preparing materials for the Interdisciplinary Preparation in Autism Services grant that was awarded by the U.S. Department of Education in 2017. In the same year, I was also awarded the SABA senior student presenter grant by ABAI. In December 2019, I was awarded an internal grant by the Western Michigan University Libraries in the amount of $1,000 to support open-access resources for the General Psychology courses I oversee.

Research Service
In 2018, I received the All-University Graduate Research and Creative Scholar award for my accomplishments. I have served as a reviewer for several journals, including but not limited to Behavior Analysis in Practice, Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, Perspectives of Behavior Science, and Review Journal of Autism and Developmental Disabilities. I also was guest editor for the special issue on the experimental analysis of behavior in Behavior Analysis: Research and Practice.