MY RESEARCH
I have a record as a strong teacher and advisor, a productive scholar and a good citizen. My research on adolescent and young adult development brings each of these identities into harmony.
Professional Teaching Experience
My Truest Love is Teaching & Serving the Youth of Delaware County, PA
I have had opportunities to serve the larger Penn State community and my local community meaningfully. I now serve on several community boards, I conduct trainings at nonprofits and schools throughout the state of Pennsylvania, and I serve in an advisory role for a handful of organizations that have benefitted from my research.
On the topic of adolescents and their development, I have been an invited speaker for both the Alabama Department of Public Health and the Pennsylvania State Education Association (the PA affiliate of the National Education Association). I have also presented around the world, including most recently in Italy and South Africa.
In the last six years, I have traveled to different schools throughout Pennsylvania, continuing to educate the community through invited lectures and workshops. It is particularly important to me that my work - both my research and my community engagement - helps clarify the relationship between social justice work and trauma work.
Adolescent Development
An introductory course that explores the developmental processes that shape our lives between puberty and early adulthood. Taught from a trauma-informed perspective.
FAMILY POLICY
A course that explains the relationship between families and public policy in America and across the globe.
SOCIAL JUSTICE & URBAN ISSUES
A course that explores the relationship between contemporary urban issues and family development. Participants will evaluate urban development from a Human Development perspective and with a critical eye to how urban development has accounted for the distinctive needs of different segments of the public.