ABOUT
Thank you for taking the time to visit my site! I am a PhD candidate at the University of Georgia, preparing to defend my dissertation in May of 2024. I am a media psychologist, published across the fields of adolescent addiction, neuroscience, and active learning.
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I am a passionate educator, speaker, consultant, and mentor. I leverage media to capture students' attention while creating a dynamic classroom experience. I excel in applying traditional psychological theories to human behavior in contemporary, digital environments, including social media platforms, video game arenas, and virtual worlds.
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My dissertation research utilizes an experimental design to examine how online social casinos may contribute to gambling addiction among adolescents and young adults.
PHILOSOPHY
I am a storyteller with a vibrant personality, and I see the classroom as a creative space where I can connect the theoretical with the practical. When I share this space with students, we take what we learn beyond the cinderblock lab walls and lecture halls, so that they can envision how classic psychological theories apply to their everyday lives. I challenge students to become better citizens of the world, and I seek to empower them as they come to understand themselves, others, and their shared humanity a little bit better.
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Clever use of media and digital technologies allows me to provide students with the comfort of a traditional classroom while pushing them toward a more experiential learning environment.
Leveraging these tools gives me the power to transform the learning experience through engaging content and salient examples, while maintaining accessibility, flexibility, and adaptability for diverse learning needs.
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EXPERTISE
As a generalist by nature with a lifelong curiosity complex, I was drawn to media psychology due to wide-ranging applicability. I view online as the new "Third Place," or as a distinct environment, rather than an entirely separate world. This perspective drives me to explore media effects across all pillars of psychology, including health psychology, human development, cognition, social psychology, biopsychology, and clinical applications.
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Areas of special interest include social behavior in digital interactions, cognitive changes through media engagement, health and policy applications, and the overwhelming benefits of human-computer interactions.
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I work closely with colleagues to develop innovative curriculum for both traditional and nontraditional learning environments, and I serve as a mentor in both formal and informal capacities to colleagues wishing to enhance their pedagogical approach.