Steering Committee

Nilanjana Dasgupta's research focuses on prejudice, stereotyping, and the self-concept, with special emphasis on the ways in which societal expectations unconsciously or implicitly influence people's attitudes and behavior toward others and, in the case of disadvantaged groups, influence their self-concept and life decisions.

Sarah Fefer’s research and clinical interests include disruptive behavior in children and adolescents, assessment and intervention related to academic and behavioral competence, and working with families and communities to support student success.

Steve Goodwin's research interests include microbial synthesis and degradation of biopolymers, microbial ecology, anaerobic digestion and bioremediation, bioenergetics of microbial growth in extreme environments, microbiology and redox chemistry in groundwater, microbiology of solid waste disposal, compost microbiology and spore formation.

Dr. Goodwin most recently served as the Dean of the College of Natural Sciences at UMass Amherst for a decade.

Research:
Harold Grotevant's research focuses on relationships in adoptive families, and on adjustment and identity development in adolescents and young adults. His work has resulted in over 100 articles published in professional journals as well as several books, including Openness in Adoption: Exploring Family Connections (with Ruth McRoy, Sage Publications, 1998).

He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science, and the National Council on Family Relations. He directs the Minnesota / Texas Adoption Research Project, which focuses on relationships in adoptive families and contact between adoptive and birth family members. Dr. Grotevant is the Rudd Family Foundation Endowed Chair in Psychology and oversees the Rudd Adoption Research Program, which is affiliated with the multidisciplinary Center for Research on Families. During his time as a Family Research Scholar, Dr. Grotevant will develop a grant proposal for the project entitled, “Adjustment and relationships: Young adult outcomes of adoption.” The study will explore the long-term impacts of adoption by examining the trajectories of adjustment, emotional health, relationship well-being, and family formation of young adults who were adopted as children compared with trajectories of non-adopted young adults. New understanding of these long-term outcomes will be important for professionals placing children for adoption, providers of post-adoption services, and policy makers concerned with determining the best interests of children.

A fundamental assumption in Dr. Linda Isbell's work is that affective feelings convey valuable information that guides individuals’ thoughts, judgments and actions. Her program of study embraces the notion that affect and cognition are necessary allies that work in tandem to produce adaptive responses to the world. As a Family Research Scholar, Dr. Isbell aims to better understand the ways in which affect influences ordinary, everyday information processing and judgment across a number of important social psychological and real-world domains.

Dr. Martínez’s research examines the sociopolitical and institutional arrangements that produce chronic disease disparities among Latinx immigrants and their US-born children. Dr. Martinez’s current research examines how the local implementation of immigration enforcement policies creates material deprivation and psychosocial stress among Latinx mixed-status families, with at least one unauthorized immigrant.

Joya Misra’s work focuses on gender inequality among advanced welfare states, where gender equality has made the most progress but also where national variation is most apparent. Her research analyzes this variation over time, considering how gender inequalities have changed over the last 25 years and the extent to which family and household dynamics contribute to this variation.

Maureen Perry-Jenkins is a nationally renowned scholar whose contributions on the national, state, regional and university levels have had a profound impact on family research. Her work focuses on the ways in which socio-cultural factors such as race, gender, and social class shape the mental health and family relationships of parents and their children.

Shannon Roberts is a trained Human Factors engineer with expertise in studying and evaluating the interaction between humans and systems within the domain of transportation safety. Much of her work is conducted with human participants in the Human Performance Laboratory’s driving simulator. Broadly speaking, her research is focused on three areas: studying and improving young drivers’ behavior, developing feedback and warning systems to improve driving behavior, and examining how advanced technology (e.g., driving automation systems) alters driver behavior.

Nutrition researcher and Board Certified Lactation Consultant Lindiwe Sibeko possesses an expertise in maternal and child health focused on socially and economically vulnerable and underserved populations in local, national and international settings.

Laura Vandenberg's research explores how early life exposures to chemicals and chemical mixtures can predispose individuals to diseases that manifest later in life. Classical toxicology often focuses on how fetal chemical exposures can produce birth defects, an important part of chemical safety.

Wendy Varner creates and directs programming to support faculty across the career continuum with a particular focus on new and early-career faculty. She is responsible for the administration of the Scholarly Writing Program, New Faculty Orientation, Mutual Mentoring Program, and the First Year, First Friday Series. She also oversees the development of the website.