The Child Development Labs (CDL) has been recognized as one of CT’s Breastfeeding Friendly Child Care Programs. Master Teacher in the Infant Program, Kelly Clark, applied for this recognition on behalf of the Child Development Labs. Kelly Clark described how Child Development Labs policies aligned with known practices that support breast feeding. The recognition came with a $500 honorarium for the Child Development Labs to support best practice in providing a supportive environment for breast feeding families, staff and students. One of the many ways the Child Development Labs supports breastfeeding members of our community is by providing a peaceful, private room for feeding or pumping.
Author: Janice Berriault
Rachel Tambling receives OVPR Research Excellence Program Award
Associate Professor Rachel Tambling received an REP Award: Understanding the effects of long-COVID on work, families, and mental health: Informing pathways for psychosocial intervention with Kelsi Carolan in SWK and UCHC clinical faculty.
HDFS faculty and students present at APA 2023 Conference
5 HDFS grad students and 4 HDFS faculty will be presenting at this year’s American Psychological Association (APA) meeting in Washington, DC. Check out all the presentations here.
HDFS Welcomes Mary Kate Kerrigan, Educational Program Assistant
Mary Kate Kerrigan earned her BA from UConn in Psych Sciences in 2023, with an HDFS minor. For the past year, she worked as a student administrative assistant in the UConn Psych Sciences department. Her responsibilities will include graduate program administration, some support for the CDL, and other departmental support tasks. She is going to be a great addition to the HDFS team and we’re excited for her to join us.
Preston Britner receives Provost’s Outstanding Service Award
Congratulations to Professor Preston Britner, recipient of the Provost’s Outstanding Service Award. This award is designed to honor faculty whose service to UConn is exemplary and has made an indelible impact in one or more areas to enhance the University’s mission in teaching, research, service, or engagement. So well earned!
Alyssa Clark, HDFS Graduate Student Spotlight, July 2023
Alyssa Clark entered the Ph.D. program in Fall 2019 and successfully defended her dissertation in June. She is dedicated to the study of adult romantic relationships, with a focus on LGBTQ+ relationships, physical behaviors, and relationship satisfaction and maintenance, with the goal of promoting healthy and positive relationship experiences. She conducts primarily mixed-methods and qualitative research based on these interests with her doctoral advisor, Dr. Eva Lefkowitz in the DASH lab. Alyssa has also collaborated on projects in the SHINE lab, under the mentorship of Dr. Ryan Watson and Dr. Kay Simon, studying asexual teens’ mental health and school experiences, in addition to the perceptions adult MSM have about how PrEP usage impacts sexual freedom.
Alyssa’s dissertation focused on adults’ sexual and affectionate behaviors in the context of romantic partner relationships. She collected original data to write three papers using both quantitative and qualitative analyses. Overall, results from these papers highlight that adults’ sexual and affectionate behaviors within romantic relationships have similar individual and relational correlates. These results advance our understanding of what factors matter for adults’ physical behaviors and how these behaviors are associated with sexual and relationship satisfaction. They also suggest how clinicians might address physical behaviors and satisfaction in adults’ romantic relationships.
In addition to conducting research while at UConn, Alyssa has also had the privilege of mentoring and teaching students in several HDFS courses, including Infancy Through Adolescence and Family Interaction Processes.
Alyssa is excited for her next professional steps and future endeavors. This fall, she will be joining the College of Wooster’s psychology department as the Walter D. Foss Endowed Visiting Assistant Professor. She will be teaching courses in human sexuality and close relationships, and will be working with students to conduct independent research on LGBTQ+ issues and romantic relationships.
In her spare time, Alyssa enjoys distance biking, cooking, sewing, crocheting, and sharing books with her friends.
Tracy Walters, HDFS Graduate Student Spotlight, July 2023
Tracy Walters is a PhD candidate who studies sexuality development, including parental messages about sex and adolescents’ and young adults’ sexual attitudes, motives for sex, sexual behavior, and sex-related outcomes and experiences. She primarily conducts quantitative and mixed-methods research related to these interests with her doctoral advisor, Dr. Eva Lefkowitz. Tracy has also collaborated on projects with Drs. Sara Vasilenko and Christina Ross, and members of Dr. Lefkowitz’s DASH lab on topics related to college students’ sex-related consequences, female adolescents’ sexual and reproductive health, and LGBTQ+ college students’ romantic relationships and well-being.
Tracy successfully defended her dissertation in May on correlates of young adults’ sexual behavior and consequences. She wrote three papers using two different young adult samples and a range of methodologies. The findings from these papers advance our knowledge of caregivers’ sex-related messages and young adults’ sex-related consequences and further our understanding of gender identity and sexual orientation differences in these messages and consequences. In particular, the findings highlight the need for, and inform the development of, sexual health resources and interventions for caregivers and youth.
In addition to research, Tracy loves to teach and work with undergraduate students. While at UConn, she had the opportunity to teach Adolescent Development and Diversity Issues in HDFS, as well as advise students in the HDFS Student Services Center. She was recognized for her teaching with the 2021 Outstanding Instructor in Human Development and Family Sciences Award and the 2022 University Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award from the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. In the fall, Tracy will continue to pursue her love of teaching as an Assistant Professor of Psychology in the Department of Integrated Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater at Rock County.
When she’s not busy with work, Tracy enjoys reading books, traveling, baking, volunteering with an animal rescue (she fostered seven dogs in the last 1.5 years), and spending time with her family, friends, and dog.
Rachel Cohen, HDFS Faculty Spotlight, July 2023
Rachel Chazan Cohen joined the UConn HDFS faculty in August 2020. While starting a new position during a global pandemic and teaching online for the first time certainly posed challenges, the last three years has been a very productive period, much of which she attributes to the UConn context.
Rachel’s work continues to focus on factors influencing the development of children, and on the creation, evaluation, and improvement of intervention programs for families with infants and toddlers. She is extremely proud of the UConn early childhood faculty and the work that they do to prepare students to work with young children and their families. Rachel and Caitlin Lombardi formed the ARC lab in Fall 2022 and have been successful in bringing together a community of postdocs, graduate students and undergraduate students to work on grants and contracts to study the accessibility and effectiveness of services families receive when their children are young.
Rachel’s overarching goal is to bridge the worlds of research, practice, and policy. She works with local early childhood programs on improving practice as well as with states and the federal government on policies to support programs and families. Over the past three years she has made connections with the CT Office of Early Childhood and especially focuses on how CT serves families with infants and toddlers.
The last three years have also brough many changes on her home front. Rachel’s children (twins) started college in Fall 2022, giving her a new perspective on working with undergraduate students. In her last faculty spotlight in September 2020 she mentioned a plan to start making wine in her basement…that has come to pass. She is now making very tasty red, white and rosé wine. She and her husband continue to enjoy travel, hiking, and playing with their energetic adult dog.
Trisha Bailey gives UConn scholarship, featured in UConn Today
Alumna Dr. Trisha M. Bailey (BA HDFR ’99) was featured in UConn Today for providing a Hartford high school student at her graduation with a scholarship to attend UConn. Read the article here.
Laura Mauldin chosen as participant in Bread Loaf Writers Conf
Associate Professor Laura Mauldin was chosen as a nonfiction participant in the prestigious and highly selective Bread Loaf Writers Conference for 2023. It is an opportunity to network, receive feedback, and write with world renowned authors and faculty.