Congratulations to Vanessa Lee, PhD, professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Minnesota, for receiving the Arthur "Red" Motley Exemplary Teaching Award for 2020-2021.

On March 16th, a gunman opened fire on several Atlanta-area spas, killing eight people with six being Asian women. This horrific attack was just one of many as the US has seen an upward trend in anti-Asian hate crimes. In a Minnesota Daily article titled, “Asian and Asian American community members heal and process after Atlanta-area shootings,” the article shares how at a local level, student groups across campus such as the Asian-American Student Union (ASU) have collaborated with each other to hold safe spaces. Rich Lee, PhD, Distinguished McKnight University Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Minnesota, drafted the department’s statement in response to these attacks.

A new University of Minnesota study authored by a team of researchers in the Department of Psychology and Institute of Child Development (ICD) suggests that cannabis use in adolescence leads to poorer school performance and lower socioeconomic attainment, but not higher rates of mental health or cognitive concerns in adulthood. The study was conducted with thousands of identical twins from the age of 11 into adulthood. The study was led by Jonathan Schaefer and the team included William Iacono, Stephen Malone, Matt McGue, Scott Vrieze, and Sylia Wilson.

Congratulations to Allison Farrell for receiving the 2021 APS Rising Star Award! Dr. Farell received her PhD in 2016 from our department (the Social area) and was co-advised by Dr. Jeff Simpson and Dr. Alex Rothman. Currently, Dr. Farrell is an assistant professor at Miami University in Ohio.

Rich Lee, PhD, Distinguished McKnight University Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Minnesota, recently reflected on Dr. Erika Lee’s (an Asian American studies professor at the U of M) testimony before Congress in a Minnesota Daily article titled, “‘Unfortunately, it is very American’: UMN professor testifies before Congress about anti-Asian violence.”

Caitlin Sisk, graduate student in the Psychology Department at the University of Minnesota, was awarded a grant of $1,000 from the American Psychological Association. The “Early Graduate Student Researcher Award” is highly selective, granted to only three applicants each year. It will help to fund Sisk’s virtual reality research, as well as online versions of her current experiments. This award recognizes students who are conducting outstanding research at a graduate level. The funds are able to be used for direct research expenses, software, and/or conference travel. The award will end on 05/31/2022.

Richard Landers, associate professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Minnesota, recently released a YouTube channel titled “The Great IO Get-together - The GIG.” The channel features an industrial-organizational psychology variety show, hosted by Dr. Landers and Dr. Tara Behrend, covering an array of relevant topics in the field. Each show is recorded with a live audience on YouTube Live, and past shows are also available for viewing any time.

After the killing of George Floyd over the summer, Jeff Simpson, department chair in the Department of Psychology at the University of Minnesota, charged the diversity committee with creating short and long-term action items for the department. A Minnesota Daily article entitled, “Psychology department releases equity and inclusion draft plan for feedback” reports that this month, the committee released a draft of departmental recommendations and are asking for feedback from students, faculty, and staff.

Last week the Brain Sciences Departments hosted a series of events to celebrate Brain Awareness Week one of which was a brain poetry contest. The contest invited students to consider what the brain means to them in a creative way. The entries could be in any style or form. The winners received two tickets to the Mysteries of Your Brain planetarium show.