NMU Psychology Department

Happy Earth Day! 🌎 Here in Marquette, we’re spoiled with the views from Sugarloaf to Presque Isle. However, we don’t just enjoy the nature here, we also study it!

Did you know our faculty are actively studying our connection to the planet? Dr. Josh Carlson, Dr. Lin Fang, and Dr. Jon Barch have researched topics such as, climate-related anxiety and the powerful impact of nature on our mental wellness.

Interested in how the environment affects the brain? Explore our labs and department via the Linktree in our bio. 🔗

lab

Last week, several NMU psychology undergraduate and graduate students traveled to the Midwestern Psychological Association (MPA) conference to present their latest research.

Beyond sharing their findings, our students gained experience engaging with presentation feedback, exploring research done at other institutions, and building connections. Also a huge thank you to the NMU grant programs that made this travel possible, and to the MPA organizers for hosting such a wonderful event every year!

We’re proud to share that our department was well represented at the 30th Annual Celebration of Student Scholarship 👏

Graduate student Nicole Markofski and undergraduate student Brigitte Dupuis delivered oral presentations, showcasing their hard work and expertise.

In addition, our students contributed 8 poster presentations—4 from undergraduate students and 4 from graduate students—highlighting the breadth of research happening across our programs.

Congratulations to all of our presenters for their dedication and impressive work!

To celebrate National Student Employee Appreciation Week, we are excited to give a huge shout-out to the fabulous student employees of the NMU Behavior Education Assessment and Research (BEAR) Center! BEAR Center student employees work year-round providing direct clinical Applied Behavior Analytic services to children with autism and related neurodevelopmental disabilities. They work hard to support both the children and their families while gaining the hands-on practical experience and certifications needed for successful careers in a variety of behavioral health settings. This year we had 40 student employees on the team at the BEAR Center, and in the past year the team has engaged in over 15,512 hours of service and training. Wow!

BEAR Center student employees: THANK YOU for your hard work, dedication, perseverance, and enthusiasm for helping children and their families! You are the reason these families trust the BEAR Center to provide critical clinical services. Your work is deeply appreciated.

To celebrate National Student Employee Appreciation Week, we are excited to give a huge shout-out to the fabulous student employees of the NMU Behavior Education Assessment and Research (BEAR) Center! BEAR Center student employees work year-round, providing direct clinical Applied Behavior Analytic services to children with autism and related neurodevelopmental disabilities. They work hard to support both the children and their families while gaining the hands-on practical experience and certifications needed for successful careers in a variety of behavioral health settings. This year, we had 40 student employees on the team at the BEAR Center, and in the past year, the team has engaged in over 15,512 hours of service and training. Wow!!

Last Friday, Dr. Jon Barch coordinated our first annual Superior Psychology Data Blizzard with Michigan Technological University’s Dr. Jason Harman. This event featured poster presentations and a series of fast-paced science talks (5-min each) that highlighted numerous student-faculty collaborative research projects.

It was also nice to catch up with our alum, Elijah Nieman, who is now pursuing his Ph.D. at MTU. We hope to see you all again next year!

Ally Herrick and Madison Walker, both NMU MS in Psychology graduate students completing the Behavior Analysis track and Lead Technicians at the Behavior Education Assessment and Research (BEAR) Center, are fellows in the Michigan Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental, and Related Disabilities (MI-LEND) program under the mentorship of Dr. Jacob Daar and Dr. Kara Shawbitz.

MI-LEND is an interdisciplinary leadership training program for graduate students that prepares Michigan's emerging leaders with the goal of improving the health of infants, children, and adolescents with or at risk for neurodevelopmental disabilities and other related health care needs.

MI-LEND is funded under the Autism Collaboration, Accountability, Research, Education, and Support (CARES) Act, and administered by the Health Resources and Service's Administration's (HRSA) Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB).

To learn more about the MI-LEND program visit https://ddi.wayne.edu/milend or reach out to Dr. Jacob Daar ([email protected]).

🧠 NMU Psychology Students are already using our new poster printer here in the psychology office! If you need a psychology poster printed, come on down to Weston 1001! 😁

Ally Herrick and Madison Walker, both NMU MS in Psychology graduate students completing the Behavior Analysis track, traveled to Washington DC to attend the Disability Policy seminar and to educate Congressional offices as to the impact of current and upcoming legislation on citizens with neurodevelopmental disabilities in the UP region.

The NMU contingent had productive meetings with multiple congressional offices, including those of Michigan Senator Gary Peters and Representative Jack Bergman.

The Disability Policy Seminar is an annual conference focused on developing champions on Capitol Hill and building support for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). It is co-sponsored by The Arc of the United States, Autism Society, American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Association of University Centers on Disabilities, Caring Across Generations, Disability Belongs, National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals, United Cerebral Palsy, Self Advocates Becoming Empowered, and TASH.

Congratulations to the 2026 Department of Psychological Science Outstanding Graduating Graduate/Undergraduate students ✨! This year’s awardees are undergraduate student Haylee Vickers from the .lab and and graduate student Nicole Markofski from the . Both students have demonstrated excellence in their accomplishments in the Psychological Science department here at NMU.

Congratulations to undergraduate Leila Heuser for recently winning the Student Innovation Award!

Leila has played a vital role in the design and ex*****on of this project, which is the first at NMU to combine rigidly controlled computer tasks with a realistic shopping simulation using Tobii Pro 3 eye-tracking glasses. This work paves the way for the future of User Experience Research by capturing how consumers make decisions in naturalistic environments.

Congratulations, Leila, on this wonderful achievement and thank you for the work that you do!