What is your favorite thing about being an endowed faculty member at the University of Connecticut?

My favorite aspect of being an endowed faculty member at UConn is the enhanced leadership opportunities it provides in the challenging yet deeply rewarding work of bridging research and practice for child well-being. The endowment has significantly furthered my efforts as founder and co-director of the UConn Collaboratory on School and Child Health, enabling our team to deliver usable resources—briefs, reports, podcasts, and technical assistance—that have wide appeal across diverse audiences and make a tangible difference in how we support children in schools and communities.

What is your most impactful experience or memory from the past academic year you’ve had working with, teaching, or advising students?

My most impactful experience working with students over this past academic year has undoubtedly been our April collaboration with the Public Health House Learning Community during Public Health Week, where over 75 first- and second-year students gathered to engage with child health researchers from across UConn's campus. What struck me most was witnessing the genuine curiosity and passion these undergraduate students brought to our small group discussions about career paths and research projects spanning everything from social-emotional learning to sexual health and trauma-informed approaches in schools. 

Using an informal roundtable format, authentic conversations were facilitated where students asked thoughtful, critical questions about how our research translates into policy and practice that supports children's well-being. Through these conversations, students demonstrated a level of engagement that reminded me why I chose this field in the first place. 

As co-director of the UConn Collaboratory on School and Child Health, I have been honored to partner with the Public Health House over the past seven years, and collective events like this one provide a reminder of the power that happens when undergraduate students and faculty researchers create space to connect in a non-intimidating environment. It’s exciting to see student enthusiasm flourish, and their questions shape faculty understanding of how to better prepare the next generation of public health advocates. 

The event reaffirmed that our mission to educate and mentor students in school and child health science is not just about transmitting knowledge, but about igniting the kind of passion and critical thinking to drive meaningful change for years to come. Read more in the April UConn Today story, "Learning Community Students Celebrate Public Health Week with Child Health Researchers." (https://today.uconn.edu/2025/04/learning-community-students-celebrate-public-health-week-with-child-health-researchers/).

What exciting projects have your students worked on this year, and how has your position played a positive role in their outcomes?

This year has been particularly rewarding as I've had the privilege of leading and supervising our school psychology students as they've tackled innovative projects that directly address mental health and well-being, from developing publicly accessible materials that promote emotional well-being to completing syntheses of research on what we know works in supporting mental health for diverse student populations and across settings. 

My role as faculty supervisor has allowed me to guide our graduate students through meaningful applied research experiences, fostering their growth as they collaborate with school personnel, community members, and families, to witness firsthand the impact of their hard work to support positive whole child outcomes.

 I am particularly proud to have led our final I3PREP program cohort of interdisciplinary fellows through completion of their comprehensive training in serving K12 students with disabilities who experience high intensity behavioral needs. The success of our mentoring relationships in school psychology is perhaps best reflected in our graduation numbers and continued strong program enrollment: this May, we celebrated seven doctoral and five MA/6th year students crossing the stage—and are simultaneously preparing to welcome an incoming cohort of 13 new graduate students in fall 2025. 

Together, this work offers testament to both the critical need for school mental health professionals and the reputation our school psychology program has built for producing skilled, compassionate practitioners ready to make meaningful differences in children's lives.

What social, global, or industry challenge(s) are you trying to address through your research?

Through my research and leadership as the Ray Neag Professor of School Psychology, I am addressing the critical challenge of supporting comprehensive child well-being in an era where mental health needs in educational settings have reached unprecedented levels. 

My work focuses on bridging the gap between research and practice by developing usable, evidence-based resources that can be implemented across diverse school contexts to support whole child development, with particular focus on emotional well-being. 

As founder and co-director of the UConn Collaboratory on School and Child Health, I tackle the systemic challenge of fragmented approaches to child well-being by fostering coordination and integration across disciplinary perspectives and caregiving contexts—from educational psychology to public health to family sciences—ensuring that our collective efforts truly enable every child to reach their full potential through appropriate and supportive interactions with the adults in their lives. 

This work is particularly urgent given the growing recognition that emotional well-being is inextricably linked to a range of outcomes across the life course, and that schools serve as critical venues for early identification, intervention, and prevention of mental health challenges that, if left unaddressed, can have lifelong consequences for individuals and society.

How have you leveraged this position and its funds to obtain additional support through other grants or funding opportunities?

Over the past year, I have actively managed or been involved with multiple projects funded by the CDC, NIH, and IES, in addition to foundation projects, that support my lines of research and scholarly engagement. My teams have worked hard to ensure deliverables have been met across projects, and are hopeful that our projects will continue as planned despite the very uncertain funding landscape. 

We are very aware of the challenges, and have tried to be proactive in leaving no stone unturned with regard to seeking additional and alternative opportunities. As such, I have been involved in submitting seven additional extramural proposals across types of sources to date, which have included collaboration with junior scholars.

In your position, how are you making an impact at UConn, in the State of Connecticut, and/or the greater world?

I am using my position at the Ray Neag Professor of School Psychology to make multi-layered impact through research, practice, and training initiatives that extend from our campus to schools across the nation. At UConn, I've fostered groundbreaking interdisciplinary collaboration by mentoring students across multiple programs and creating meaningful partnerships like our collaboration with the Public Health House Learning Community that engages innovating programming in hosting annual events. 

My co-creation of the award-winning Feel Your Best Self toolkit exemplifies how UConn research translates into real-world impact: last fall, for example, I presented to over 200 secondary school counselors from five states at UConn's School Counselor Day, demonstrating how our evidence-based emotion-coping strategies can be adapted from elementary to high school settings, with counselors already implementing creative variations like walking groups and peer mentorship programs in their schools. 

Under my directorship of the UConn Collaboratory on School and Child Health, we've developed and disseminated usable resources—briefs, reports, podcasts, and technical assistance—that reach practitioners around the nation and globally. This work is creating ripple effects that touch thousands of children and families who benefit from more credible and accessible approaches to mental health and well-being.

What does it mean to you to hold this position?

Holding the Ray Neag Professor of School Psychology position means having the privilege and responsibility to champion child well-being through a whole child lens, which we define as "enabling every child to reach their full potential by providing appropriate and supportive interactions with adults who help them along their paths and across domains of development." This endowed professorship represents more than just recognition—it's a platform that amplifies my capacity to coordinate and integrate diverse disciplinary perspectives and caregiving contexts in service of children's comprehensive well-being.

Looking ahead, please share any exciting plans or goals you have for yourself in this endowed position.

As I look toward the future in this endowed position, I am cautiously optimistic yet also energized by the innovations my collaborators and I are developing through our fundamental belief that every child deserves access to science-backed resources, fueled through nurturing relationships, to help them realize their unique potential. 

We acknowledge the horizon is full of uncertainly right now for so many but are committed to continuing to cultivate an ever-growing constellation of strategic alliances—spanning from local Connecticut communities to international networks—all united by our shared dedication to transforming how we understand and promote whole child well-being. My goals center on amplifying our collective capacity for meaningful change through pioneering research, cutting-edge interventions, and new pathways for translating science into practical tools that educators, families, and communities can readily implement.