In 2015, IU’s Department of Psychology and Brain Science (PBS) began a Clinical Psychological Science Certificate program for undergraduates, through which students interested in clinical psychology can learn the foundations of the field, participate in PBS research, and gain internship experience with local community partners. Although many departments offer internships, the main goal of the… Read more »
Spotlight on People
When the things we can’t see matter: the plant vs. environmental change edition
Farmers are facing new challenges in the age of global change. Drought is a major stressor for crops in Indiana and other regions of the U.S. and is forcing farmers to face the question: to irrigate or not to irrigate? Irrigation equipment is incredibly expensive, but is often the best quick solution to water crops… Read more »
A night at the museum takes us back to the future!
Graduate students across disciplines agree: as your years of graduate education increase, your knowledge and skill sets become incredibly specialized. Cue Liam Neeson in Taken, “I can tell you that I do not have money, but what I do have… [is] a very particular set of skills.” So when I asked Dr. Tara Smiley, a… Read more »
Science as a bridge to barriers in diversity and inclusion
A look inside the work of Dr. Mary Murphy in celebration of Black History Month Picture this: you’re a Black student on a large college campus. This is your first year. One day, you are accosted by a White male slinging racial slurs and threats, as your peers (~70% of whom are White) stare, yet… Read more »
Brewers without borders: Crossing racial divisions in the world of craft beer
A profile of Aaron Ellis in celebration of Black History Month Craft beer: chances are if you’re over 21, you’ve heard about it, drank it, or even tried to brew it yourself. For anthropologist Aaron Ellis — a brewer, a Ph.D. candidate in IU’s Department of Anthropology, and an IU academic advisor in the departments… Read more »
Interwoven Threads
This post is from ScIU’s archives. It was originally published by Liz Rosdeitcher in February 2018 and has been lightly edited to reflect current events. A profile of IU professor Sharlene Newman in celebration of Black History Month Any glance at the demographics tells us that African American women are among the least represented of any group in… Read more »
Stellar psychology part II: what does signaling theory tell us about communicating with other life in the universe?
This is the second part of a series on extraterrestrial psychology. Read part 1 here! In Part 1 of this series, I discussed how the interdisciplinary field of evolutionary psychology can help us explore similarities between the human mind and possible extraterrestrial ones. One common potential feature is how we search for resources, which often… Read more »
The early bird gets the worm, part I: What can behavioral ecology tell us about female aggression and its underlying mechanisms?
This post is the first of a two-part series on a day in the life of a behavioral ecologist, which features the stories and research of members of Dr. Kim Rosvall’s laboratory in the Department of Biology. When most people imagine a scientist, they picture a person wearing a stark white lab coat and thick-rimmed… Read more »
Stellar psychology part I: Evolutionary psychology informs the search for extraterrestrial intelligence
Last December, bombshell reports were released detailing the Pentagon’s use of tax-payer funds to investigate claimed UFO sightings. With continued discoveries of habitable planets across the universe, the probability that life exists outside the Earth is rapidly rising. This may be why the former head of The Pentagon’s UFO program, Luis Elizondo, recently stated that… Read more »
Graduate learning outside research: I CAN PERSIST STEM initiative
I remember one night when I was a second-year graduate student looking for an email from my advisor, feeling the pressure of yet another transition from a research filled summer to a teaching intensive fall. Instead, I found an email from my department chair with the subject “requesting assistance.” As you may have guessed, it… Read more »