Our Team

This is our current OSU research team. Also listed are  alumni that Dr. Morris mentored in the past. If you are interested in becoming part of our team, please click here for more information. If you are an alum and would like to update your information, please send us an email. 

Amanda Sheffield Morris, PhD
Director

Dr. Amanda Sheffield Morris is the Bryan Close Professor of Child Development at Oklahoma State University. She is a developmental scientist with research interests in parenting, socioemotional development, and infant and early childhood mental health.  Her research focuses on the role of emotion regulation in children and adolescents' adjustment and the ways in which children learn successful regulation skills. Another focus of her work is child and family resilience, and she is particularly interested in how early experiences shape later development with an emphasis on the parent-child relationship. Dr. Morris  is the director of the CAD-Lab, and currently oversees projects focused on emotion regulation during adolescence, adolescent brain and cognitive development, and the evaluation of community, outreach, and parenting programs and their effects on children's development. 
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About Dr. Morris

Jennifer Hays-Grudo, PhD

Dr. Hays-Grudo's research is focused on identifying and modifying the risk factors in the socioemotional environments of young children that contribute to long-term disparities in health and developmental outcomes.  As a developmental psychologist, she began her career applying knowledge about the systems and strategies that promote cognitive and socioemotional development to the acquisition of positive health behaviors in low-income and minority families.  During the past six years as the PI of the Kaiser Foundation-funded Tulsa Children’s Project, she led an interdisciplinary, inter-institutional team in developing and evaluating a highly integrated set of interventions to lessen the impact of poverty on the health and development of young children. She has mentored numerous students and faculty over her career, and is currently Department Head for the Department of Human Development and Family Science at OSU.
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Michael Criss, PhD

Dr. Criss earned his PhD in Human Development and Family Studies from Auburn University. His research focuses on the impact of parents and peers on developmental psychopathology, emotion regulation, and sleeping habits among adolescents from high-risk families. In collaboration with experts in the field, Dr. Criss has started exploring the role of various bio-markers of adolescent psychopathology and emotion regulation, such as vagal tone, brain functioning (via fMRI scans), and the gene X environment interactions (oxytocin receptor gene, OXTR). He is currently working on two projects: R15 Girls Project (funded by NIH with Dr. Amanda Morris) and Adolescent Sleep Project (funded by OCAST with Dr. Amanda Morris).
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Lana Beasley, PhD

Dr. Beasley is a licensed clinical child psychologist and Assistant Professor of Human Development and Family Science at Oklahoma State University. She is a mixed-methods researcher with a focus on child abuse prevention within home visitation models. She also has research interests in cultural adaptation of treatments, family environment of children exposed to maltreatment, and foster children. Clinical interests include child trauma, anxiety, parent training, pediatric disorders, and the use of Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy  (TF-CBT), and other empirically supported treatments for children and families. 
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Mallory Schmidt

Mallory completed her Master of Science degree in Research Administration from Johns Hopkins University, she graduated from Oklahoma State University with a Bachelor of Science in Human Development and Family Sciences. She completed her internship working in the Family and Youth Development Project Lab as a Research Assistant. After graduation, she began working on the CAP Family Life Study as a Research Assistant/Data Manager. Mallory now manages and coordinates several projects in the lab, including the CAP Family Advancement Study, Legacy for Children, and the Oklahoma Baby Study. She is an integral part of CAP FLS/CAP FAST team by entering and managing data, and conducting child assessments and parent surveys. Mallory also manages scheduling for Legacy for Children and the Oklahoma Baby Study.
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Jens Jespersen

Jens Jespersen received the 2020 Julie Branch Staton Outstanding Graduate Award. Jens is a Ph.D. student at Oklahoma State University, completing his doctoral work in Human Development and Family Science. His research interests include infant mental health, specifically regarding emotion socialization and emotion regulation in young children, as well as how parenting in the early years influences later development and behavior. Jens has experience in program evaluation, data management, and conducting researching using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. For his Master’s Thesis Jens conducted a national evaluation of the Active Parenting First Five Years program, and continues to conduct research with parents and their young children in various contexts.

Ruth Slocum, LCSW, IMH-E®(III)

Ruth Slocum, LCSW, IMH-E®(III) serves in a few roles in the Tulsa Children’s Project at OSU.  Ruth is an author for the Super Parents program, a parenting program that combines the basic child development and parenting principles of Active Parenting: 1, 2, 3, 4 with training in executive function skills for adults and children and basic mindfulness practice for parents.  She co-facilitates OSU’s first Legacy for Children group for mothers and babies. And she provides ABC (Attachment Biobehavioral Catchup) for families in the community.  Additionally Ruth provides reflective supervision/consultation services for Tulsa Educare’s Mental Health Specialists and some administrators.  
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Ruth earned her Master’s in Social Work from Bryn Mawr School of Social Work and Social Research in Pennsylvania.  Since then she has provided clinical services in a variety of settings, including outpatient general counseling, adolescent in-patient, and early childhood programs.  During the years Ruth lived in Philadelphia, she served on the Board of Directors of the Women Against Abuse Emergency Shelter, one of the first emergency shelters for battered women in the US.  She currently serves on the Board and Executive Committee of the Oklahoma Infant Mental Health Association.
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Therese Hubble

Therese earned a BS in Child Development and Family Relations with a Minor in  Psychology  from Southeast Missouri State and an MA in Education, with an emphasis in Special Education from Lindenwood University St Charles, MO.  She has a 25 year certificate as a Certified Parent Educator from the National Parents As Teachers (PAT) Center in St. Louis and has worked with PAT programs in both Missouri and Oklahoma. She also served as an Oklahoma PAT Field Mentor and grant reader for the state of Oklahoma. 

Prior to working at OSU, she served as a Research Associate for the Educare and CAP projects at OU-Tulsa. Therese is also a 14-year OSU Master Gardener, serving Tulsa County by teaching science enrichment classes to elementary students in local school districts and by serving as a field mentor to OSU Master Gardner interns.

For the CAD Lab, Therese is a Research Assistant conducting child assessments for both the CAP Family Life and Family Advancement studies. She is also working on the Legacy for Children and OK Baby Projects as an assessor, PICCOLO coder and child care assistant. Therese appreciates the opportunities the CAD lab provides in helping families and children in our community!
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Alumni 

Past Post-Docs and Doctoral Students
Dr. Amy Treat
Dr. Tolonda Age
​Dr. Katie Aucoin, Acadian Care, Louisiana
Dr. D'Lee Babb
Dr. Cara Bosler, Oklahoma State University
Dr. Brenda McDaniel , University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Dr. Lixian Cui, New York University, Shanghai
Dr.Benjamin Houltberg, Search Institute, Minnesota
Dr. Aesha John, Texas Christian University
Dr. Rachel Kaufman
Dr. Angela Keyes, Tulane University
Dr. Mumbe Kithakye, Oklahoma State University
Dr. Sonya Myers, Louisiana Office of Public Health: Maternal and Child
Dr. Elisabeth Ponce-Garcia, Cameron University
Dr. Brittany Reyes
Dr. Lara Robinson, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Dr. Martha Zapata Roblyer, OSU Research Scientist
Dr. Andrew Terranova, Coastal Carolina University
Past Masters Students (let us know your current position)
Amber Biesley
​Cheryl Delk, OSU doctoral student
Sally Eagleton
Tammy Lee
Antoinette London-Johnson​, Florida State University doctoral student
Jordan Love, OSU, Project Coordinator and Lab Manager
Monica McCann
Meagan Meadows​
Chandra Prevost
Amy Smith, Florida State University doctoral student
​Julie Staton, OSU doctoral student
​Nicole Stevenson
Jerri Stewart
Amy Treat, OSU doctoral student
Kim Whitty, Oklahoma Health Department, Child Development Specialist
Past Undergraduate Students (Let us know where you are! If you want your name added to the list, let us know.)
​Yvette Abbott
Rebecca Cassel
Daniel Chadburn
Libby Jennings
Megan Johnson
Katy Gestland
Marie Land
Richard Laurent
Dzintra Leimane-LeBlanc
Simmone Miller
Mark Pitre
Alecia Reavis
Tiffany Reed
Malena Rodriguez
Caitlyn Russell, Colorado State MFT program
Sara Simpson
Amy Smith, OSU MS, Florida State doctoral student
Tracy Staten
Julie Staton​, OSU MS, current OSU doctoral student
Past Research Staff
Heather Means
​Veronica Camp
Heather Doss
Patricia Gosnell
Rebecca Hubbard
Ava Armstead
Jamie Bechtelheimer
Amy Huffer
Melissa Shell

In Memorium

Julie Staton
Julie was a second generation OSU student (Go Pokes!) completing her PhD in Developmental and Family Science. She married  her high school sweetheart and they have two amazing children. She worked with children and families for over 20 years and loved working with Early Childhood teachers as well. Julie enjoyed getting to know families in our area and being able to connect with them each year through her work in the CAD Lab. 
The Human Development and Family Science department has established an award in Julie's memory, the Julie Branch Staton Outstanding Graduate Student Award. It will be awarded each year to a student who embodies the character, service, and academic excellence that Julie displayed each day during her career at OSU.