Welcome!
About Me: Professional
I am an Associate Professor in the Psychology Department at Western Illinois University. Dr. Morgan, Dr. Blankenship and I comprise the Neuroscience faculty in our department. We currently offer a minor in Neuroscience--check out the requirements in the current undergraduate catalog.
My bachelor's degrees are from WIU: a B.S. in Psychology (1978) and a B.S. in Industrial Education (1979). After teaching Industrial Arts (woodworking, drafting, etc.) for about 8 years and taking a sabbatical to work in a custom woodworking shop, I decided to return to school for an advanced degree in psychology. I earned my M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Psychology/Neuroscience and Behavior from Northern Illinois University. My mentor was Dr. Jim Willott, a pioneer in the use of mice to study age-related hearing loss, or presbycusis. My interest in the auditory system began in Dr. Willott's lab at NIU.
As you can see from my list of publications and my curriculum vitae, I am interested in everything related to audition and the auditory system. Thanks to my colleague Dr. Kim McClure, I have a new interest in "Earwitness Identification." If you are interested in learning more about WIU's new minor in Forensic Psychology, check out the current undergraduate catalog or write to Dr. McClure at KA-McClure@wiu.edu.
About Me: Personal
I was born in Woodriver, Illinois and have lived in many Illinois towns (Bethalto, Decatur, Alton, Havana, DeKalb, Macomb, Litchfield, Villa Park, Sycamore) as well as cities in other states (Boise and Moscow, ID; Biloxi, MS; Las Vegas, NV; Omaha, NE; Amherst, NY). While in the Air Force, I attended electronics training school in Biloxi, MS and was Drum Sargeant in the Blue Knights Drum & Bugle Corps! My PDS was at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas, but I worked out in the desert in Tonapah as a radar repairperson.
I moved from Amherst/Buffalo NY to Macomb with my wife Jessica and our dog Cydney in the summer of 2005. Jess and I were married at the Two Hearts Wedding Chapel in Niagara Falls, Canada in 2005. We have two daughters, Darah Sage and Elanah Jade.
