Biography
Professor Wood is an assistant teaching professor of psychology with a background in behavioral neuroscience. She specializes in scientific writing, diversity studies, and the psychology of gender. Teaching a variety of foundational as well as upper-division courses for BYU's Psychology Department, she has oriented hundreds of students to the major and has served as a designated faculty mentor to dozens of undergraduates throughout their experiential-learning and senior-capstone experiences. In addition to speaking at forums and participating as a panelist at campus-wide events, she is a co-investigator in ongoing research studying the effects of mindfulness training among marginalized groups of BYU students and has also examined the effects of psychology of gender courses on religiosity, views of gender roles, and perspectives on homosexuality in the campus community. Professor Wood is the 2023-24 recipient of BYU's FHSS Martin B. Hickman Innovation in Teaching Award, she has served as a research associate and an audience-specific content editor for the Utah Women & Leadership Project, and she currently contributes as a member of the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee and as co-chair of the faculty and student-led Diversity & Inclusion Committees. Leading in this latter capacity, Professor Wood directs the Psychology Mentored Research Program (which places dozens of underrepresented students in mentored research labs each academic year) and oversees the planning and implementation of campus events and training initiatives structured specifically to enhance belonging in BYU's Department of Psychology.
Research Interests
Behavioral NeuroscienceDiversity and Gender Studies
Teaching Interests
Human DevelopmentIntroduction to Psychological Science
Multicultural Psychology
Orientation to the Psychology Major
Psychology of Gender
Research Design and Analysis
Writing Within Psychology
Licenses and Certifications
- Stanford Graduate School of Business, "Leverage Diversity and Inclusion for Organizational Excellence" (2022 - Present)
- CITI Program, Research Ethics and Compliance Training (2023 - 2028)
Honors and Awards
- Brigham Award Nominee, Brigham Young University (BYU) (2023 - 2023)
- FHSS Career Champion Award Nominee, BYU's College of Family, Home, & Social Sciences (2021 - 2021)
- FHSS Martin B. Hickman Excellence in Teaching by an Adjunct Faculty Award, BYU's College of Family, Home, & Social Sciences (2018 - 2019)