Graduate Faculty

Suzanne Bartholomae’s engaged scholarship program focuses on improving financial well-being through the design, implementation, and evaluation of evidence-informed interventions. Central to this program is the investigation of individual, family, and contextual factors that influence financial well-being (FWB), with a focus on how financial capability, consumer literacy, and planning behaviors shape financial decision-making and outcomes.
suzanneb@iastate.edu

Dr. Charles Chaffin teaches, conducts research, and collaborates with financial planning firms in the psychology of financial planning, integrating educational and cognitive psychology to better understand the biases, behaviors, and perceptions of clients and consumers.
chaffin@iastate.edu

Isha Chawla’s research focuses on family financial planning, household financial decision-making, and the financial well-being of couples. Dr. Chawla is currently interested in how emerging technologies impact financial counseling and planning. Dr. Chawla teaches courses including investment planning and insurance planning.
isha@iastate.edu

Jonathan Fox’s research is in family financial counseling and planning, with recent work addressing the effectiveness of financial education interventions, the connections between financial health and family outcomes, and the evolving impact of artificial intelligence on the profession of financial planning. His scholarship is complemented by authorship of a widely used Personal Finance textbook, now in its 15th edition. Through research, teaching, and partnerships he works to expand opportunities for students while advancing scholarship in family financial education and program evaluation.
jjfox@iastate.edu

Tricia Giovacco Johnson’s training is in early childhood education and special education. Dr. Giovacco Johnson currently teaches courses related to early childhood education, child development, and play. Her research focuses on early childhood teacher preparation and educator identity development, ethical practice with young children and families, and teacher-family partnerships and communication.
triciag@iastate.edu

Kim Greder’s research and extension scholarship focuses on fostering health and wellbeing among individuals and families who have low incomes and who are commonly underrepresented in research and extension programming. Dr. Greder examines how factors, processes, and contexts shape health and wellbeing, and use research findings to inform extension programs and educational materials, as well as professional practice and policy. Dr. Greder currently leads the Iowa Rural Family Health Project, a longitudinal study focused on the health and wellbeing of rural Iowa mothers and their families, and Pathways for Our Future, an extension program that embeds a family-focused approach to career and college readiness among youth and their families who have low incomes and low formal education.
kgreder@iastate.edu

Kere Hughes-Belding’s research program centers on enhancing caregiver-child relationships and elevating the quality and impact of services. They also investigate the implementation of infant and early childhood mental health consultation within Head Start programs. Additionally, Dr. Hughes-Belding holds a Mentor Research/Faculty endorsement in Infant Mental Health – IMH-E^® and teaches graduate courses in family theory and research methods.
kereh@iastate.edu

In Jeong Hwang’s research centers on the evolving dynamics of family and intergenerational relationships. One line of Dr. Hwang’s work focuses on how core family processes reflect larger social patterns, respond to major life events, and shape individual wellbeing. Dr. Hwang often uses domestic responsibilities such as housework and caregiving as strategic sites to uncover mechanisms through which gendered ideological conditioning reinforces inequality. Extending beyond the family, Dr. Hwang explores how boundaries around care, responsibility, and connection are negotiated and defined within and across generations in society.
ihwang@iastate.edu

Meghan Gillette teaches in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies as well as in the IDEA Youth Development graduate program. Classes include child/adolescent development, youth-adult relationships, positive youth development in community settings, youth cultures, and research methods.
meghang@iastate.edu

In Dr. Gudmunson’s work with graduate students, he is best known for his emphasis on teaching research methods and applied statistics. Dr. Gudmunson has also taught courses in family financial planning, family policy, and human development theory. His research is family-focused, often examining the impact of life stressors on family relationships. Additionally, Dr. Gudmunson is recognized for his theory and scholarship on family financial socialization. He regularly mentors students conducting both quantitative and qualitative research.
cgudmuns@iastate.edu

Dr. Jordan is a professor of Human Development and Family Studies. She has made contributions to the scholarship of discovery (e.g., marriage, Type 2 diabetes, qualitative and mixed methods), scholarship of integration (e.g., mixed methods), and scholarship of engagement (e.g., Child Welfare Research and Training Project, Extension and Outreach, Broadening Participation initiatives). Dr. Jordan is currently serving as the Assistant Provost for Faculty Success and is not teaching family communication, qualitative, and mixed method courses in the department.
trh@iastate.edu

Daeyong Lee’s research explores the impact of government policies on family economic well-being and organizational strategy. Dr. Lee employs a range of analytical methods, including regression analysis, Bayesian simulation, calibration, and machine learning. Dr. Lee teaches undergraduate courses, Income Tax Planning and Estate Planning, as well as the graduate-level course Advanced Quantitative Methods.
daelee@iastate.edu

Jeongeun Lee’s research focuses on aging, caregiving, and mental health with an emphasis on intervention development and dissemination for older adults and their families. Dr. Lee studies caregiving stress, resilience, and health disparities while designing and evaluating community-based programs such as Powerful Tools for Caregivers to improve well-being and care outcomes. Dr. Lee also investigates proactive aging, health care accessibility, and social determinants of health across rural and marginalized populations.
jel@iastate.edu

Peter Martin’s research emphasizes life-span development, including studies on genetic factors, personality, stress, coping, health, and well-being. Dr. Martin investigates factors contributing to exceptional longevity and the quality of life, particularly concerning the oldest-old population. Dr. Martin teaches courses on theories of human development, aging and the family, and professional development.
pxmartin@iastate.edu

Jan Melby’s training is in human development and sociology. Dr. Melby currently directs the Child Welfare Research and Training Project at Iowa State University, where her primary research focus is program evaluation and translation of results to improve the development and delivery of training and outreach. Dr. Melby’s broad research interests and experience are in observational and mixed research methodology, family processes, parent-child relationships, youth competence, and child well-being.
jmelby@iastate.edu

Tricia Neppl is the director of the Family Transitions Project, a three generation longitudinal study of Iowa families. Dr. Neppl’s program of research includes individual and family stress processes both across generations and for the same generation over time. Dr. Neppl primarily focuses on four areas of research that include economic stress and consequences for development; the intergenerational transmission of behavior; interpersonal relationships; and stress and health outcomes over time.
tneppl@iastate.edu

Amy Popillion is a Teaching Professor who specializes in Human Sexuality, with teaching and research interests that center on healthy relationships, communication, sexual well-being, and the role of self-compassion and pleasure in sexuality education.
hiamy@iastate.edu

Dr. Rouse’s research and teaching focus on early childhood wellbeing and the program and policy responses that seek to improve health, social, and educational outcomes for young children and their families. She collaborates with federal, state, and local agencies to understand population needs and systemic challenges that threaten positive outcomes and specializes in building sustainable capacities for research and ongoing program evaluation. She is the founder and director of Iowa’s Integrated Data System for Decision-Making (I2D2), and recently released a real-time data solution that identifies child care vacancies and is being used to study trends in child care supply and demand in Iowa (Child Care Connect; C3).
hlrouse@iastate.edu

Joe Sample’s teaching approach is oriented towards problem-based learning in courses related to aging and longevity, human sexuality, healthcare policy, and non-profit and government leadership. Dr. Sample’s primary research interests are in the broad area of aging and sexuality and intimate relationships with an emphasis on sexuality in the context of nonnormative cognitive change (e.g., dementia).
gjsample@iastate.edu

Dr. Carl Weems’s research bridges developmental psychology, neuroscience, and public health, with a focus on how traumatic and adverse childhood experiences (TRACEs), including PTSD, influence emotional development, brain systems, and emotion regulation. His research develops and tests theoretical models and measurement tools—such as network models of childhood PTSD and expanded frameworks for understanding TRACEs—while also translating basic science into interventions and policy-relevant applications such as the Child Welfare Research and Training Project (CWRTP). Students in his group engage in projects ranging from those examining the psycho-physiological basis of emotion, to large-scale program evaluations, gaining experience in rigorous empirical methods, advanced statistical modeling, and applied research with real-world impact.
cweems@iastate.edu

Dr. Zarling’s research integrates clinical psychology and family science to explore effective strategies for behavior change for individuals and families. She focuses on designing and evaluating evidence-based prevention and intervention strategies for family violence and intimate partner violence. Her work also includes training professionals in these strategies, such as motivational interviewing and acceptance and commitment therapy.
azarling@iastate.edu