Meet Our Writers

Web CoordinatorLiz Brashier serves as the editor and web coordinator for I/O at Work. She is currently completing a BA in Psychology at Agnes Scott College in Decatur, GA, and will begin study for a PhD in I/O at the Georgia Institute of Technology in August 2012. Liz’s research interests currently include emotional affect, the subjective work experience, mindwandering, and communication and satisfaction in sexual relationships. Also an avid musician, Liz plays and teaches the oboe and piano. When she’s not working on the site, Liz enjoys running, baking delicious pastries, and spending quality time with her cat, Jeaux. Liz joined the I/O at Work team in February 2010.

Ben Sher is a proud native Minnesotan who has migrated south to balmy Chicago. He is thrilled to have joined Roosevelt University’s first cohort of I/O psychology PhD students after studying patiently for several years in their Master’s program. He is primarily interested in experimental research, especially regarding stereotypes during selection, and is currently researching the effects of height, weight, and disability on hiring decisions. He has trained in organizational behavior management (OBM), which uses behavioral psychology principles to solve workplace problems. His current adviser has accused him of being “such a behaviorist”. She’s probably right. In his spare time, Ben enjoys teaching and tutoring, nature and landscape photography, chess, Trivial Pursuit, and getting really frustrated over the Minnesota Vikings. He occasionally gets lost in Wikipedia for days at a time. If you happen to see Ben drop whatever he’s holding and sprint to the bookstore, it’s probably because there’s a new Malcolm Gladwell article in The New Yorker magazine. You should probably get out of his way.

Thaddeus Rada is currently a student in the I-O psychology doctoral program at Bowling Green State University (BGSU) in Ohio. Thaddeus received his bachelor’s degree in psychology from Roosevelt University in Chicago, where he took an Introduction to I-O Psychology class and was first introduced to this fascinating field. He is primarily interested in the broad topic of personnel selection, including applicant reactions to the selection process, and the resistance of structured selection methods by managers and other organizational actors. Thaddeus is also interested in the application of judgment and decision making research to I-O psychology. In his spare time, Thaddeus enjoys visiting amusement parks throughout the country, particularly for the purpose of riding roller coasters, a longtime (unfortunately, seasonal) hobby of his.

Neil Morelli, M.S. is a doctoral student in I-O psychology at the University of Georgia. He is primarily interested in technology and talent management, decision-making, psychometrics, and organizational attitudes. Neil also works as an HR consultant with experience in job analysis, selection, assessment development, and litigation support. Neil holds a Master of Science degree in I-O psychology from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from Kennesaw State University near Atlanta, Georgia. When not working as a consultant, researcher, or blogger, Neil enjoys playing ultimate frisbee and golf, reading history books, and watching movies. Follow him on Twitter @NeilMorelli.

Alexandra (Alex) Rechlin, M.S. is a doctoral student in Industrial/Organizational Psychology at Colorado State University (CSU). She graduated from Washington University in St. Louis in 2006 with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a minor in Music, and she received her Master of Science degree in I/O Psychology from CSU in 2009. Alex is primarily interested in training, learning, and development (including mentoring and leadership development), as well as assessment and selection. In her free time, Alex enjoys hiking and playing trumpet in a wide variety of local music groups.

Scott Sitrin is a Doctoral Candidate in Clinical Psychology, and his research focuses on talent identification and talent development for athletic organizations. Previously, he had the opportunity to provide research and consultant services to the University of California at Berkeley Intercollegiate Athletics Department, a Major League Baseball team, a Major League Soccer team, the University of California at San Francisco Medical Center, the University of California at Los Angeles School of Medicine, and the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center. He had the pleasure of working with NCAA Division I athletes, national champions, world champions, and Olympians. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of California at Berkeley with a B.A. in Psychology and is currently pursuing my doctorate at The Wright Institute in Berkeley, California. He lives in San Francisco with his fiancé Garen and the cutest dog in the world, Pilot.

Student EditorKatie Bachman, M.S. is a doctoral student in Industrial-Organizational Psychology at Rice University in Houston, TX. Her graduate advisor is Dr. Mikki Hebl. Katie defended her Master’s Thesis, The Influence of Work-Family Balance-Based Realistic Job Previews on Job Decisions in Academia, on November 9, 2010. Katie studies diversity in the workplace, particularly the impact of diversity issues on employee turnover. She also studies the impact of social support on job outcomes. Finally, she has a long-standing interest in statistical methods and psychometrics. Katie has presented research at Rice, SIOP, and the Southeastern Psychological Association. She works with funding from an NSF ADVANCE grant, promoting the study of women in the math and sciences, and has also had two consulting experiences, both during undergrad: the Atlanta-based HRCatalyst and Development Dimensions International.Outside of I/O, Katie has a dog named Milo, who is not mis-named after the movie, Milo and Otis. Milo got his name because, in Katie’s words: “I took an art history class in undergrad during which we somewhat sarcastically called Botticelli’s work, The Birth of Venus, “Venus on the Half-Shell.” I always thought “Vinny on the Half-Shell” would be a good name for a show dog, but I wasn’t crazy about the name “Vinny” and didn’t have a show dog in my possession. Also, the dog was a boy, so, “Venus” was also out. I settled on naming him after the Venus de Milo instead. Circuitous, I know, but that’s how it works. I am one of those crazy pet owners who knits Christmas sweaters for her dogs, but I am also the kind who believes dogs should walk for themselves, not be carried. It’s a balance.” In the time that she’s not working, relaxing with her husband, or playing with her dog, Katie considers herself a foodie, a movie-watcher, an arts-and-crafts-er, and an avid reader. Katie been with I/O at Work since August 2008 officially, and played an integral role in the inception of the site.

Lauren Wood, M.S. is a fourth year student in the PhD Industrial Organizational program at the University of Georgia. She successfully defended her Master’s thesis entitled “The Changing Nature of Work: A Meta-analytic Investigation of the Differences in Job Characteristics over Time,” last year and was awarded the Donald L. Grant Award for most outstanding Master of Science Thesis in the Industrial-Organizational Program 2010-2011. Additionally, a version of this paper won the Personnel Testing Council Metropolitan Washington’s Student Paper Competition in 2011. For this award, she presented her research at the Council’s monthly luncheon in DC. Recently, Lauren was 1 of 5 graduate students nominated for the John C. Flanagan Award at SIOP 2012 and received a Top Poster award for her paper: “Job Characteristics: The Times, They are A-Changin.” Aside from research, Lauren has participated in various consulting projects including employee engagement surveys, needs analyses, and assessment center design. Lauren expects to graduate with her PhD in May of 2013.

Chris Eldredgeis an MBA student at the University of Georgia, set to graduate in May 2012. In addition to the MBA, Chris also completed doctoral coursework in Organizational Behavior, focusing on interpersonal and person-to-organization relationship issues in the workplace. Chris has over nine years of professional experience, dedicated to training, teaching, personal and organizational development.Chris is interested in pursuing a career that combines his passion for personal development and assisting businesses in realizing potential. Chris’ prior experiences as a personal wealth manager, small business operations director and Dale Carnegie Training instructor have provided him with the opportunity to connect individual and group goals, skills and abilities with the strategic objectives of their businesses and organizations. Further, he has valuable experience developing new client relationships with businesses and individuals. He believes that closer alignment of employee skills, abilities, needs and desires with the demands of the organizations they work within leads to stronger results for both parties.Chris currently lives in Watkinsville, GA, with his wife, Becky, and his two children, Brady and Abby.

Chelsea Rowe is a doctoral student in the Industrial-Organizational Psychology Program at the University of Georgia. She is interested in understanding how leaders develop across time, and the role leadership practices play in flavoring the culture of an organization. Additionally, she is interested in organizational change, narcissism, 360-degree feedback, and decision making. In her free time, Chelsea enjoys baking, running, and going to Georgia Bulldawg football games.

Nupur Deshpande, M.S. has a degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the Florida Institute of Technology.
Guided by the singular goal of making people’s lives better by addressing work-related concerns, Nupur is attracted to Cross – Cultural , Diversity, Emotions and Global Leadership issues and their utilization and application in Training and Development programs. Nupur loves being in the spotlight presenting to audiences large and small while making an impact through her voice, personality and knowledge. Being a citizen of the world, she can easily wear several different gloves (she’s lived in Saudi Arabia, India and now the United States…and speaks Hindi, Marathi and French while working on her Spanish). Acutely aware of cultural nuances and norms, she is seeking opportunities to hold expatriate/ repatriate, cross-cultural sensitivity and, global leadership trainings. Her eventual goal is to graduate to the position of an Executive Coach where she combines her penchant for creative expression, organization and life management. Nupur has applied experience in both the ‘I’ and the ‘O’ sides of I/O Psychology such as Job Analysis, Test Creation and Validation, Personnel Selection on one hand while Organizational Change, Team Building and Emotions/Motivation on the other. She has worn several different hats – that of a client point of contact, team member, adjunct faculty, contracted assessor, organizational development intervention intern, intern program coordinator, HR Manager – and now is looking for a new one!

Rachel Marsh is a first year doctoral candidate studying Industrial-Organizational Psychology at Colorado State University. She received her B.A. from Northern Illinois University.  Her research interests include training, stress, and team research.  Rachel has presented at the Midwest Psychological Association Conference and has also presented at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology Conference.  She has applied experience working at an assessment center.  Outside of her graduate studies, Rachel’s interests include traveling and photography.  She has been writing with I/O at Work since August.

Larry Martinez, Ph.D. recently completed his doctorate in Industrial/Organizational Psychology at Rice University. His research focuses on exploring the experiences of minority individuals in the workplace and identifying strategies to remediate negativity based on demographic group memberships. Larry will continue this work as an assistant professor in the School of Hospitality Management at Pennsylvania State University in the fall of 2012.

Kecia Bingham, Ph.D.is passionate about helping organizations align talent strategy with overarching business goals. Her specialty areas include culture change, the design and implementation of organizational assessments, and leadership development. Kecia takes a strategic, data-based approach to surfacing organizational issues, making sense of findings, and delivering custom solutions for her clients. She collaborates with clients to prioritize areas for action and engage employees in acting on results. Her clients span several industries including food and beverage, manufacturing, financial services and higher education.Kecia enjoys staying abreast of research and applying lessons learned to create sustainable business solutions. She has presented research on such topics as emotional intelligence, leadership, promotional decisions, and executive coaching at several professional conferences including the American Psychological Association, Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, the South Eastern Conference on the Teaching of Psychology and the Southern Management Association.
Kecia earned a M.S. and Ph.D. in Industrial Organizational Psychology from the University of Georgia. With a M.A. in School Psychology from the University of South Florida, Kecia has considerable training in behavioral analysis and modification.

Megan Leasher, Ph.D., is a proud Cinci-tucky resident and a diehard “I” in the world of I/O psychology, focusing on selection, assessment testing, legal issues, and the design of custom hiring tools and processes. She currently serves in an internal consulting role where she oversees talent assessment initiatives for a Fortune 500 company. Dr. Leasher holds a Ph.D. in I/O Psych from Wright State University, and her award-winning research has been published in several academic journals and presented at national conferences. A native of Huron, Ohio, she earned her BA in Psychology from the black squirrels at Kent State University. In her spare time, she loves to rack up her Delta skymiles and ride her scooter, Eduardo.