Clarissa M. Palmer, PhD

My research interests and scholarship activities are firmly aligned with my teaching interests of research methodology and always trying to understand human behavior. To best support my students, I conduct research on a regular basis and try to include students as much as I can (both as researchers and as participants).  I am particularly moved to engage in research activities that will have connections to PSU and to assist our students.

The scholarship I choose to engage in has two prongs: 1. my personal knowledge and experience of how animals impact human development across the lifespan and historical contexts, and 2. mentoring students, and others, in their areas of scholarship interests.  Research and scholarship can sound daunting to students who haven’t engaged in these activities much. It is my goal to help them reconsider their ideas of research and to help make it fun.  My scholarship in Human-Animal Interaction has been internationally recognized and broadly focuses on how animals can impact our social-emotional development and views of the world. More recently, this work has focused on adolescent development, my work on the PSU campus, and within the Plymouth community.

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