I was born in Memphis, have lived all over the southern U.S., and spent most of my life in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, which I consider home. I attended Louisiana State University for eleven years during which I earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting, an M.S. in pre-veterinary medicine, and an M.A. is General Psychology, and a Ph.D. in Psychology with a minor in Zoology. I have been a professional student, which made the transition to professional teacher a logical and happy choice. I have taken nearly every college course ever offered and liked it! I am passionate about teaching and learning. I have spent an important part of my life learning how to be a good student and learning what it takes to make a good teacher. My teaching philosophy is that most learning should occur through interaction in the classroom with a teacher who relates to students and engages them by making the subject, whatever it is, interesting and relevant to individual students. By learning from students in class, I add an important dimension to my personal and professional development.

I have worked as a veterinary technologist, dental assistant, portrait painter, advertising designer and illustrator, and medical illustrator. While in high school in Biloxi, Mississippi, I illustrated a marine biology textbook. I still paint and am working on an illustrated book about cats and another with portraits of some of the many pets I have loved during my lifetime. I have 18 cats, a thoroughbred mare, 9 zebra finches, and an African Grey parrot named Ward who has imitated my female southern accent perfectly for 26 years.

I live with my only child, a wonderful son, Dorian, who is a psychology major at CBU. I live on four acres in the country where I enjoy lots of pets, wildlife, trees and flowers.

My specialty areas within psychology include gender differences, child and adolescent development, animal cognition and consciousness, and the biological basis for behavior, especially as it relates to love and attraction. I teach Biological Psychology, Human Sexuality, Life-Span Human Development, and Animal Cognition, and I enjoy teaching all of them.