I received my B.A. in Psychology (Boston College), Master's Degrees in Counseling and Psychology, and a Ph.D. in Developmental Science (all graduate degrees at Boston University). I was then a postdoctoral trainee at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and from 2011-2017 an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Texas at Arlington. I am broadly interested in child temperament, emotion, cognition, education and health. Much of my work incorporates genetic and/or biological approaches. For the past decade, I have been studying the development of child self-control from a multi-method, multi-theoretical perspective. In 2012, I began the TEXAS Family Study (TFS) with 200 preschool-aged siblings and their families, focusing on child self-control, socio-emotional development, and psychopathology, and several parent/family traits. Recently, we completed a longitudinal follow-up of the TFS children as they transition to elementary school. At Texas A&M, I am an Associate Professor, Ph.D. Program Coordinator in Developmental Sciences (DS), Associate Department Head for Research and Faculty Development in the Educational Psychology Department (EPSY), and Administrative Fellow for Texas A&M University Faculty Affairs. My current research program includes the TFS and a multi-method study of self-control and related traits in three-year-olds that incorporates behavioral, emotional, cognitive and neurophysiological measures with colleagues in ESPY and Psychology (The Early Self-Control Development and School Readiness Study; SCD Study). We are also currently conducting a study on how COVID-19 has affected preschooler development.