Dr. Gregory Russell Samanez-Larkin
Jack H. Neely Associate Professor of Psychology & Neuroscience
Prof. SL (he/they) grew up in a small, rural town, Clio, Michigan, and went to school in Flint, Michigan. After spending freshman year of college at the University of Michigan Flint, they transferred as a sophomore to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. They spent the first couple of years of college taking pre-business courses while trying to launch a clothing company and promoting electronic music events. Prof. SL alternated between wondering if college was worth it and being undecided between so many interesting majors. As a junior Prof. SL started doing psychology research on emotion regulation and discovered a discipline that was at the intersection of many interests. They learned that being a scientist is like running a small business where you get to work on whatever you're interested in and decided to pursue it as a career. Prof. SL got a relatively late start in research, so they did a 3 year postbacc at Stanford before applying to grad school. During the postbacc, Prof. SL went to an emo concert and met Silvia Samanez Larkin (Dr. SL) (she/her) who was an undergrad at Stanford and is now a professor at Duke in Psychiatry and Behavioral Science and the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience. They have three children, Joey (Josephine), Olí (Magnolia), and Emme (Clementine) who will be your neighbors in Trinity.
Prof. SL is an academic advisor for undeclared students as well as an advisor for majors in neuroscience and psychology. They run a research lab (http://mcablab.science) that studies motivation, learning, and decision making across the life span blending methods from psychology, neuroscience, consumer finance, marketing, and public health. Prof. SL teaches UNIV 104 The Art and Science of What Works in Life and the statistics and research methods series required of all psychology majors (PSY 204 & 205).
Outside of the classroom and lab, Prof. SL likes to explore with their family, wake surf at local lakes, surf in the outer banks, do hot yoga, climb trees, sew, cook together, cheer people on, and learn to do whatever you’re into! Sign up here for FLUNCH, office hours, or to join a hot yoga class: http://bit.ly/BookProfSL