Prior to earning my doctorate, I worked as a disability examiner for the Social Security Administration. Alongside psychologists and physicians, I determined if people met the criteria for physical or psychological disability. During this time, my experiences volunteering as an HIV counselor and a research assistant helped me decide to pursue studying at the graduate level.
What initially interested me about graduate school was the ability to ask questions about the mind. I enjoy conducting research and have published on decision-making, critical thinking, memory, and LGBTQ stigma. I also discovered a love for teaching. I hold several teaching certifications and I was voted graduate instructor of the year in 2020.
I moved to Kansas City in the summer of 2020—along with my husband, dog, and cat—for the opportunity to contribute to Avila’s new cognitive science program. I have an active lab that uses virtual reality as a tool for understanding how the mind works. I also co-run a lab focused on LGBTQ issues. If I’m not on campus, you can find me gardening, baking bread, or bird watching.
Awards
Graduate Instructor of the Year, Bowling Green State University, 2020
Publications
McGraw, J.S., Angoff, H.D., Chinn, J., Barnhart, W.R., Lee, B.N., Diggins, E., Jordan, A.K., Branch, J. & Docherty, M. (2021). Stigma and negative mental health outcomes in LGBTQ youth in Utah. Current Psychology.
Branch, J.G. & Zickar, M.J. (2021). Mental time travel into the episodic future, episodic past, and episodic counterfactual past in everyday life. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 35(1), 293-299.
Branch, J.G. & Dubow, E.F. (2021). Research experience in recitation sections within introductory psychology courses: The effectiveness of a semester-long laboratory component. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology. 7(2), 149–159.