Melinda Howell joins the Ball State Department of Psychological Science as an Assistant Teaching Professor of Psychological Science.

Please introduce yourself—I’d love a snapshot version of who you are and where you call home.

My name is Melinda Howell, and I am from the Muncie area originally. I went to grad school in Minnesota, then lived in Texas for a few years. After that, I lived in Maryland for several years. I wanted to return to this area to be near my family. Indiana was always home.

What is your educational and professional background?

I got my bachelor’s degree in psychology from Ball State. I got my Ph.D. in developmental psychology at the Institute of Child Development at the University of Minnesota.

What initially drew you to your field of study/piqued your interest?

I read a news article when I was in high school about how mother rats lick their babies which makes them grow better. This gave me the idea to do this for a science fair project. I was a student at Burris at the time, and I got the opportunity to use the Ball State animal lab. Dr. Robert Fischer helped me with my project. That started my path to studying psychology.

What is your research focus in your department/area of study?

Developmental psychology—specifically language development. My dissertation was on children’s use of adverbs.

What drew you to Ball State? What are some of your goals for your first year here?

Being a Ball State alumna myself, I appreciate the education that Ball State provides. I knew I would feel proud being a part of a place that provides a quality education for its students.

My goal for the year is to learn more about other areas of psychology by teaching classes that are new to me. I want to develop my own versions of these classes in a way that will allow students to participate and learn about various areas of the field of psychology. The goal is always to provide a quality education to my students.

What are some of your hobbies/non-academic interests?

My main hobby is building Lego sets. I also like jigsaw and 3D puzzles. I have two cats, but also love dogs and have had various pets in the past ranging from dogs to ducks.

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