Jessica Degol, Ph.D.

Jessica received her PhD in Applied Developmental Psychology from the University of Pittsburgh.  She continued on to complete her postdoctoral training at the University of Pittsburgh, assisting Dr. Wang in manuscript and grant writing on topics which included student engagement, school climate, and increasing female interest in STEM careers. Jessica’s research interests focused on self-regulation development through early childhood to adolescence, family and school contexts as antecedents of positive youth functioning, and female underrepresentation in STEM fields. During her graduate career she instructed undergraduate courses on early childhood and lifespan development and assisted on various research projects including administering a weekly Big Brothers/Big Sisters afterschool program in a low-income school district and participating in data collection, analyses, and manuscript preparation in a study on preschool classroom processes in low-income privately owned child care centers. Jessica recently started as an Assistant Professor of Human Development and Family Studies at Penn State Altoona in 2015. In her spare time Jessica enjoys reading, baking, and spending time with family and friends.