Carrie Clark

Carrie Clark’s current research is focused on the development of executive function and self-regulation, particularly in early childhood. She is interested in the implications of socio-familial and perinatal risk for self-regulation and in the links between executive function and academic achievement. She uses neuropsychological testing, neuroimaging and physiological methods in her research.

Clairebelle Gabas

Clairebelle Gabas' research focuses on language learning and development in preschool-age children. Her work sits at the intersection of multiple fields, including early childhood education, teacher education, reading education, and communication science and disorders.

Matthew Gormley

Matthew Gormley's research focuses on students at-risk for, or diagnosed with, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). I am specifically interested in interventions that build collaboration between families, schools, and healthcare settings to support these students across their academic careers (e.g., elementary, secondary, and post-secondary).

Susan Loveall

Susan Loveall's interests involve research on learning and cognitive processes of both typically developing children and individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities across the lifespan. Her current research focuses on reading skills, as well as learning and language in these populations.

Amy Napoli

Amy Napoli’s research and extension work focuses on four broad areas:

• Early childhood education
• Numeracy development
• Home learning environments
• Intervention development and evaluation

She is also interested in the ways that we can use technology (e.g., text messaging) as a tool for delivering programs and supporting caregivers and educators. Amy is currently focusing on developing a home numeracy environment intervention for parents of preschool-aged children. The ultimate goal of her research and extension work is to determine ways to best support parents, care providers, and educators of young children in order to improve child outcomes.

Anne Schutte

Anne Schutte's research focuses on cognitive development in early childhood. She is interested in the role of experience in the development of spatial cognition, examining the development of spatial working memory in early childhood and which experiences influence its development. She is also interested in developmental changes in the neural underpinnings of spatial working memory, using the dynamic field theory in her research.

Stephanie Wessels

Stephanie Wessels’ coursework, research, and teaching has focused on literacy development for young second language readers for the past several years.

Alexandra Daro

Alexandra Daro's research focuses largely on efforts related to understanding gaps and barriers for families accessing and for child care providers delivering quality, equitable early care and education in Nebraska.

Danae Dinkel

Danae Dinkel is passionate about developing and evaluating evidence-based physical activity programs, as well as identifying factors that impact children’s ability to live a physically active lifestyle. Her research interests are physical activity promotion in underserved populations, community-based initiatives for improving physical activity and the impact of physical activity on motor and cognitive skills development.

Kerry-Ann Escayg

Kerry-Ann Escayg's research focuses on research focuses on anti-racism in early childhood education, as well as children and race. She has has utilized elements of critical race theory, black feminist thought and anti-racist education to offer new exegeses on children's racial identity development

Jolene Johnson

Dr. Jolene Johnson is the Director and Assistant Professor for the Department of Education and Child Development. Dr. Johnson has extensive experience in program evaluation and is the current principal investigator for multiple projects including the current State Personnel Development Grant (SPDG) for Nebraska, Nebraska 21st Century Community Learning Centers, and the Learning Community of Douglas and Sarpy Counties, encompassing 11 school districts including Omaha Public Schools. Additionally, she is the principal investigator for a three-year grant examining executive function, early science practices, and social-emotional practices across 13 national high-quality early childhood sites.

Lisa Knoche

Lisa Knoche develops, implements and evaluates early childhood intervention and prevention programming. She works closely with researchers and community partners to develop research proposals and implement investigations. Her role includes research administration, data management and analyses, as well as research dissemination. Knoche also directs CYFS' Nebraska Academy for Early Childhood Research.

Philip Lai

Philip Lai conducts research in the areas of social development, executive function and cognitive development in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder and other neurodevelopmental disorders. He investigates both verbal as well as nonverbal communication during social interactions.

Amy Napoli

Amy Napoli’s research and extension work focuses on four broad areas:

• Early childhood education
• Numeracy development
• Home learning environments
• Intervention development and evaluation

She is also interested in the ways that we can use technology (e.g., text messaging) as a tool for delivering programs and supporting caregivers and educators. Amy is currently focusing on developing a home numeracy environment intervention for parents of preschool-aged children. The ultimate goal of her research and extension work is to determine ways to best support parents, care providers, and educators of young children in order to improve child outcomes.

Abbie Raikes

Abbie Raikes’ research focuses on early childhood development in high-risk contexts. Her research integrates developmental science with epidemiological methods to measure children’s development across populations. Her work is reflective of many environmental and biological units, and works across various sectors in public health and education.

Paula Thompson

Paula Thompson's research focuses primarily on infants/toddlers, and preschool-aged children ages 3-5.

Lisa Knoche

Lisa Knoche develops, implements and evaluates early childhood intervention and prevention programming. She works closely with researchers and community partners to develop research proposals and implement investigations. Her role includes research administration, data management and analyses, as well as research dissemination. Knoche also directs CYFS' Nebraska Academy for Early Childhood Research.

Sommer Fousek

Sommer Fousek is the project manager for the Coaching in Early Intervention project, which aims to develop and refine an early childhood coaching model to increase the use of evidence-based practices among early intervention personnel and improve outcomes for infants and toddlers with disabilities. She serves as the project manager for the Nebraska Academy for Early Childhood Research (NAECR). NAECR provides resources and supports to early childhood researchers across the University of Nebraska system and encourages interdisciplinary collaboration. Fousek also supports the Early Learning Network Lead project. She earned her master’s degree in public administration from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.