UNCW/Caroline Cropp
Long-time psychology department faculty member Julian Keith ’83 is excited because a $438,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health is allowing him to buy electrophysiology equipment to study neuro-feedback alternatives to stimulant medications for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
The building includes labs and classrooms with hearingassistance equipment, clinical lab features like white noise to block out external sounds during psychology testing, a vivarium to hold research animals, and dual-screen projectors. The geographic information systems (GIS) lab triples the space previously available for environmental studies.
The expanded facilities in the new Teaching Laboratory Building (see back cover) were key to winning the award.
These labs will be crucial to the learning and advancement of EVS and psychology students who participate in internships, fieldwork assignments, directed independent studies and honors courses, said David Cordle, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
The 120,000-square-foot facility benefits both the Department of Psychology, which boasts 700 majors and 500 minors, and the Department of Environmental Studies (EVS), the fastest growing department in the College of Arts and Sciences. For the last 20 years, the psychology department’s classrooms, labs, administration and faculty offices have been sprinkled throughout UNCW’s campus in eight to 10 different buildings. Housing them all under one roof will make everyone communicate better and solidify the department, said chair Rich Ogle.
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According to Ogle, they are “applied learning labs” because psychology and environmental studies faculty routinely involve undergraduate and graduate students in advanced research. Sally J. Johnson ’14M, Andrea Weaver and Marybeth Bianchi contributed to this article.