Welcome Dr. Meredith S. Berry, New CARE Member

Biography:

Meredith S. Berry joined the Department of Health Education and Behavior in 2018. As an experimental psychologist, she has several primary areas of research including 1.) basic processes of operant reinforcement, learning, memory and behavioral economics often in the context of drug misuse and other health-related behaviors, 2.) the evaluation of abuse liability and behavioral and cognitive effects of various drugs, 3.) the intersection of human and environmental health, benefits of nature exposure, and environmental conservation. Closely related to her work on the intersection of human and environmental health, she is exploring novel applications of the benefits of nature exposure to issues of drug misuse. Her current focus on clinical drug misuse research stems from a foundation of preclinical and clinical training in behavioral pharmacology, and basic and translational behavioral research in decision-making and behavioral economics.

Before joining the University of Florida, Dr. Berry completed her postdoctoral training in the Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She received her Ph.D. in Forest and Conservation Sciences at the University of Montana, her M.S. in Experimental Psychology from Utah State University, and her B.S. in Psychology from the University of Florida.

Dr. Berry continually engages in professional service including the Program Chair for Division 28 (Psychopharmacology and Substance Abuse) of the American Psychological Association’s 2019 convention. She also serves on the Board of Editors or ad hoc reviewer for over twenty academic journals spanning preclinical and clinical research topics of behavior analysis, decision-making, behavioral economics, behavioral pharmacology, substance use and misuse, risky sexual behavior, conservation, and conservation psychology. Dr. Berry is the recipient of numerous early-career scholarship and fellowship awards including awards from the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Science Foundation, and her research is frequently covered in popular press new outlets such as Scientific American, Pacific Standard Magazine, Fast Company Magazine, and The Huffington Post.

Research Interests:

• Substance use and misuse, particularly in areas of opioid and nicotine use
• Behavioral economic demand for drugs of abuse, manipulating delay discounting, arranging contingencies to promote health behaviors, choice, and basic processes of learning, memory, and extinction
• Behavioral and cognitive effects of various drugs
• Intersections of human and environmental health
• HIV/AIDS and sexual risk behaviors