Curriculum Vitae
Curriculum Vitae
Fall 2024 – present
Visiting Assistant Professor
Department of Psychology
Macalester College
2022 – 2024
Assistant Professor of Instruction
School of Education and Social Policy
Northwestern University
2022 – 2024
Post-Doctoral Research Fellow
Contexts Of Adolescent Stress and Thriving Lab
PI: Emma Adam
Northwestern University
August 2022
Ph.D., Developmental Psychology
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
Institute of Child Development
Academic Co-Advisors: Daniel Berry and Megan Gunnar
Factors predicting youth anti-racism and critical consciousness development
How whiteness operates in shaping racial socialization and racial identity
How biological and emotional stress responses serve to support or impede anti-racism development
In what ways racial socialization and racial identity are associated with each other and predict anti-racism development
How the above factors operate particularly for white individuals, holding a racially-privileged social position
2024
Provost Grant for Research in Humanities, Social Sciences and the Arts – $5,000
Proposal: Diverse Adolescent Racial-Ethnic Identity and Critical Consciousness Following an Ethnic-Racial Identity Intervention
2023
Nominee, Northwestern Canvas Hall of Fame
SESP 201: Human Development: Childhood and Adolescence
2022
Diversity Professional Development Award, Institute of Child Development – $500
2021
Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship, University of Minnesota – $25,000
2021
Dr. Ruth Howard Winfrey Diversity Grant – $1,500
2021
Research Grant, University of Minnesota Council of Graduate Students – total: $1,000
2021, 2018, 2017
Conference Travel Award, International Society for Developmental Psychobiology
2021, 2020, 2018
Institute of Child Development Small Grant – total: $3,495
2020
Interdisciplinary Doctoral Fellowship, University of Minnesota – $25,000
2020
Career Development Grant, University of Minnesota Council of Graduate Students – $795
2020
Dr. Ruth Howard Winfrey Diversity Scholarship for Personal Outreach
2020
Dr. Ruth Howard Winfrey Diversity Scholarship for Growing Brains Outreach
2019
UMN Thank a Teacher award
2019
CREATE Scholars Fellowship (summer stipend coverage)
2016
CEHD Graduate Fellowship (full stipend coverage)
2011
Summa Cum Laude
2010
Member, Phi Beta Kappa
2007 – 2011
Deans’ Honors List UC Davis (7 semesters)
* indicates mentee
*Mayo, O. A., DeJoseph, M. L., Leneman, K. B., Anyanso, V., & Berry, D. (2025). The Unique and Interactive Associations Between Discrimination and Economic Hardship Predicting Black Children’s Basal Cortisol Levels. Minnesota Undergraduate Research & Academic Journal, 7(2), 1-24.
DeJoseph, M. L., Leneman, K. B., Palmer, A. R., Padrutt, E. R., *Mayo, O. A., & Berry, D. (2024). Adrenocortical and autonomic cross-system regulation in youth: A meta-analysis. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 159, 1-35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2023.106416
Leneman, K. B. & Berry, D. (2022). Physiological measures of stress reactivity. In S.M. Jones, N. Lesaux, & S.P. Barnes (Eds.), Measuring and Assessing Non-Cognitive Skills to Improve Teaching and Learning (pp. 81-106). The Guilford Press.
*Bergerud, K. B., Leneman, K. B., & Berry, D. (2022). Psycholinguistic Indicators of Anxiety During White Self-reflection on Racial Privilege. Minnesota Undergraduate Research and Academic Journal, 5(4), 1-8.
Keeler, B.L., Derickson, K.D., King, H., Leneman, K. B., Moskowitz, A.F., Mrutu, A., Nguyen, B., & Walker, R.H. (2022). Community-engaged scholarship for graduate students: Insights from the CREATE Scholars program. Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, 26(2), 125–137.
Leneman, K. B., Puhach, S., Gillespie, S., Gomez, I., Hall, G., & Roos, L. (2022). Whiteness in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Who is Talking About Racism With Their Kids? Journal of Family Issues, 44(9), 2258–2279. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X221079328
Ferguson, G., Eales, L., Gillespie, S. & Leneman, K. (2021). The Whiteness Pandemic Behind the Racism Pandemic: Familial Whiteness Socialization in Minneapolis Following #GeorgeFloyd’s Murder. American Psychologist, 77(3), 344–361. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000874
Reid, Brie M., DePasquale, C., Donzella, B., Leneman, K. B., Taylor, H., & Gunnar, M.R. (2021). Pubertal transition and current life stress alters longitudinal diurnal cortisol patterns in adolescents exposed to early life adversity. Developmental Psychobiology, 63(6), e22146–n/a. https://doi.org/10.1002/dev.22146
Palmer, A. R., Distefano, R., Leneman, K. B., & Berry, D. (2021). Reliability of the BodyGuard2 (FirstBeat) in the detection of heart rate variability. Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, 46(3), 251–258. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10484-021-09510-6
Leneman, K., Desjardins, C., Donzella, B., & Gunnar, M. (2018). The Cortisol Awakening Response in Post-Institutionalized Children and Adolescents. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 96, 93–99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2018.06.011
Leneman, K. & Gunnar, M. (2018). Developmental timing of stress effects on the brain. In K. Harkness & E. P. Hayden (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Stress and Mental Health (pp. 561-584). Oxford University Press.
Leneman, K. B. (submitted). Psychobiological Stress Responses of White Liberal Emerging Adults to Discussing Race and Privilege.
Leneman, K. B., Lawrence, R. A., Collier-Villaume, S. E., Russak-Pribble, A., McCambly, H., & Adam, E. K. (invited). School as a moderator of critical racial awareness outcomes following an ethnic-racial identity intervention in high school. Journal of Research on Adolescence – Special Issue on Advancing Research Methodologies with Diverse Young People
Leneman, K. B., Lawrence, R. A., Callegari, J., Dull, B., & Adam, E. K. (in prep). A qualitative case study to understand ethnic-racial identity development and critical consciousness following a high school-based ethnic-racial identity intervention.
Collier Villaume, S., Sladek, M. R., Leneman, K. B., Chen, S., Koning, S., Umaña-Taylor, A., & Adam, E. K. (in prep) What does ERI Exploration look like at a biological level? Preliminary insights from an identity promotion intervention.
Leneman, K. B. (in prep). The Activation Arc of Antiracism: A biopsychosocial model for understanding white antiracism engagement.
2021 Co-developer – Whiteness Pandemic Resources for Parents, Educators, and other Caregivers – Child and Family Life webpage (https://innovation.umn.edu/culture-and-family-life-lab/whiteness-pandemic/)
2019 Co-author – Mni Sóta Maḳoce: Cultural Resilience Through Curriculum – Blog Post for CREATE Scholars Initiative (https://create.umn.edu/blog/mni-sota-ma%e1%b8%b3oce/)
* indicates mentee
Leneman, K. B., McCambly, H., Collier Villaume, S., Lawrence, R. A., Russak-Pribble, A., Umaña-Taylor, A., & Adam, E. K. (2024, April). School as a moderator for racially diverse youth’s critical racial awareness outcomes following a high school ethnic-racial identity intervention. [Symposium]. Society for Research on Adolescence Biennial Meeting, Chicago, IL.
Leneman, K. B., Puhach, S., Gillespie, S., Gomez, I., Hall, G., Roos, L. (2021, May). Whiteness in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Which White Parents are Talking to Their Kids? [Flash talk] Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Meeting, virtual.
Leneman, K. B., Berry, D. (2019, September). A Methodological Contribution to Understanding Physiological Self-Regulation. [Symposium] Society for Psychophysiological Research Meeting, Washington, D.C.
Berry, D., Leneman, K. B., Palmer, A., *Aksteter, L. (2019, March). Experiential Stress and Higher-Order Cognition: Enemy or Adaptive Organizer? [Symposium] Society for Research in Child Development Meeting, Baltimore, MD.
DePasquale, C., Taylor, H., Leneman, K. B., Donzella, B., Gunnar, M.R. (2019, March). Cortisol Awakening Response Recalibration as a Function of Stress During Adolescence. [Symposium] Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Meeting, Baltimore, MD.
Palmer, A. R., Distefano, R., Leneman, K. B., Grenell, A., Masten, A. S., Berry, D. (2018, October). The Relationship Between Sociodemographic Risk, Adversity, and Homelessness on Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia. [Symposium] International Society for Developmental Psychobiology Meeting, San Diego, CA.
Spring 2023
Guest Lecture, Human Development: Childhood and Adolescence
“Ethnic-Racial Identity Development in the U.S.”
Fall 2022
Human Development and Social Policy Proseminar
Spring 2022
Guest Lecture, Racial Biases in Early Childhood
“Career Paths in Research on Racial Bias”
DeJoseph, M., Leneman, K. B., Palmer, A., Padrutt, E., *Mayo, O., Berry, D. (2023, March). Adrenocortical and autonomic cross-system regulation in youth: A meta-analysis. Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT.
Leneman, K. B. & Berry, D. (2022, May). The Psychophysiology of White Fragility. Society for Research in Child Development Special Topics Meeting: Discrimination, Equity, and Justice, Rio Grande, Puerto Rico.
Leneman, K. B. & Berry, D. (2021, November). The Psychophysiology of White Fragility. International Society for Developmental Psychobiology Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL.
*Liu, Y., Leneman, K. B., Berry, D. (2021, November). How previous racial justice involvement before and after the murder of George Floyd relates to physiological responses during race discussions. International Society for Developmental Psychobiology Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL.
Palmer, A.P., Leneman, K. B., DeJoseph, M. L., Sifre, R., Blair, C., Berry, D. (2021, April). An aMNLFA approach to measurement invariance of the strength and difficulties questionnaire. Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Meeting, virtual.
*Mayo, O., Leneman, K. B., DeJoseph, M. L., Blair, C., Berry, D. (2021, April). The moderating role of classroom racial composition on the association between income and child adjustment outcomes. Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Meeting, virtual.
Leneman, K. B., DeJoseph, M. L., Palmer, A. R., Blair, C. B., Berry, D. (2022, May). Early childhood relations between indirect discrimination stress, racial socialization, and behavior problems. Society for Research in Child Development Special Topics Meeting: Discrimination, Equity, and Justice, Rio Grande, Puerto Rico.
Leneman, K. B., Distefano, R., Palmer, A., Berry, D., Grenell, A. (2018, October). Recovery matters: Investigating the full physiological response profile in relation to markers of psychopathology. International Society for Developmental Psychobiology Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA.
Leneman, K. B., Varhol, A., Palmer, A., Berry, D. (2018, October). Suspenders: A methodological contribution to collecting quality impedance data in children. Society for Psychophysiological Research Annual Meeting, Quebec City, Canada.
Palmer, A., Berry, D, & Leneman, K. B. (2018, October). Validation of using FIRSTBEAT BODYGUARD2 to collect interbeat interval data with preschool aged children. Society for Psychophysiological Research Annual Meeting, Quebec City, Canada.
Leneman, K. B., Gunnar, M.R., Desjardins, C., Donzella, B. (2017, November) Physiological wake-up call in post-institutionalized adolescents – differences in the CAR for early- versus late-adopted children. International Society for Developmental Psychobiology Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C. and University of Minnesota CEHD Research Day.
Pakulak, E., Leneman, K. B., Karns, C., Giuliano, R., Bell, T., Petersen, S., & Neville, H. (2015, October). Interaction between neural mechanisms of selective attention and a behavioral measure of inhibitory control in preschool children. Society for Psychophysiological Research Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA.
Moffit, U., Escayg, K., Seaton, E., Underhill, M., & Critical Researchers of White Supremacy in Development (CROWD). (2025, May 1-3). Resisting white supremacy in developmental research: Studying whiteness and white youth through a critical lens. [Conversation roundtable]. Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Meeting, Minneapolis, MN.
Leneman, K. B. & Satterthwaite-Freiman, M. (2023, April 18-20) Critical whiteness in development: Connecting for a transformative future. [Workshop] Society for Research on Adolescence Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL.
Abo-Zena, M., González, G. T., Leneman, K. B., Meca, A., Perez-Brena, N. J., & Xinyue Xiao, S. (2022, May). Identifying barriers to increasing equity in developmental science. [Invited Workshop] Society for Research in Child Development Special Topics Meeting: Discrimination, Equity, and Justice, Rio Grande, Puerto Rico.
Spring 2025, Fall 2025, Spring 2026
Instructor, Directed Research in Psychology
(overall means, in order: 4.63/5.00)
Spring 2025
Instructor, Developmental Psychology
(overall mean: 4.35/5.00)
Fall 2024, Spring 2026 (x2)
Instructor, Introduction to Psychology
(overall means, in order: 4.55/5.00)
Fall 2024, Spring 2025, Fall 2025
Instructor, Racialized Stress, Human Development, and Social Policy
(overall means, in order: 4.38/5.00, 4.65/5.00)
Spring 2024
Instructor, Racialized Stress and Human Development
(overall mean: 5.35/6.00)
2022-2024 (5 terms)
Instructor, Human Development: Childhood and Adolescence
(overall means, in order: 3.30/6.00, 4.86/6.00, 4.63/6.00, 4.35/6.00, 4.86/6.00)
Spring 2019
Co-Instructor, Introduction to Child Psychology
(overall mean: 5.51/6.00)
Fall 2019
Teaching Assistant, Child Psychology Capstone
Spring 2019
Teaching Assistant, Adolescent Psychology
Fall 2018
Teaching Assistant, Introduction to Research Methods in Child Psychology
Fall 2018
Teaching Assistant, Advanced Developmental Psychology
2023
Co-mentor – Undergraduate thesis, Northwestern University – Eden Moore
Project: Impacts of High School Mentor Relationships on Black Girls’ University Performance
*3rd place in the social sciences category at the NU Undergraduate Research Expo
2020 - 2024
Mentor – Next Gen Psych Scholars program
2016 - 2022
Volunteer – Growing Brains, Institute of Child Development Developmental Neuroscience Community Outreach Program, U Minnesota
2021
Mentor – Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program, U Minnesota – Kyra Boorsma Bergerud
Project: How Psycholinguistic Indicators Connect to White Racial Self-Reflection
2021
Co-mentor – Undergraduate thesis, University of Minnesota – Otiti Mayo
Project: The unique and interactive relations between discrimination and economic hardship with child basal cortisol levels among Black children
2021
Co-mentor – Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program, U Minnesota – Otiti Mayo
Project: Discrimination, Economic Strain, and Fluctuations in Perceived Stress among Low-Income Black Women
2021
Mentor – Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program, U Minnesota – Yuqing Liu
Project: How previous engagement in racial justice issues relate to physiological responses of White Fragility
2019
Co-mentor – Multicultural Summer Research Opportunities Program, U Minnesota – Otiti Mayo
Project: How classroom racial composition shapes behavioral problems in early childhood
2016
Founder – Growing Brains, Institute of Child Development Developmental Neuroscience Community Outreach Program, University of Minnesota
https://icd.umn.edu/outreach/growing-brains/
2016, 2018
Volunteer – Brain Awareness Week, University of Minnesota
2014 – 2016
Volunteer – Brain Development Lab Outreach Program, University of Oregon
2019 – present
Founder and Leadership Member – Critical Researchers of White Supremacy in Development (CROWD)
2025
Reviewer – Applied Developmental Science
2024
Reviewer – Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology
2024
Reviewer – Journal of Family Studies
2024
Volunteer – Society for Research on Adolescence Annual Conference
2024
Reviewer – Journal of Family Issues
2020 - present
Member – Society for Research in Child Development Antiracism Working Group
2017
Reviewer – Journal of Experimental Child Psychology (student trainee)
2018
Reviewer – Society for Research in Child Development, Annual Meeting Presentation Submissions (student trainee)
INSTITUTIONAL SERVICE
2022-2024
Administrative Support and Review Panel – Northwestern University Race and Justice Collaborative Seed Fund (https://sites.northwestern.edu/rjcfund/)
2020 - present
Member – Institute of Child Development Outreach and Engagement Committee
2019 - 2020
Member – Institute of Child Development Diversity and Outreach Committee
2019 – 2020
Manager – Institute of Child Development Participant Pool
2017 – 2019
Member – Institute of Child Development Prospective Student Committee
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
2020
Volunteer – Crisis Nursery, co-created research-informed information packets
2019 – 2021
Volunteer – Research In Action
2018 – 2019
Fellow – CREATE Scholars program
Partnered with Iyekiyapiwin Darlene St. Clair of St. Cloud State University and Dakota Wicohan to support her decolonizing, anti-racist 6th grade social studies curriculum, Mni Sóta Maḳoce: The Dakota Homelands
2017 – 2022
Member – Research Advisory council for the Minnesota Children’s Museum
2018; 2019
Volunteer – Ascension Catholic School Summer SLAM
2021
Graduate Research Assistant
“Whiteness Pandemic” and “Project UNITE”
Child and Family Life lab, University of Minnesota
PI: Gail Ferguson, Ph.D. | Grad PI: Sarah Gillespie
Responsibilities: assisting in review/refinement of the interview protocol, co-leading focus group interviews with diverse urban adolescents, qualitative content coding, manuscript preparation
2020 - 2022
Graduate Investigator - Dissertation
“Physiology of Interacting with People Study” (aka Psychobiological Stress Responses of White Liberal Emerging Adults to Discussing Race and Privilege)
Advisors: Dan Berry, Ed.D. and Megan Gunnar, Ph.D.
Responsibilities (fully independent research project): design, IRB write up and submission, data collection for experimental study with physiology, questionnaires, and online tasks, project management, training, data processing, quantitative and qualitative analysis
2020 - 2021
Graduate Research Assistant
Research In Action – advancing systems change through high quality thought leadership, community engaged action research, and speaking (Minneapolis, MN)
Advisor: Brittany Lewis, Ph.D.
Responsibilities: qualitative and quantitiative data analysis, participating in community engagement sessions to inform, analyze, and distribute research
2019
CREATE Scholars Fellow
Supporting the Mni Sóta Maḳoce: The Dakota Homelands 6th grade social studies curriculum
Community Partner: Dakota Wicohan - Iyekiyapiwiƞ Darlene St. Clair
Responsibilities: organize teacher training sessions, conduct qualitative interviews of past teachers, create 1-pager summary of qualitative interviews for dissemination
2018
Graduate Research Assistant
“EREF”
Bioecology, Self-Regulation, and Learning lab, University of Minnesota
Grad PI: Alyssa Palmer
Responsibilities: physiology, behavior, and video data collection for an in-person child frustration task with physiology, quantitative analysis
2018
Graduate Investigator
“Reactivity and Recovery in the Brain and Body (R2B2) - Pilot”
Bioecology, Self-Regulation, and Learning lab, University of Minnesota
Advisor: Dan Berry, Ed.D.
Responsibilities (fully independent research project): design, IRB write up and submission, data collection, data processing, analysis
2017 - 2019
Graduate Research Assistant and Project Co-Manager
“Modes of Cognition and Arousal (MoCA)”
Bioecology, Self-Regulation, and Learning lab, University of Minnesota
PI: Daniel Berry, Ed.D.
Responsibilities: design development, protocol development and documentation, integration of impedance cardiography physiology acquisition, autonomic physiology acquisition and processing protocol and documentation, lead RA for data collection, RA training on full protocol, recruitment, and data processing, analysis
2016 - 2018
Graduate Research Assistant
“Pubertal Stress Recalibration Hypothesis”
Human Developmental Psychobiology lab, University of Minnesota
PI: Megan R. Gunnar, Ph.D.
Responsibilities: independent research and data analysis with cortisol awakening response data, data collection during Trier Social Stress Test, saliva sample collection for cortisol assay, processing saliva samples, data cleaning and processing
International Society for Developmental Psychobiology
Society for Research in Child Development
Society for Psychophysiological Research
Society for Research on Adolescence
August 2025
Pass the Mic: Amplifying Community Voice in Philanthropy & Research
CoLab and Research in Action
May 2025
The Discussion Project
The Discussion Project
January 2025
Reflective Structured Dialogue
Essential Partners
April 2022
Somatic Abolitionism
Resmaa Menakem – Education for Racial Equity
June 2021
Longitudinal Structural Equation Modeling
Curran-Bauer Analytics
May 2020
Introduction to Structural Equation Modeling
Curran-Bauer Analytics
January 2019
Speaking Science: Science Communication Conference
Boreas Leadership Program
April 2014
Statistical Analysis of fMRI Data
Johns Hopkins University, online course offering
2012 –2013
Medical Imaging Center of Southern California
Advances in neuroimaging, neurology case review meetings.
Dr. Emma Adam
Post-doctoral research mentor
Edwina S. Tarry Professor
School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University
Contexts of Adolescent Stress and Thriving lab
Dr. Daniel Berry
PhD advisor
Associate Professor
Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota
Bioecology, Self-Regulation, and Learning lab
Dr. Megan Gunnar
PhD co-advisor
Regents Professor | Distinguished McKnight University Professor
Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota
The Gunnar Laboratory for Developmental Psychobiology Research
Dr. Gail Ferguson, PhD
Committee member, research mentor, Diversity & Inclusion committee chair
Associate Professor
Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota
Culture and Family Life lab
Dr. Brittany Lewis
Research mentor for community-engaged scholarship and Interdisciplinary Doctoral Fellowship
CEO and Founder | Research In Action
Senior Research Associate | Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA) | University of Minnesota
Dr. Kathleen Thomas
Teaching mentor and Department Chair
Director | Department Chair | Associate Professor
Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota