Dr. Rebecca Brooker

GOOD MORNING IT IS A GREAT DAY TO KEEP REPORTING THE NEWS

Why Parental Stress Isn’t Just About the Parent Taking care of yourself as a parent isn't an indulgence; it has a substantial effect on the well-being of your children.

Revisited a favorite past paper that appeared alongside some other great science in this important message from journalist Joanne Chen.
greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item...

The 25th Occasional Temperament Conference (OTC25) will be held at Texas A&M University Nov. 6-8, 2025. OTC is an international conference uniting researchers & practitioners with special interests in the study of. Please visit the OTC25 website for conference and call for abstracts, then share!

Two woman walking and embracing each other in front of an ICE detention center. The woman on the left is wearing a black dress and heels. The woman on the right is smiling and wearing a white hijab, glasses, and a pink garment. Members of the press are in the background.

Two women standing, smiling, and embracing each other with grass, water, and the sky in the background. The woman on the left is wearing a white hijab, glasses, and a pink garment. The woman on the right is wearing a black dress.

Two woman stand next to each other and hold onto one another. The woman on the left is wearing a black dress. The woman on the right is smiling and wearing a white hijab, glasses, and a pink garment. In the background is the fence of an ICE detention center.

Today, our client Rümeysa Öztürk was released on bail from ICE detention in Louisiana, and she will return to New England to continue her studies.

📸 Giancarlo D’Agostaro

This group of research assistants, staff, and postdocs has worked SO INCREDIBLY HARD this year and I am so dang proud of them.

Envisioning Motherhood Before & After Baby’s Arrival | Article Discover how envisioning motherhood before and after a baby arrives can support child development.

Thankful to be part of this effort with @hjvrutherford.bsky.social, @talyatziv.bsky.social, and the social-media avoidant Dr. Matt Vess.

childandfamilyblog.com/envisioning-...

We always post here. sites.google.com/view/psychjo...

Upon learning that yesterday would be my last day as a program officer at the National Science Foundation, I shared this parting message with my colleagues. The next few months will be frenetic and stressful for them. Here are some things that you can do to help them with the mission ahead. (1)

Research Assistant - Brooker Job TitleResearch Assistant - Brooker Agency Texas A&M University Department Psychology Proposed Minimum SalaryCommensurate Job LocationCollege Station, Texas Job TypeStaff Job Description Our Com...

I am hiring a full and part-time post-bachelor's level research assistant for in-person work in my laboratory. We have a great environment here with a competitive salary ($45,000/year for full-time positions) for cost of living. Applications due 2/10/25.

tamus.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/TAMU_Externa...

Postdoc publications and citations link to academic retention and faculty success | PNAS Postdoctoral training is a career stage often described as a demanding and anxiety-laden time when many promising PhDs see their academic dreams sl...

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Every year we send holiday cards to families participating in our active studies. This year a family sent us a card back and it was so cute my heart exploded. Also, since this is my professional account, can this go into future “plans for retention” grant sections?

Gov. Greg Abbott threatens Texas A&M president’s job over claim that university broke DEI ban Abbott's comments came after A&M invited staffers and students to attend a conference that a conservative activist said broke the state’s ban on diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

Gov. Greg Abbott threatened Texas A&M President Mark Welsh III’s job after a conservative activist shared a university email inviting some staffers and PhD students to a conference that limited participation to people who are Black, Hispanic or Native American. www.texastribune.org/2025/01/14/t...

Two pieces of advice for academic interviews For prospective grad students and faculty

New substack:
smallpotatoes.paulbloom.net/p/two-pieces...

New research from graduate and undergraduate students in my lab now published in the latest issue of Emotion. We linked maternal depression symptoms to out-of-context negative emotion in infants, even beyond tendencies to display negative emotion more generally.

The basic principle is that reviewers are tired, they're rushed, they're reading your and 10 other grants on top of their normal workload.

Anything you can do to make it easy for them will help.

Here's a list of my suggestions.

Can I be added, too, please?

Work led by DOME Lab graduate student Sarah Peoples showing that as early as age three, coordinated efforts across the brain and heart seem to be protective against childhood outcomes like stress and anxiety.

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Congrats to the new Dr. Sejal Mistry-Patel, who found, as part of her dissertation, that moms’ perceptions of smartphone-based support positively predict mother-infant relationship quality, suggesting phones are neither ALL good nor ALL bad, but likely have many possible impacts on development.

So proud of these DOME Lab graduate and undergraduate students, awarded for their hard work this year and representing a dozen others who are helping to make it all happen.

Thanks to Cooper's BBQ and #SOBP2024 for hosting a great event!

This is exactly why one would purchase adorable onesies for their research. (Posted with permission).

Had a great time talking about developmental science in the mountains last week. Thank you to Utah State Psychology for being such wonderful hosts.

Had a visit to the lab from TAMU President General (Ret.) Mark Welsh. It was a great opportunity to share some of our science and to introduce him to some of the amazing students working in the lab. They were SO excited.

Thrilled to share this new paper with student, Sarah Peoples, and college, Liz Davis. We found a predictable patterns of activation across preschoolers' neural and cardiac systems of regulation and preliminary evidence for links to more/less adaptive behaviors.

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Had a wonderful time hearing about amazing science and presenting out own work on maternal brain plasticity at the Winter Conference on Neural Plasticity.

The MAClab at Texas A&M is looking for a post-doc! Details below. Please share! drive.google.com/file/d/1Gi1gmPY_HFXaL4cgAwIe6se6BWlBLZd1/view?usp=sharing

Important changes at NSF Developmental Science regarding the number of proposals submitted with the same PI or co-PI as well as proposals that will be considered by the same PI already funded by NSF-DS. new.nsf.gov/funding/oppo...

Looking for a research assistant position? Want experience with TMS and neuroimaging before applying to grad school? Come join us! I am thrilled to have a new project using TMS and imaging to look at the cerebellum in cognitive decline. tamus.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/TAMU_E...

Training in rigorous + joyful science. The undergraduates in my lab are as delightful as they are smart.

Excited and honored to be included among this round of new APS fellows. Clearly do not know how to share the APS post with my own comments added. Happy to be better at developmental science than at social media.