Deirdre Katz

Assistant Professor, School of Education

Deirdre Katz earned her B.S. in biology and secondary education from Loyola University Chicago. Deirdre’s professional experience before joining UP includes almost a decade of teaching high school and middle school science in Micronesia and Seattle where she also coached soccer and led international service learning trips. After many years working with adolescents, she returned to higher education and earned her M.Ed. in mind, brain, and education from Harvard and then received a fellowship from the Institute of Education Sciences to pursue her Ph.D. at Pennsylvania State University in human development and family studies, studying the design, implementation, and evaluation of school-based social emotional learning (SEL) interventions. Her research focuses on the intersection of school-based SEL and psychophysiology in adolescents. Specifically, she is curious about the impact mindfulness programs delivered in schools may have on the psychological and physiological well-being of students by promoting adaptive coping strategies. For the last two years Deirdre has been a postdoctoral fellow in the UP Department of Psychological Sciences. She is excited about her new position in the School of Education working with both graduate and undergraduate students. In her free time, Deirdre enjoys soccer, road biking, backpacking, and playing in the ocean.