Tasha Howard is an Extension Assistant Professor and completed both a bachelor’s and master’s degree with the HDFS department. She has created new and innovative programs for both Idaho and Utah, and taught thousands of community members, presented at loc...

When Lucas Martin learned about the emphasis in Family Finance in the HDFS department, he loved the idea of “empowering others to make positive changes in their personal finances.” He quickly decided it was a good fit for him.

Sabrina Trimble is a Global Outreach Strategist for Saprea, a nonprofit organization that helps liberate individuals and society from child sexual abuse and its lasting impacts. Sabrina was involved in the HDFS department as an Undergraduate Teaching Fell...

Kimra Ross is one of our Human Development and Family Studies statewide graduates (2017) who found a fulfilling career while completing her practicum experience at Prime Time 4 Kids in Vernal, Utah.

On a research journey inspired by her family's experience with Alzheimer's disease, Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia Research Center faculty affiliate Yin Liu uses biological markers to study stress in individuals who care for loved ones with dementia.

Amanda Christensen graduated from the HDFS department in 2008 with an emphasis in Family Finance. She also completed a Master’s degree from the department in 2010. Amanda is currently an Extension Professor with Utah State University specializing in per

HDFS researchers Kay Bradford and Brian Higginbotham are studying teens' relationship styles to identify how relationship education can help adolescents build healthier current and future relationships.

We are excited to highlight Emily Pitt Mendoza! Emily graduated in 2013 from the Human Development and Family Studies department, Logan campus, and currently works as an elementary school counselor. Part of her work includes teaching curriculum-based soci...

Shawn Whiteman recently received a grant from the National Institutes of Health to study how pandemic-induced challenges for families might impact adolescent development, especially with regard to substance use.

Working Collaboratively to Develop Programs and Improve Lives of Indigenous Adolescent Mothers and Their Children in Ecuador

In July 2022, the new Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia Research Center (ADRD) opened at Utah State University. To commemorate the opening, ADRD Director and HDFS Professor Beth Fauth wanted to create art that could be used in the new center offices (EDUC...

Dr. Travis Dorsch, who was honored with the Early Career Distinguished Scholar Award from the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity, spoke at the Society's annual conference this summer.

In recognition of a long career of contributions to the field of marriage and family therapy, Dr. Scot Allgood was presented with the Utah Association for Marriage and Family Therapy's lifetime achievement award at their Spring conference.

The Human Development and Family Studies department has one of the largest research faculty in USU’s College of Education and Human Services. Our students get to know who we are and what we’re passionate about by taking our graduate and undergraduate clas...

Oftentimes as parents or partners, we find ourselves so concerned for those we love, so instinctively desirous for their well-being, that we neglect ourselves in order to care for them.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has challenged many of our lives, one thing we can do to help stay healthy is to have a good night sleep. Sleep is the one activity we spend most of our life doing, compared to working, eating, and school.

The USU Human Development and Family Studies department (HDFS) offers many valuable General Education courses; in particular, the Balancing Work and Family Course (HDFS 1010).

Many have noted changes in the employment sector in the last year or so, with many companies seeming to be short staffed. This appears to be the case in the professional helping field in northern Utah.

Healthy Relationships Utah, directed by Dr. Brian Higginbotham, offers free research-based relationship education courses throughout the state.

At USU we have people specifically designated to answer undergraduate students’ questions about courses, programs, graduation requirements, majors, minors, and more.

For more than two decades, the Utah Marriage Commission has been providing relationship and marriage education classes, conferences and other resources to countless Utahns.

USU Wide Receiver, Deven Thompkins, recently shared his experience of being a USU football star and father (USU Statesmen, 2021).

What do HDFS faculty researchers actually do? Presented by Utah State University’s Office of Research, Wyatt Traughber, M.A., learns just this as he interviews four HDFS faculty as part of an ongoing podcast series on the research being conducted at USU....

Yet when I arrived here at Utah State University 10 years ago, that’s where I found myself: teaching undergraduates about diversity. My sense of inadequacy was through the roof.

Early in my graduate career, a faculty member recommended me to add the book The professor is in (TPII) to my reading list. TPII offers helpful insight on how to navigate the academic career from step one - building strong records as a graduate student.

Giving birth to my first child during the height of the pandemic, the end of April 2020, was a roller coaster of emotions for me. I study the prevention of perinatal (pregnancy and postpartum) mental health disorders as a researcher here at Utah State in ...

To be accepted to present at the annual conference for the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) is a great honor. Originally, I was not planning to present when COVID-19 restrictions caused the 2020 AAMFT conference to move to an on...

Utah State University was recently awarded two $5 million grants from the U.S Department of Health and Human Services Office of Family Assistance. Both grants will be distributed over a five-year period and will fund fatherhood and relationship education ...

I was the first in my immediate family to apply to graduate school, and the first in my extended family to aim for a PhD. I knew I wanted to study peer relations among adolescents, and that I was drawn toward quantitative methods and meta-analysis.

As a recognized name in youth sport parenting research, I often get cold-called (or cold-emailed) with a request to contribute to a journal, volume, or book, in my area of expertise. This is not an uncommon occurrence, and I’m sure my colleagues field suc...

The practicum experience within the Human Development and Family Studies department is designed to be a step that bridges a student's transformation from a purely academic approach to the human services field to participation in the field, under the super...