Faculty Director
Dr. Larissa (Lacie) Barber received her Bachelor of Arts in psychology from the University of Missouri-St. Louis. She received her Master of Science (Research) degree in Psychology from Saint Louis University. Her Ph.D. is from Saint Louis University, with a concentration in Industrial-Organizational Psychology, a minor in Research Methodology, and a certificate in University Teaching Skills.
Dr. Barber’s research program examines work-life balance issues, employee sleep, and counterproductive behavior in the health context. She has authored and co-authored numerous peer-reviewed journal publications and presents regularly across several professional conference forums (particularly SIOP and WSH). She joined the Social and Industrial-Organizational Psychology Program faculty in Fall 2011 and enjoys research collaborations with students specializing in both Social and I/O areas.
Before coming to NIU, Dr. Barber worked at Fontbonne University (St. Louis, MO) and Smith College (Northampton, MA). At NIU, she teaches undergraduate courses in industrial-organizational psychology and graduate courses in personnel psychology and occupational health psychology. In addition to graduate awards for teaching and research excellence, she has received two Instructional Resource Awards from the Society for the Teaching of Psychology for projects related to ethics training for participants and undergraduate internship supervision resources.
In terms of applied experiences, she has worked as a research consultant for the American Psychological Association‘s Healthy Workplace Program and the Center for Applied Behavior Science at Saint Louis University. She has provided consultation for organizations in the areas of occupational health, selection and training, quantitative data analysis, and organizational assessment.
