Melissa Ann Marcotte, PhD
Associate Professor of Psychology
Craig Lee 368 – Rhode Island College
eMail: mmarcotte@ric.edu
Ph: (401) 692-7222
Let’s be honest… I was a college dropout. After high school, I was not ready to commit to a career path. I ended up moving to Florida and working for a few years before deciding to return to school. I applied to the local community college, and they required me to take a placement test since I had been out of high school for so long. Upon receiving my score, the advisor recommended that I join the honors program. I laughed and told them that sounded like too much work. I wanted to dabble in school, not dive in. But they convinced me to give the program a shot. It was called Interdisciplinary Studies (IDS) program and covered all the required credits for writing, history, arts – essentially everything except the math and science gen eds. It was structured so that students would receive 9 credits each semester for three semesters. It was team taught by three instructors – Drs. Joe Fenley, Barbara Bird, and Linda Yakle. They were my initial inspiration for wanting to pursue a graduate degree and become a professor. They were tough graders, but they were approachable, funny, and passionate in their delivery of the material. They got me to love learning. I wanted to learn about EVERYTHING, but I eventually decided to focus on psychology after taking an additional elective in “abnormal” psychology.
Upon finishing the IDS program, I received a partial scholarship to attend the University of Tampa. I took several classes focused on physiological psychology, research methods, and statistics with Drs. Scott Husband and Jeff Skowronek. Once again, I was incredibly inspired by their teaching style and realized how student learning is greatly impacted by the relationship one has with their professor. Dr. Skowronek was the one who helped me discover and develop my skillset and love for statistics. The education I received at the University of Tampa was top of the line, however, the private school tuition was way more than I could afford, so I had to transfer to another school. I wanted to move back to Rhode Island, so I transferred to Rhode Island College (RIC). I was worried that going to a public college would hinder my ability to get the necessary experience to be competitive for grad school, but I was mistaken. I ended up with a double major, an internship, and had the opportunity to be a research assistant in Dr. Beverly Goldfield’s Infant Language Development Lab. Thanks to funding from the Rhode Island IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (RI-INBRE) Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program, I was able to get a stipend while gaining the valuable research experience. Collectively, these undergraduate experiences shaped the teacher and mentor that I am today. What struck me the most was the influence one could have as a professor, especially at a public institution with first-generation students. I earned my B.A. in Psychology and B.S. in Chemical Dependency and Addiction Studies at Rhode Island College. It was my dream to go back some day and teach there. I wanted to give students, particularly first-generation and other underrepresented students in STEM, the opportunity to learn about, participate in, and develop a love for statistics and research methods.
Under the guidance of Dr. Charles Collyer, I went on to earn my master’s degree and Ph.D. in Behavioral Science at URI. My focus was on social, cognitive, and physiological perspectives in psychology, with advanced training in research methods, behavioral statistics, and multicultural psychology. I had many transformative experiences at URI – from my Kingian Nonviolence training to my graduate assistantship at the Help Desk – I was inspired by so many people it is impossible to list them all. By the end of my 5 years there, I was a Kingian Nonviolence trainer, a practicing Buddhist, and a published researcher. I was also honored with the Graduate Student Excellence Award by URI’s Department of Psychology for my teaching, research, and initiatives around social justice, diversity, and inclusion. During my final year as an ABD (all but dissertation), I started working as an adjunct professor at the Rhode Island School of Design. Additionally, I had reconnected with Dr. Robin Montvilo, who happened to come to the restaurant I was working while attending grad school. She stayed in touch and alerted me to an open position at RIC. In 2017, I finally returned “home” to the Psychology Department at RIC and have been teaching there full-time ever since.
In addition to teaching courses in research methods and behavioral statistics, I currently head the Social Cognition Lab (SCL). Our research focuses on how people’s perception of their social status impacts their health, wellness, and behaviors. In my research lab, I usually have a team of five or more student research assistants who participate in the research process from conception to dissemination. The research we are currently conducting builds on my prior work studying reactions to social provocation. We are interested in the unique responses people have depending on their current cognitive state, as well as gender norms and societal expectations. Additionally, I have mentored McNair scholars, honors students, and graduate students and have taken many students to regional conferences to present their own research. In a nutshell, I’m livin’ the dream.
