Devon Sundberg

Conference Director

For questions regarding the conference schedule and sponsorship opportunities, contact Devon Sundberg, M.S., BCBA, at dsundberg@thewiba.com

 

Devon Sundberg, M.S., BCBA, is WIBA’s Conference Director. As stated in an interview she had with bSci21: “We believe that it is extremely important to ensure that women are respected as scientists and leaders in the field of behavior analysis. We also want to empower early career behavior analysts by highlighting the contributions of prolific women in the field and by providing support and mentorship to women who are new to the field.”

Devon Sundberg received her Bachelors in Psychology from Indiana University Bloomington, IN, and her Masters in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) from St. Cloud State University, Minnesota (online). Devon is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). She has been practicing ABA as a therapist, parent trainer and now Administrative Director for over 10 years. Devon and her husband, Dr. Carl Sundberg, BCBA-D, opened the Behavior Analysis Center for Autism (BACA) in 2009 and serve 120 clients in 4 different locations through a variety of programs based in Indiana. Devon currently serves on the board of her state ABA trade group, Indiana Providers for Effective Autism Treatment (InPEAT). Devon is the mother to three beautiful daughters, Julia (13), Aubrey (11), and Ellen (8).

Carrie Van Hoover

 

For questions regarding the conference schedule and sponsorship opportunities, contact Carrie Van Hoover, B.S. at cvanhoover@thewiba.com

Carrie Van Hoover received her Bachelors in Family and Child from Ball State University, IN along with her minors in Event Management, Psychology of Human Development and Social Work.

Linda LeBlanc, Ph.D., BCBA-D

Linda A. LeBlanc, Ph.D., BCBA-D, MI Licensed Psychologist, is the Executive Director of Research and Clinical Services at Trumpet Behavioral Health. She received her Ph.D. in Child Clinical Psychology in 1996 from Louisiana State University and completed her postdoctoral fellowship at the Kennedy Krieger Institute and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She previously served as a professor on the psychology faculties at Claremont McKenna College (1997-1999), Western Michigan University (1999-2008), and Auburn University (2009-2012). She has published over 90 articles and book chapters on topics such as behavioral treatment of autism, technology-based behavioral interventions, behavioral gerontology, and system development in human services. Dr. LeBlanc is an Associate Editor for Behavior Analysis in Practice and the Literature Review Editor for Education and Treatment of Children. She has previously served as an Associate Editor for The Analysis of Verbal Behavior and the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. She is the 2016 recipient of the American Psychological Association Nathan H. Azrin Award for Distinguished Contribution in Applied Behavior Analysis.

Amy Odum, Ph.D.

Dr. Amy Odum is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at Utah State University. Her research interests are in basic behavioral phenomena, such as response persistence, sensitivity to delayed outcomes, conditional discriminations, and environmental influences on drug effects. Her work has been funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute of Mental Health. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Vermont’s Human Behavioral Pharmacology Laboratory after earning her Ph.D. and M.A. in Psychology, specializing in Behavior Analysis, from West Virginia University. She received a B.S. in Psychology from the University of Florida. Dr. Odum has been Associate Editor for the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, President of the Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior and President of Division 25 of the American Psychological Association. She is currently Editor in Chief of the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior and the first woman to hold this position since the journal was founded in 1958.

When asked about her desire to serve on WIBA’s advisory committee, Amy noted, “I am excited to be part of WIBA because of the importance of highlighting women’s contributions to science. Women, as well as other underrepresented groups, have and continue to make many critical contributions to science which historically have not been well recognized and appreciated. As a society, we benefit the most when contributions are recognized in relation to their merit. I also want to encourage women’s participation in areas of behavior analysis in which they are less represented, like the experimental analysis of behavior. In addition, I want to foster greater understanding and adoption of a healthy and satisfying work/personal life balance in behavior analysis.”

Martha Pelaez, Ph.D.

Martha Pelaez is a Frost Professor at the College of Education, Florida International University. She has studied mother-infant interactions, infant social learning processes and behavior-analytic interventions with infants at risk. Her research has been supported by NIH grants. She is the founding Editor of the Behavior Development Bulletin and her theoretical contributions have included a taxonomy of rule-governed behavior and a textbook on child development (with G. Novak, 2004). Dr. Pelaez has published more than 100 articles in refereed journals (including The American Psychologist and the journal of Child Development) and several monographs. She was the recipient from FIU of the Faculty Research Award twice and the Faculty Service Award, and past member of the Florida Board of Governors.

Denise Ross, PhD., BCBA-D

Denise Ross, PhD., BCBA-D, is chair of the UW System Institute for Urban Education, a program housed at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Her research applies behavior analysis to the development of language and literacy interventions for children with and without disabilities. Ross has established or led approximately 20 professional development partnerships with school districts in New York, Chicago, South Florida, and Kalamazoo, Michigan. Ross earned master’s and doctoral degrees from Teachers College, Columbia University with a major in special education and a specialization in applied behavior analysis. She received her bachelor’s degree in secondary education from Spelman College. We are excited for Dr. Ross to help guide the WIBA mission to empower, celebrate and mentor women behavior analysts and highlight their contributions to the field.

Jonathan Tarbox, Ph.D., BCBA-D

Dr. Jonathan Tarbox is the Program Director of the Master of Science in Applied Behavior Analysis program at the University of Southern California, as well as Director of Research and a Regional Clinic Director at FirstSteps for Kids. Jonathan is Associate Editor of the journal Behavior Analysis in Practice and serves on the editorial boards of five major scientific journals related to autism and behavior analysis. He has published three books on autism treatment and well over 70 peer-reviewed journal articles and chapters in scientific texts. His research focuses on behavioral interventions for teaching complex skills to individuals with autism. He is a frequent presenter at autism and ABA conferences worldwide, and a regular guest on television and radio.
When asked about the importance of WIBA, Jonathan noted, “I am excited about the WIBA conference because women have faced inequality for all of recorded history and still face substantial implicit and explicit sexism. Most of my greatest mentors have been women and the vast majority of new people coming into behavior analysis are women, and yet still most leadership positions are held by men. A conference that recognizes the contributions of prominent women in behavior analysis is long overdue. Furthermore, it is worth noting that equality for women is not a women’s issue, it is an issue that should be important to all humans who care about equality and justice.”

Jennifer Zarcone, Ph.D., BCBA

Jennifer Zarcone is a Senior Behavior Analyst on the Neurobehavioral Unit in Behavioral Psychology and an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. She is a supervising clinician and researcher for individuals with disabilities who have severe problem behavior.

Jennifer obtained her doctoral degree from the Behavior Analysis program at the University of Florida, Department of Psychology in 1993. She is a board certified behavior analyst and a licensed psychologist. She has served in leadership positions on the Board of Directors for the Association for Positive Behavior Support. For the Association of Behavior Analysis (ABAI) she serves on the Practice Board and as a conference coordinator for the annual Autism Conference. She completed a three-year term as an associate editor for the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis and serves on the board of editors for the American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and the International Journal of Developmental Disabilities. She is currently President of the Maryland Association for Behavior Analysis. Her areas of expertise are in autism, Prader-Willi syndrome, severe behavior disorders, and medication clinical trials.

When asked to join the WIBA Advisory Board, Jennifer noted, “I have always enjoyed mentoring students, trainees and junior colleagues on issues related to finding a good balance in their professional and personal life but also in making sure they are aware of any gender inequity issues in the workplace. For many young women, there are subtle issues that can affect when they get promoted, how they can be paid equitably, and making sure that they can find the right balance in self-advocacy. Over the past several years I have been teaching a seminar for our interns and post-docs on job negotiation and self-advocacy in the promotion process in an effort to empower both male and female trainees as they begin their professional careers. My desire to continue to mentor others around these issues is one of the main reasons I was excited to join the WIBA Advisory Board.”