When I switch majors from an Art and Design focus to Psychology, research was the thing that drew me in. I had a General Psych course with a professor who conducted research on massage therapy, and he recruited me to help him, as I was already a trained massage therapist.
After just one semester, I was hooked. I finally had an avenue to understanding all of the “why” questions floating around in my head. I love the process of taking something that is difficult to measure, and using my psychometrics training to turn it into actionable information.
🎓 Education & Research Background
University of Wisconsin–Stout — Polytechnic University
- Emphasis on real-world, hands-on learning
- Graduated with:
- Co-authorship on a published study
- First-author credit on an article in an international journal
🔍 Curiosity-Driven Career Shift
- Started in Art & Design, transitioned to Psychology
- Motivated by a desire to:
- Understand how and why things work
- Solve problems through research and analysis
- Blend creativity with critical thinking
🧪 Academic Research Experience
- Completed 1+ research project per semester during:
- Final 2 years of undergrad
- 2 years of graduate studies
- Roles included:
- Team-based research for coursework
- Research assistant to a graduate student and professor
- Master’s Thesis – Exploring Childhood Obesity: Using PhotoVoice to give a voice to parents in my community
💼 Professional Research
- Applied research to improve workflows for both users and staff
- Developed skills in:
- SQL (Oracle, Postgres)
- Microsoft Power BI and Excel
- Focused on continuous, adaptive research aligned with evolving user needs
- Key successes:
- Improved the textbook lookup process for students and streamlined staff updates
- Led the comprehensive UI redesign of Elite EXTRA, using user feedback to guide improvements
Meg Burkett 