Michelle Vanwagner

Biographical Information:

I was born in Kalamazoo and grew up in Mattawan Michigan, a small village about 20 minutes west of Kalamazoo. I have always lived in the Kalamazoo area, and I enjoy the weather, but loath my Michigan accent. I graduate from Mattawan High School in 1998 and began my first semester at Western Michigan University in Fall 1998. I fell in love with OBM and subsequently behavior analysis when I took PSY 3440, Organizational Psychology for non-majors. I completed my bachelor’s degree in December 2004, with a major in psychology and minor in applied statistics. I have academic interest in performance management, behavioral systems analysis and special interest in community applications of those techniques. I also have an interest in basic work in the experimental analysis of behavior and research methodology. I began my first semester of graduate school at Western Michigan University in the Summer II semester of 2005 when I enrolled in the 4 week Behavioral Boot Camp course (PSY 6100) taught by Dr. Richard Malott.

Fun but Mostly Useless Facts:

I have two dogs, Millie and Bandit and two bunnies, Monkey (Miss Bunn) and Smudge. I worked at a pet store for 6 years during my undergrad and first semester of grad school and have extensive but often useless knowledge of pets. I have worked for the Association for Behavior Analysis International since January 2005, and have been involved in numerous training and development, systems analysis and research projects. My two major interests outside academia are gardening and aquarium keeping. Sadly, since I moved into my new house, I have not set up any new aquariums, but at one time, I had up to 15 and was a member of two aquarium clubs (I know, pretty geeky). Before I came to fall in love with behavior analysis, I considered the following careers: music education, geology, statistics, human resource management, and marriage and family therapy. My favorite conversation topics include: behavior analysis & skinner, pets, gardening & home improvement, and astronomy & physics (though my knowledge is severely limited). I also thoroughly enjoy ontological and epistemological discussions (discussions of being/existence and knowledge).