Bio

Joanne Souza, PhD: Joanne is a psychologist with research interests in the evolution of social fear and its effects on human health, learning, and welfare. She has collaborated with Paul Bingham over the last twelve years in the development of “social coercion theory” including its implications to current human social, sexual, and political behavior. They have continued to publish their collaborative work in the scholarly literature and to speak at numerous conferences and public lectures. Joanne’s interest in this area brought her to academia after a successful career at AT&T as a communications consultant in health and education. Seeing the profound influence of social stress on her colleagues during the divestiture of AT&T, she returned to academia seeking answers to why people reacted to social stress the way they did - often seemingly against their own interests. Joanne is currently a faculty member at Stony Brook University in the Dept. of Biochemistry and Cell Biology and the director of the Biology ONLINE Program. The program’s objectives are to increase student understanding and retention of scientific content through interactive learning.