NPA September, 2024 Member Spotlight

Chelsea Klinkebiel, PhD — Full-Time Academician Member

Chelsea Klinkebiel, PhD

I graduated from UNL with my bachelor’s degree and received my doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology from Texas Tech. I completed my pre-doctoral internship and post-doctoral fellowship at the Oklahoma University Health Sciences Center. I practiced at Complete Children’s Health in Lincoln for almost four years before making a transition back to academia. I am currently a faculty member in the Psychology Department at Nebraska Wesleyan University. I teach undergraduate courses, advise students, mentor students in research, and serve on several campus-wide committees.

I joined NPA in 2017, when I moved back to Nebraska after finishing my post-doctoral fellowship and began practicing as a psychologist in Lincoln. I joined because of the excellent continuing education programming and because it helped me to network with others and stay connected with mentors and colleagues. Although I am not currently practicing, I hope to practice part-time in the future and enjoy the quality continuing education opportunities NPA offers that help me stay up-to-date and keep my license active.
I am a member of the Academic Affairs committee and enjoy connecting with others who teach and supervise students. I have been able to collaborate with other committee members on some great opportunities to help students navigate their career plans (e.g., career panels).

What do you love most about your current position?
I enjoy the creativity and independence I get to wield with the courses I teach. I recently developed a first-year seminar titled, “This is Your Brain on Nature” in which students explore research on how time in nature is associated with reductions in stress and improvements in health outcomes. I am currently teaching a course on sleep and dreaming, and I love learning new things alongside my students. I enjoy advising and mentoring students, and it is so rewarding to see them develop knowledge and skills related to Psychology as well as an educational and professional identity.

What is a project you’re working on right now, and why is it meaningful to you?
I am developing an interdisciplinary course about identity development in which students explore a country or region and then visit that country on a faculty-led study abroad trip. We will explore how identity may be influenced by many system levels, and I plan to have them examine how their understanding of their own identity changes when they encounter a culture different from theirs. I plan to start with Spain, the country where I studied abroad as an undergraduate, but I am excited to add other countries to the list for future semesters. Studying abroad was a transformative experience for me, and I hope to give students the same opportunity.

What are you currently listening to or reading?
I love listening to podcasts and am subscribed to way too many to keep up with them all. I use podcasts in the classroom, and I assign episodes of Ologies and APA’s Speaking of Psychology when they are relevant to the content for classes. My other personal favorites include Handsome, Hidden Brain, and Code Switch.

What is your favorite travel destination, or what is on your travel bucket list?
My family and I have traveled to Spain several times, and it’s one of our very favorite destinations, especially Valencia. We have several places in Central and South America on our bucket list as well. We recently hosted a Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence from Zimbabwe in the NWU Psychology Department, and it was a wonderful experience getting to know about him, his family, his education, and his country. I would love to visit South Africa and Zimbabwe in the future, whether that is family travel or traveling with students..

Download Member Spotlight PDF: Chelsea Klinkebiel

Past NPA Member Spotlights

Aug 2024 - Twila Preston
Jul 2024 - Nicole Schmidt
Jun 2024 - Megan Lawhon
May 2024 - Rick McNeese
Mar. 2024 - Gina May
Feb. 2024 - Jody Trejo
Jan. 2024 - Pamela May-Weeks
June, 2016 - Dennis McNeilly
May, 2016 - Pamela Richardson
April, 2016 - Jerry VanWinkle
February, 2016 - Dave Hansen
January, 2016 - Debra Hope
December, 2015 - Mary Fran Flood
November, 2015 – Shannon Black
October, 2015 – John "Jay" Curran
September, 2015 – Nancy Bradford
July, 2015 – Alayna Schreier
June, 2015 – Joe Swoboda
May, 2015 – Mikel Merritt
January, 2015 — Lyndia Madison
December, 2014 — Mark Hald
October, 2014 — Sarah Schaffer
August, 2014 — Brenda Rohren
July, 2014 — Heath Hodges
June, 2014 — April Davis

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