ABOUT CHARLIE.

Research Summary. A central tenet underlying my research is that we humans share a collection of fundamental motives that profoundly influence the way we feel about, think about, and behave toward others. I focus on three key social motives—status striving, affiliation, and kin care—and examine how they shape our social interactions and decisions within hierarchically stratified teams and relationships at work. These motives are not unique to a specific culture or even to our species; they are shared among humans and connect us to the broader animal kingdom. One thing I like about the fundamental motives framework is that it serves as a parsimonious and coherent organizing structure that unites mid-level evolutionary theories about behavior. As such, I find this theoretical approach valuable for elucidating specific features of human social behavior while connecting our experience to an overarching, evolutionarily informed account of what it means to be a group-living species. 

Education. I earned my B.A. at Miami University, where I double majored in Psychology and Anthropology. During my undergraduate studies, I also spent a semester as a Junior Visiting Research Fellow at the Leverhulme Centre for Evolutionary Studies in the Biological Anthropology Department at the University of Cambridge. Soon thereafter, I gained some experience with primatology by conducting fieldwork within the Yasuní National Park in the Ecuadorian Amazon and by studying allomaternal behavior in the Western Lowland Gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) at the Cincinnati Zoo. I then earned my M.S. and Ph.D. in Social Psychology from Florida State University. While completing my doctoral studies, I also spent a few years as a Visiting Research Fellow in the Management and Organizations Department at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. 

Current Position. I am an Assistant Professor of Management and Organizations at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. In addition to conducting research with my EPOCH team, I teach business majors about the psychological and interpersonal processes underlying organizational behavior. The two primary courses I teach at the undergraduate level are Behavioral Theory of Management (MO 300) and Leadership in Organizations (MO 321). I also have taught Leadership Development (MO 621) to MBA students and participate in cocurricular programming events put on by the Sanger Leadership Center. 

Outside of Work. In my free time, I enjoy spending time with my husband, Patrick, and our three (very spoiled) cats. I also love trail running, reading fantasy novels (Neil Gaiman is my current favorite), and spending time in nature. For travel, I enjoy taking dispersed camping trips to various national and state parks. Since moving to Ann Arbor, Patrick and I have made several trips up north to visit the beautifully remote Upper Peninsula. As an animal lover, I also get a lot of satisfaction out of helping local wildlife: I volunteer with a licensed wildlife rehabilitator that takes in orphaned and injured wildlife (primarily raccoons), nurses them back to health, and then re-releases them to the wild.