Ryan Bird, PhD

During my PhD in Cognitive and Behavioral Sciences at Auburn University, I developed expertise in a broad range of disciplines. My work leverages the tools of neuroscience, statistical modelling, political/social/personality psychology, and psychopharmacology to uncover and understand the nature of the social and personal aspects of human emotion and behavior. I have experience in data acquisition/analysis using ultra-high resolution functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), electrocardiogram (ECG), respiration, and skin conductance response. I recently completed my dissertation project, which was a randomized controlled trial on cannabidiol (CBD), the major, non-psychoactive cannabinoid in cannabis, assessing individual differences in emotion recognition.

In addition to my doctoral work, I earned a master's degree in I/O Psychology from the University of West Florida (UWF) in Pensacola, Florida. While at UWF, I developed a strong knowledge base in the psychology of people at work. Through team-based projects, I gained practical experience in training and development, personnel selection, employment and labor law, organizational change and development assessment, and formal job analysis and delivered scientifically-informed results for local businesses and organizations.

I'm currently searching for opportunities to extend my expertise into the private sector in consulting, data analysis, or organizational development roles, particularly those with a focus on helping people advance in their health, personal lives, and/or careers. I am also very open to research/analysis positions in public and/or social policy.