Lab Director
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Tess M.S. Neal, Ph.D. is a Dean's Associate Professor of Psychology in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences at Iowa State University. She is a scientist, a licensed psychologist (State of Iowa # 121491, State of Arizona #4630, State of Nebraska #844 [voluntary inactive status in NE]), and a parent of two young children.
Her research has been funded by multiple grants from the National Science Foundation, and she has published one edited book and more than three dozen peer-reviewed publications in such journals as Psychological Science in the Public Interest, American Psychologist; PLOS ONE; Psychology, Public Policy, and Law; Law and Human Behavior; and Criminal Justice and Behavior. She serves as associate editor for Psychology, Public Policy, and Law as well as the Journal of Personality Assessment. She served from 2021-2023 as one of the three inaugural Open Science Advisors for Clinical Psychological Science. She was selected as a Fulbright Scholar to work with Kristy Martire and others at UNSW Sydney in the Spring of 2022. Her partner and kids were also in Australia for the duration of the fellowship! She was awarded ASU's Outstanding Mentor Award in 2020 and the 2021 Outstanding Teaching & Mentoring Award from the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (Div. 9 of APA). She served as a PLuS Alliance Research Fellow, funded through a partnership between ASU, King's College London, and UNSW Sydney to collaborate across borders in pursuit of excellence on "vision and tenacity to impact the world." She was named a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science in 2022 and was elected to Fellow status in the American Psychological Association in 2021. She received early career awards for excellence in research from the American Psychology-Law Society (Div. 41 of APA) / American Academy of Forensic Psychology, as well as from the Society for Personality Assessment. Prior to moving to ISU in fall 2023, she was a tenured associate professor at Arizona State University, where she was the founding director of ASU's Future of Forensic Science Initiative and a co-founder of ASU's Law and Behavioral Science Initiative, which won the 2020 President's Award for Innovation. Her CV is here. |
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PhD Students
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Ciera ArnettI am a 5th year doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology program. My interests primarily lie in investigating the mechanisms of psychosis, from sub-clinical psychotic experiences to diagnosable psychotic disorders. I am very excited to work with Dr. Neal in the CLJ Lab (as well as my co-mentor Will Corbin in the BARCA Lab) to better understand the course of substance-induced vs. primary psychosis and its implications for legal contexts. My goal after grad school is to work as a licensed psychologist in the community.
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MS Psychology Students
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Pamela ("Nicky") Sandberg, J.D.
Lab Manager I am a second-year master's student that comes from the legal field. As a practicing attorney, I saw firsthand just how badly psychological research is needed in the legal system. I plan to use my degrees in law and psychology to work on effective reform in the fields of criminal justice, family law, juvenile delinquency, and mental health law.
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Undergraduate Research Assistants
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Alex Somoza
I’m a 3rd year student at Arizona State University pursuing a degree in psychology. I love psychology and it’s ability to provide a better understanding of the world we live in. I look forward to learning as much as I can being a student research aide, in hopes it will assist my future career as a psychologist.
Gaurika Shah
I am a third-year student at Arizona State University, majoring in biology with a minor in psychology. I have always been interested in how the human mind works and why we behave as we do. I am excited to be part of this research community and to learn more about the field of psychology and law. I want to get into med school after graduation with the hope of becoming a psychiatrist one day.
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Collaborators Who Are Part of the Lab
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Jason Frizzell, PhD
Dr. Frizzell is is a faculty member of the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences at ASU and is a licensed psychologist in independent practice in the Phoenix metropolitan area. He completed his Bachelor's Degree in Psychology at ASU and Doctoral degree Texas Tech University. He later completed an internship and a postdoctoral fellowship in forensic psychology. He previously served as a chief psychologist in the Arizona Department of Corrections. He was also formerly employed as a forensic psychologist by the Maricopa County Competency Evaluation and Restoration Programs, where he conducted psychological evaluations for the courts.
Kristy Martire, PhD
Dr. Martire is an Associate Professor in the School of Psychology at the University of New South Wales, Sydney Australia. Her research aims to better understand the development of expertise, processes of evidence evaluation in criminal trials, and to improve the communication between experts and lay decision-makers in forensic settings. She works closely with Dr. Neal and the CLJ Lab through the PLuS Alliance and also hosted Dr. Neal at UNSW during her Fulbright scholarship in Spring 2022. Drs. Neal and Martire were retained by the Mass Casualty Commission to summarize best practices in forensic psychological assessment and apply that framework to a particular psychological autopsy in a major Canadian case.
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Fall 2022. From left, Jason Frizzell, Ciera Arnett, Alex Somoza, Elizabeth Mathers, Emma Saiter, and Pamela ("Nicky") Sandberg.
Tenured & Promoted, May 12, 2021!