Dr. Kristin Kirchner
Assistant Professor
- Ph.D. In Experimental Psychology, 2022
University of South Carolina - Certificate of Applied Statistics, 2022
University of South Carolina - MA in Experimental Psychology, 2020
University of South Carolina - BS in Experimental Psychology with Distinction, minor in Biology
University of South Carolina Upstate
Statement of teaching and research interests.
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Teaching Fields: I regularly teach Introduction to General Psychology, Sensation & Perception, and Senior Seminar. I also teach Drugs, Health, & Behavior, Experimental Psychology, and other neuro or methods based courses as needed.
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Research: My research interests include healthcare worker stress, undergraduate student stress, drug use, addiction (drugs, gambling, video games), pedagogy in psychology, and animal models of disease. I use techniques such as ELISA for biological samples, but I also conduct survey and intervention-based research. Undergraduate students are encouraged to connect with me about their interests, as I'm happy to help students from all majors pursue research through psychological methodology.
Recent publications or scholarly output.
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Kirchner, K.N., Persaud, P.A.*, Bland, C.C.*, Sherman, H. (under review). Moral Injury in Healthcare Workers: An intervention to mitigate distress. Nursing Ethics, under review.
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“Moral Injury in Healthcare Workers: Evaluating a Reading-Based Intervention.” Connor Bland, Pearce Persaud, Kristin N. Kirchner. Poster. Georgia Undergraduate Research Conference (GURC) 2025 (Emory University, Oxford, GA). November 7-8, 2025.
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Wood Hopkins, M. M., Conn, G., Whatley, M. A., Kirchner, K. N., & Sparks, L.* (2025). Secondary validation and investigation of the Attitudes Toward Face Masks Scale. North American Journal of Psychology, 27(4), 1199–1215.*
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“Salivary Cortisol in Undergraduate Students During Exam Time.” Madison R. Williams*, Kristin N. Kirchner. Poster. Valdosta State Symposium on Undergraduate Research (Valdosta, GA). April 7-11, 2025.
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“A Systemic Review of Moral Injury and Compassion Fatigue and Prevention Strategies in Healthcare Professionals.” Pearce A. Persaud* and Connor C. Bland* (co-first-authors), Kristin N. Kirchner. Poster. Valdosta State Symposium on Undergraduate Research (Valdosta, GA). April 7-11, 2025.
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“Salivary Cortisol in Undergraduate Students During Exam Time.” Madison R. Williams*, Kristin N. Kirchner. Poster. Georgia Undergraduate Research in Psychology Conference (Kennesaw, GA). April 5, 2025.
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Innovative Teaching & Learning Conference hosted by the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. March 26, 2025. “Using a Role-Playing Game to Promote Student Engagement, Problem Solving, and Critical Thinking.” Kristin N. Kirchner. Conference presentation (oral).
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Society for the Teaching of Psychology: Annual Conference on Teaching (Louisville, KY). October 11, 2024. “Using a dice-based role-playing game to promote problem solving and empathy in undergraduate students.” Kristin N. Kirchner. Poster.
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“Using hair cortisol levels to understand the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on stress in healthcare workers.” Madison R. Williams*, Kristin Kirchner. Poster. Georgia Undergraduate Research Conference (Valdoata, GA) – November 10-11, 2023.
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Blazer Summer Research Institute (Valdosta, GA). July 28, 2023. “Cortisol in Healthcare Workers.” Madison Williams*, Kristin Kirchner. Oral presentation.
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“Developing variables to assess pandemic-related stress in healthcare workers.” Madison R. Williams*, Kristin Kirchner. Poster. Valdosta State Symposium on Undergraduate Research (Valdoata, GA) – April 3-7, 2023.