PAU Ph.D. Student Wins Western Psychological Association Award

Palo Alto University’s Ph.D. student, Tara Linnea Weldon, received the Honorable Mention Poster Award at the Western Psychological Association in Portland, Oregon this year. Her poster titled “Genocide in Cambodia and Intergenerational Attribution of Blame”was among a vast group of competitive posters.

Tara won the Division of International Psychology’s (APA’s Division 52) poster contest for posters with international content, where students are first authors. 

She is currently studying in the Ph.D. Clinical Psychology program, with an emphasis in Clinical Neuroscience and Women’s Health.  She is presently contributing to behavioral medicine research and utilizing neuroimaging data to discover biomarkers for psychological disorders.  With a history of emergency room trauma work and federal catastrophic first response, she is interested in utilizing her doctorate within an interdisciplinary clinical environment.  Tara will be providing disaster management consultation as needed throughout the upcoming hurricane and wildfire seasons with FEMA.

A brief description of Tara’s conference poster, which won the American Psychological Association Honorable Mention Award:

“Genocide in Cambodia and Intergenerational Attribution of Blame”

Tara researched along with PAU late professor, Dr. Nigel Field, whose workfocused on the mechanisms of how attitudes, thoughts, and emotions about civil war in Cambodia are passed down through generations.  Families of genocide victims, as well as perpetrators, were interviewed after viewing video imagery of violent war crimes, which took place in various locations throughout Cambodia. 

Learn more about the Ph.D. Clinical Psychology program:https://www.paloaltou.edu/graduate-programs/phd-programs/phd-clinical-psychology.