Faculty Spotlight

Dr. Megan Rogers

Dr. Megan Rogers is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology, having joined the faculty in 2022. She earned her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Florida State University, where she conducted research on short-term risk factors for suicidal thoughts and behavior. Her work explores numerous critical factors such as over arousal—encompassing agitation, irritability, and sleep disturbances—and cognitive dysfunction—including rumination and attentional biases—in relation to risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors.

Continuing her impressive academic journey, Dr. Rogers completed her predoctoral internship training at the Alpert Medical School of Brown University. During this time, she gained valuable experience through three distinct clinical rotations. She received specialized training in an intensive outpatient program addressing obsessive-compulsive disorder and hoarding, practiced Dialectical Behavior Therapy in a partial hospital program at Butler Hospital, and participated in a primary care/behavioral health rotation at the Providence Veterans Association, where she provided brief therapy for veterans, assisted in the bariatric surgery and sexual health clinics, and also facilitated group therapy sessions.

In her commitment to education, Dr. Rogers teaches statistics courses to graduate students in the Master of Arts Program for Psychological Research. She imparts her passion for statistics in her lectures and emphasizes the practical significance of statistical analysis in empirical research. She further navigates her students through statistical software programs such as SPSS Syntax and R, to refine their statistical computing.

Dr. Rogers's contributions extend beyond the classroom. Recently, she and Dr. Ty Schepis (alongside Dr. Kelly Clary in the School of Social Work) were awarded a significant $1.9 million grant from SAMHSA to implement the Fentanyl Education, Support, Training, and Awareness (FESTA) Program in Hays County. This initiative aims to foster community engagement among middle and high school students, parents, caregivers, and teachers, while providing essential education and support for addressing substance misuse related to fentanyl in schools. Dr. Rogers serves as the statistician for this grant, applying her expertise to enhance the program’s effectiveness.

Additionally, Dr. Rogers is a Principal Investigator on two important grants focused on suicide research. She received $5,000 for The Trust Grant from the American Psychological Foundation, which supports her study on suicidal participants’ experiences with real-time monitoring research. Furthermore, she was awarded $16,000 for a research enhancement grant from Texas State University to develop and validate a self-report measure assessing psychological distance to suicide methods.

Finally, demonstrating her dedication to disseminating suicide research knowledge and providing mentorship, networking, and presentation opportunities to students and early career researchers, Dr. Rogers has spearheaded the organization of a brand new virtual and free conference: the Suicide Research Symposium (SRS). Last year alone, the SRS had nearly 2,500 attendees and over 300 presenters spanning six continents, diverse backgrounds, and numerous scientific disciplines. The SRS is now in its fourth year and is still led by Dr. Rogers and her colleagues; find out more here:https://www.suicideresearchsymposium.com/