Melanie Horn-Mallers

Professor
Phone: (657) 278-3890
Office: EC-456
Email:   mhornmallers@fullerton.edu  

 

 

 

Degrees Obtained

Ph.D., 2003, University of Arizona, Department of Human Development and Family Studies with a specialization in Adult Health Education via the School of Public Health.
M.S., 1999, University of Arizona, Department of Human Development and Family Studies.
B.A., 1994, UCLA, Department of Psychology.

Research Interests

I was trained to be a life span developmental researcher with a focus on stress, health and coping across adulthood. My educational background also includes intensive emphasis on family systems theory, social ecology and biopsychosocial models of human development. Broadly, my research interests center on the general question of how daily stressful experiences influence well-being. My current research efforts include exploring the relationship between parent-child attachment and daily experiences including stressor exposure and reactivity (e.g., mood and physical health symptoms) during childhood. I am also examining the link between family systems and resilience and I am currently co-PI for the Building Family Resilience project. As a lifespan researcher, I am also exploring the interrelationships between aging, technology, and health outcomes.

Teaching

My teaching philosophy is to facilitate life-long learning skills, foster critical thinking, prepare students to function effectively in their fields, and continually improve both course planning (e.g., engaged learning) and classroom techniques and strategies (e.g., collaborative, team-based, and problem-based learning). My ultimate goal, for each and every lecture, is to get students to become passionate about learning and to appreciate knowledge. I believe this can be obtained in both applied, content courses, as well as basic prerequisites.

Personal Hobbies/Interests

Though teaching and research have become part of my daily personal interests, I also enjoy doing yoga, bike riding and reading. When time permits, I hope to become certified in mindfulness. Also, having had the great fortune to travel across Europe, Israel and parts of Mexico, as well as live in Japan for a year, I enjoy learning about other cultures and sharing time with people of unique backgrounds and experiences. Among my greatest interests though are spending time with my husband and 2 sons. As a family, we enjoy playing at the beach, exploring new cities, listening to music, and volunteering for local non-profits