BAO Faculty and Staff:

Karen Toussaint, Ph.D., BCBA-D, LBA

Associate Professor and Department Chair

Dr. Karen Rader Toussaint attained her doctoral degree in psychology from Louisiana State University, specializing in applied behavior analysis. Presently, she holds the position of an associate professor and serves as the chair of the Department of Behavior Analysis at the University of North Texas. Within UNT, she plays a vital role in co-directing a training and research clinic situated at the UNT Kristin Farmer Autism Center. In this capacity, she oversees graduate students engaged in providing early intensive behavioral intervention. Dr. Toussaint’s research pursuits encompass several areas, including training behavior-change agents, cultural responsivity training, conditioned reinforcement of social behavior, and instructional approaches designed to facilitate generalized behavior. Her contributions extend to published research in notable journals like the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis and Behavior Analysis in Practice.

 

Micah Hope

Micah Hope, M.S., BCBA

Micah Hope is the Assistant Director for Behavior Analysis Online. Micah's pronouns are she/they. She received her Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Behavior Analysis at the University of North Texas. Micah has worked in higher education for several years and is currently pursuing their Ph.D. at Endicott College, where they are conducting research related to effective teaching methods in online instruction. They are passionate about providing effective education based on the principles of behavior analysis and current research on best pedagogical practices. Micah hopes your experience at BAO is positive, enriching, and most of all, helpful to you.

 

 

Kenda Morrison Ph.D., BCBA-D

Dr. Morrison is a Principal Lecturer and has worked for the University of North Texas since 2011. Dr. Morrison received a Ph.D. in Developmental and Child Psychology from the University of Kansas in 1999 under the tutelage of Dr. Donald Baer. At that time, she also became a certified Early Childhood Special Education teacher. Dr. Morrison used ABA to help children with autism and their families for 28 years. Her early work was with the Early Childhood Autism Program in Lawrence, KS. She also worked at the UCLA Young Autism Project and Princeton Child Development Institute. Dr. Morrison has published research in peer-reviewed journals and has presented talks and workshops throughout several states. She was a charter certificant of the Behavior Analysis Certification Board (BACB) and currently serves as our Verified Course Sequences (VCS) coordinator.

 

Ashley Lugo

Ashley M. Lugo, Ph.D., BCBA-D

Dr. Lugo earned her Ph.D. in Applied Behavior Analysis from The University of Nebraska Medical Center and M.S. in Applied Behavior Analysis from Florida Institute of Technology. Dr. Lugo held previous faculty appointments at Saint Louis University and Southeast Missouri State University, and Florida Institute of Technology. Her behavior analytic interests include improving the efficiency and effectiveness of skill acquisition interventions, parent and staff training, and the assessment and treatment of treatment nonadherence. Dr. Lugo has over ten years of clinical experience in the implementation of behavioral interventions in the pediatric population. Her experience includes early intensive behavior intervention (EIBI) and the assessment and treatment of children diagnosed with pediatric behavior disorders. Dr. Lugo has published in Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, Behavior Analysis in Practice, and Behavioral Interventions, among other peer-reviewed journals.

Tracie Mann, Ph.D., BCBA-D, LBA

Dr. Mann is the Head of School at Jane Justin School (JJS) in Fort Worth. Jane Justin School is part of Cook Children's Medical Center and provides state-of-the-art, evidence-based special education to children with complex developmental, intellectual, and learning disabilities. She is a licensed behavior analyst, and received her Master's and Doctorate degrees from University of Kansas under the mentorship of Don Bushell, Ed Morris, and Greg Hanley. Dr. Mann has spent her career in various roles in education: teacher, preschool director, principal, behavior analyst, and head of school. She feels fortunate to have only worked in programs that recognize the value of a behavioral approach to special education. Dr. Mann rounds out her professional activities with a little bit of research and service. For the former, her interests lie in instructional design (particularly for reading), social skills instruction, staff development, and programming for adolescents and adults with autism. Several studies have been conducted at Jane Justin School in these areas. For the latter, she is a member of Cook Children's Institutional Review Board and other various committees at Child Study Center and Cook Children's. She occasionally serves as a guest reviewer for various behavioral journals, and spends as much time as possible advocating for individuals with disabilities and their families.

Dr. Amanda Rone, Ph.D., BCBA-D

Dr. Rone attended the University of Florida for her undergraduate and graduate studies, and earned her Ph.D. in Applied Behavior Analysis in 2010 under the advisement of Dr. Brian Iwata. 

Dr. Rone has worked in clinical and research settings, where her focus has primarily been on the assessment and treatment of problem behavior and caregiver training. Dr. Rone has worked with individuals and care providers in a variety of settings and with a variety of challenging behavior, and she has published research in peer-reviewed journals and presented at regional and national conferences. 

Dr. Rone lives in Florida, where she works for the Agency for Persons with Disabilities and also provides consultative services for families. Dr. Rone enjoys spending time with her husband and two daughters, volunteering, traveling, and reading. She is an avid Gator fan and enjoys attending as many UF-related activities as possible.

BAO Student Teaching Assistants:

Lisia Albuquerque
Darshini Deutsch
Josef Harris
Kai Huang
Jenny Lin
April Linden
Julianne Olivieri
Setareh Moslemi
Ian Paterson
Staci Pine-Blackman
Danielle Pelletier
Samantha Perdeep
Carly Richey
Cameron Scallon
 

 

BAO's Founding Faculty:

Sigrid Glenn

Sigrid Glenn Ph.D., BCBA-D

Dr. Glenn's passionate commitment to the future of behavior analysis has resulted in numerous contributions to her chosen field. She has co-authored four books and over 45 articles and book chapters. Although her early research was mainly in applied areas, she is widely recognized for her later conceptual work on selection at behavioral and cultural levels. As founding chair of the Department of Behavior Analysis at the University of North Texas, Dr. Glenn established master's and bachelor's degree programs in behavior analysis, leading the faculty to become the first graduate program to be accredited by the Association for Behavior Analysis International (ABAI). With characteristic prescience about important developments in the field, Dr. Glenn, a charter certificant of the Behavior Analysis Certification Board (BACB), also led the faculty in developing the first internet sequence of behavior analysis courses approved by BACB. Now retired, Dr. Glenn's legacy continues to thrive in the Department of Behavior Analysis and Behavior Analysis Online.

Leslie Burkett

Leslie Burkett Ph.D.

Leslie arrived in Texas with an M.A. in Anthropology and found Sigrid Glenn in Behavior Analysis and a mission. While earning her M.S. in Behavior Analysis at UNT, she played with databases and computer programming and was delighted to join Dr. Glenn in developing BAO courses. Serving in many roles for BAO (instructional designer and programmer, database designer and administrator, systems designer, proofreader), Leslie completed a doctorate in Information Science and co-developed six of the BAO courses. Now retired, Dr. Burkett enjoys spending her time reading and traveling.