University of North Texas 
BAO Faculty & 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, 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.
Melissa Bowen, M.S., BCBA
Melissa Bowen is an Adjunct Professor for the Behavior Analysis Online program. She
received her Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Psychology from the University of
Nebraska. Melissa has over ten years of clinical experience in the field of autism
intervention and currently serves as the Clinical Director for an autism clinic providing
assent-based ABA therapy to autistic children. Melissa spent the last 6 years focused
on the development and implementation of staff training for behavior-analytic service
providers.
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.
Dr. Gabriella Van den Elzen, Ph.D., BCBA-D
Dr. Gabriella Van Den Elzen earned her doctoral degree in behavior analysis from the
University of Nebraska Medical Center's Munroe-Meyer Institute. In addition to her
adjunct faculty position with UNT, Dr. Van Den Elzen works as an assistant clinical
director at an autism center in Denver, Colorado. Dr. Van Den Elzen's research and
clinical interests include early intervention and verbal behavior.
BAO Student Teaching Assistants
Lisia Albuquerque
Darshini Deutsch
Brooke Dorety
Bryn Harris
Josef Harris
Erin Hill
Setareh Moslemi
Daniela Olaya Gallo
Sarah Owen
Samantha Perdeep
Cameron Scallon
Darshini Deutsch
Brooke Dorety
Bryn Harris
Josef Harris
Erin Hill
Setareh Moslemi
Daniela Olaya Gallo
Sarah Owen
Samantha Perdeep
Cameron Scallon
BAO's Founding Faculty
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 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.