Tarlise Townsend

About Tarlise

updated 2/2014: Tarlie Townsend is a visiting researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin (MPIB). The focus of her work there is to understand processes underlying real- world decision-making, such as people’s strategies for shrinking their carbon footprint, howthe communication of relevant data affects those strategies, and whether policy should“nudge” individuals to make better decisions for the sake of the greater good. Tarlie’s interests in these issues emerged from a diverse background. While obtaining her B.S. in neuroscience at Indiana University (IU), she gained a foundation in the neural and cognitive underpinnings of human behavior. Through her work in Dr. Tom James’ neuroimaginglaboratory, she was trained in the methodological building blocks of empirical research. Tarlie also holds a B.A. in Germanic studies, and spent a year in Freiburg, Germany. Exposure to European approaches to environmental and health challenges piqued her interest in such bigger-picture issues, leading her to explore their relationship to psychology. During an earlier internship at the MPIB, she co-designed a study on risk literacy in health decisions, and learned about transparent statistics and the use of simple strategies (heuristics) in decision-making. Motivated by her burgeoning interest in the intersection of environment and health, Tarlie later pursued an internship with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, where she developed communications materials for the agency’s hydraulic fracturing study, gaining insight into environmental decision-making at the policy level. In her spare time at IU, Tarlie volunteered and worked on a variety of education projects. She served as the educational programmer for her residence hall, co-designed and co-taught a course on models of empathy, and mentored child survivors of domestic violence. On the IU Scholarship Advisory Committee, she helped connect high-achieving high school students to their place at the university. On the Board of Aeons, a research and advisory group to the IU president, she tackled major issues facing IU students. Her undergraduate honors thesis examined social inequality in the German public school systemand won IU’s Provost’s Award for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity. After graduating summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa in August 2012, Tarlie returned to the MPIB with support from a DAAD graduate study scholarship. She hopes to continue pursuing a career that links psychology, health, and the environment.