I knew that Martha planned to take a sabbatical this fall, so I checked in to get her news. In an email (from Rome! where she was on a family vacation) she wrote, “I am still working full-time teaching, advising, and doing research at Tufts. I decided to step down from my administrative position directing our graduate programs in July (after six years) and that's been a very good move. My current research examines the "mismatch" between biological/evolutionary influences and modern day parenting and child development practices; currently a biology colleague and I have a study going on childhood night terrors. Right now (fall 2018) I'm on sabbatical to study the effects of incarceration on children and families, and am developing a new course I plan to teach in fall of 2019. There are about 3 million (!) minor children in the US with an incarcerated parent and the effects on their development and their families are staggeringly bad. My department has not addressed this topic so there is a lot of room to bring about awareness and I'm hoping to inspire undergrad and grad students at Tufts to address the issue.”
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