Assistant Professor of Psychobiology

Telephone: 859-238-5283
E-mail: katieann.skogsberg@centre.edu

Greetings! Thanks for welcoming me to Centre College. I've been asked to write a paragraph about myself, not the same old credentials, but something about how I got here and what I do when I'm not wearing my "professor/researcher" hat. Currently, the thing that I'm the most excited about other than my new job are my fiancé (Shane Redmond, a Math Professor at EKU), planning our July '09 wedding, and playing fetch with our adorable black Lab pup. As for how did I get here? Well, perhaps mine was not the typical path to becoming a college professor. I grew up on a farm in rural southern Idaho, where we raised potatoes, and since we ony had 3 TV channels, we entertained ourselves by raising and training horses. By the time I was 16, I was training and showing horses for other people and decided I was going to be a professional horse trainer. Thus, I spent the next 20 years traveling the country and "living the dream" as a trainer, coach, and judge. During that time, I managed to earn a B.A. in Theatre from Boise State University and consequently am a diehard Bronco Football fan. Eventually, in my late 20's I realized that there was no retirement 401k for horse trainers and decided it was time to go back to school with the goal of getting a degree in sports psychology. Along the way, I fell in love with neuroscience, switched my focus to earning a PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience, and managed to land a spot in the Brain, Behavior, and Cognition program at Northwestern University. Just as I was finishing my program, I saw the opening here at Centre College for professor of Psychobiology and it was a dream come true. I still miss the horses and still sneak off to watch a show every chance I get. I scheme about how we can turn the car-port into a barn, and am scoping out all the farms for sale between here and Richmond. Other than that mild obsession, my fiancé and I are both runners and big football fans so on any given Saturday, you might see us running a 5K in the morning and watching BSU and Tennessee play in the afternoon. But right now, my major focus is being the best professor and faculty member here at Centre that I can be, and thank you again for giving me the opportunity to join your team.