Academics

Natashia Swalve

Title

Associate Professor and Chair of Psychology and Sociology

Discipline

Psychology

Educational Background

  • Ph.D. Psychology, Neuroscience and Behavior, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
  • M.A. Psychology, Neuroscience and Behavior, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
  • B.A. Psychology, Winona State University, Winona, MN

I am...

 a neuroscientist with a specialization in drugs of abuse. I am curious about how we talk about drug abuse in the media, how we develop new ways of treating drug addiction, and how we can understand the mechanisms behind why we take drugs, both legal and illegal. 

Rank

Associate Professor

My career at Alma began in

2016

My expertise:

drugs of abuse, animal models of mental disorders, psychopharmacology

Signature course(s):

Psychopharmacology

Recent publications:

Esser, E.* & Swalve, N. Implicit gender bias in perceptions of financial jobs. (accepted to SN Social Sciences)

Swalve, N. Changes in perceptions on addiction and empathy after a drugs and behavior course at a small liberal arts college. (accepted to College Teaching)

Swalve, N., DeFoster, R., & Short, M.* (2021) Poor and hurting: Media habits and views on drugs. SN Social Sciences, 1(1) 28

Swalve, N., Harwood, A. & Calhoun, E. (2020) Use of exam wrappers and measures of anxiety on test performance in gateway STEM courses at a small liberal arts college. College Teaching (epub ahead of print)

Swalve, N. & Bierlein, E.* (2020) The anxiogenic effects of caffeine do not potentiate nicotine withdrawal in an elevated plus maze model of anxiety. Journal of Caffeine and Adenosine Research, 10(3) 110-116

Harfmann, B., Swalve, N., Mitrzyk, J.*, & Montoye, A.H.K. (2020) Effect of chronotype on sleep quality in a laboratory setting. International Journal of Exercise Science, 13(3) 1283-1294

Charntikov, S., Pittenger, S., Swalve, N., Barrett, S.T., & Bevins, R.A. (2020) Conditioned enhancement of the nicotine reinforcer. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology 

Swalve, N., Mulholland, M.M., & Li, M. (2019) Alterations of acoustic features of 50 kHz vocalizations by nicotine and phencyclidine in rats. Behavioural Pharmacology, 30(5) 446-451

Other recent accomplishments:

Barlow Award for Faculty Excellence (2022)

Andison Award for Teaching Excellence (2020)

Outstanding Faculty Award in Natural Sciences Division (2020)