ICIS Elections

The University of Texas at Austin, USA

I have been a longtime contributor to ICIS and the field of infant development. My research focuses on early cognition, perception-action development and the social context of action. In this work, I have taken a multi-disciplinary and cross-cultural perspective, using behavioral, eye-tracking and motion tracking methods. Our studies have been supported by NIH and NSF and have appeared in the major journals in the field. I have also made contributions to the field through my editorial work—I am a past Editor-in-Chief of Child Development and the current Editor-in-Chief of Advances in Child Development and Behavior. I also co-edited (with C. Tamis-LeMonda) the recent Cambridge Handbook of Infant Development. I am excited about the possibility to help lead ICIS. We are at a point of immense opportunity, but also great challenge. Advances in data collection methods—including large-scale collaborations, artificial intelligence and neuroscience/biological science combined with shifts in funding, policy and research dissemination are reshaping our field. At the same time, there is a growing need in our science for global engagement, inclusivity and interdisciplinarity. ICIS has a deep pool of committed individuals across the globe to develop new initiatives, including new training models, to meet these challenges. With the ICIS community, I would like to help our field capitalize on these opportunities and prepare for the next generation of infancy research.

College of Staten Island, USA

My research examines how cultural variation in early caregiving shapes infant motor, cognitive, and social development, with ongoing fieldwork in Tajikistan and a commitment to situating Western developmental norms within their cultural context rather than treating them as universal benchmarks. This cross-cultural orientation aligns directly with ICIS’s core values of international representation and methodological diversity.

As a Professor at the Graduate Center and College of Staten Island, CUNY, I have extensive experience mentoring early-career researchers, serving on editorial boards, and building collaborative partnerships across institutional and national lines. I serve as an action editor for Infant and Child Development and Developmental Psychology, and my NSF-funded work reflects a sustained commitment to rigorous, ecologically valid science.

If elected, I would prioritize expanding ICIS’s international reach, strengthening support for graduate students and early-career scholars, and fostering partnerships that broaden the populations and perspectives represented in our field.

University of California, Riverside, USA

Effective communication is crucial for maximizing the societal impact of infancy research. As researchers in this field, we must engage a diverse array of audiences: fellow scientists, funding bodies and government organizations, psychology students, and parents worldwide. If elected as Communications Chair, I plan to expand upon successful existing initiatives, such as The Baby Blog and Connecting With People interviews, to boost their international reach and engagement. While research dissemination is a primary focus, I also believe the ICIS Communications Committee should actively seek new avenues to bring in community and stakeholder perspectives to share with researchers. Furthermore, public access to reliable information on infancy and parenting is currently vulnerable to threats ranging from inaccurate AI-generated search summaries to politicization. The Communications Committee must strive to counter misinformation and strengthen public trust in developmental science.

University of Oregon, USA

I am an Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Oregon. My research aims to quantify infants’ everyday experiences in order to advance our understanding of experience-dependent developmental process. I think that scholarly silos are a barrier to progress and would bring my experiences collaborating on topics of language, vision, music, and motor development to my role in ICIS leadership. I also live with multiple sclerosis and would encourage our society to grapple with professional practices that may impact folks’ opportunities to contribute to science. I often introduce myself as “Hi, I’m Caitlin. I’m not known for my poker face.” and commit to using my transparent communication in service of our society’s important mission to “advancing the understanding of infant learning and development across the globe”!