University of California at Davis
Degree: Ph.D. in Psychology, December 2019
Honors: Provost’s Fellowship, 2013
Advisor: Jeffrey C. Schank, Ph.D.
University of California at Davis
Degree: B.S. in Psychology, June 2010
Honors
Summa cum laude
Dean’s List, Fall 2008 – Spring 2010
Senior Honors Thesis: Creation of the American Mythos Ideology Scale (Chairperson: Kevin J. Grimm, Ph.D.)
Postdoctoral Fellow, REACH Institute, Arizona State University
Full-time position, August 2022 – present
Duties: Advancement of methodology in dissemination and implementation research for at-risk communities for amelioration of drug abuse. mental health, and health issues.
Mentors: Kevin Grimm, Professor & Cady Berkel, Associate Professor
Senior Research Associate, University of Geneva
Full-time position, December 2019 – June 2022
Duties: Development of novel methods for the analysis of longitudinal data for social science research; research into the properties of longitudinal statistical models; analysis of longitudinal brain and behavioral data; and research collaboration with colleagues in the faculty of psychology and educational sciences (FPSE).
Supervisor: Paolo Ghisletta, Professor
Programmer, University of California at Davis
Full-time position, December 2011 – October 2013
Duties: Created an agent-based model of waterfowl foraging behavior; developed theoretical basis for model with research team; developed environmental inputs to model with external agencies; created statistical analyses of results; and principle author of published results.
Supervisor: John M. Eadie, Principal Investigator
Lab Manager, Junior Specialist, University of California at Davis
Full-time position, September 2010 – December 2011
Duties: Development of agent-based models of animal and human behavior; design and development of computer systems for mode simulations; statistical analysis of results; co-authoring of research results; and responsibility for operation of lab including protocols, documentation, training, and administration of hybrid computer and animal research lab, directly reporting to the principal investigator.
Supervisor: Jeffrey C. Schank, Principal Investigator
Lead Research Assistant, University of California at Davis
Part-time position, June 2009 – June 2012
Duties: Collaborated in development of research hypotheses, instruments, and experimental methods with principal investigator, recruitment and management of research assistants, recruitment of participants, administration of self-report survey and participant debriefing, data coding, data analysis, and co-authoring of final research report.
Supervisor: Kevin A. McLemore, M.A., Principal Investigator
Mental Health Worker II, Safe Harbor Crisis House, Yolo County Care Continuum, Woodland, California
Part-time position, August 2009 – July 2012
Duties: Provision of direct services to clients including assessment, development of treatment plans, one-on-one counseling, facilitation of groups, medication maintenance and delivery, discharge planning, and psychiatric case management; milieu management including supervision of activities of daily living, social reintegration activity planning and implementation, and crisis prevention and mitigation; program tasks including client transport, documentation, and facility upkeep.
Supervisor: Alexandra Teter, M.F.T.I., Associate Program Director
Research Assistant, Shamatha Project at the Center for Mind and Brain, University of California at Davis
Part-time position, November 2008 - June 2009
Duties: Reduction of video surveillance of subjects during behavioral tasks for Facial Action Coding System analysis; assistance in evaluation of computerized Response Inhibition Task and masked facial affect recognition task; training of new research assistant interns.
Supervisor: Brandon King, B.A., Junior Specialist
Group Therapy Facilitation Intern, Harm Reduction Therapy Center/Tenderloin Health, San Francisco, California
Part-time position, September 2007 - September 2008
Duties: Facilitated a therapeutic group for marginally-housed and substance-using clients; general support of mental health team at day program for marginally housed individuals.
Supervisor: Jeannie Little, L.C.S.W., Exec. Director & Program Manager
Research Intern, Harm Reduction Therapy Center, San Francisco, California
Part-time position, August 2006 - September 2008
Duties: Creation of a treatment outcomes research instrument with Patt Denning, Ph.D. and Jeannie Little, L.C.S.W; administration of this instrument in interview form to clients at community mental health programs.
Supervisor: Patt Denning, Ph.D., Director of Clinical Services
Society for Prevention Research, Postdoctoral member, Early Career Preventionist Network, 2024.
Association for Psychological Science, Graduate Student Affiliate, 2013 - 2016
American Psychological Association, Student Associate, 2006 – 2011; Graduate Student Associate, Division 5, 2018
Society of Personality and Social Psychology, Student Member, 2010
Western Psychological Association, Student Member, 2008 - 2009
Meier, M. H., Hummel, H. M., & Miller, M. L. (2024). Trends in cannabis-related hospitalizations in Arizona from 2016-2021 and associations with mental health-related hospitalizations. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, Just Accepted. https://doi.org/10.15288/jsad.23-00379
Miller, M. L., Ferrer, E., & Ghisletta, P. (2024). The current practice of latent growth curve modeling in the social and behavioral sciences: Observations and recommendations. International Journal of Behavioral Development, OnlineFirst. https://doi.org/10.1177/01650254241269723
Miller, M. L., & Ghisletta, P. (2024). Time in latent growth curve models. In M. Stemmler, W. Wiedermann, & F. L. Huang (Eds.), Dependent Data in Social Science Research: Forms, Issues, and Methods of Analysis (2nd ed., pp. 43-63). Springer.
Grimm, K. J., & Miller, M. L. (In press, 2024). Developmental methodology: Macro perspectives. In M. Lachman & A. Spiro (Eds.), APA Handbook of Adult Development and Aging. APA.
Gaviria, J., Rey, G., Miller, M. L., Bolton, T., Brosset, S., De Ville, D. V., & Vuilleumier, P. (In review). FMRI network dynamics underpinning the impact of affective carry-over on cognitive control. https://europepmc.org/article/ppr/ppr546141
Miller, M. L., Ghisletta, P., Jacobs, B. S., Dahle, C. L., & Raz, N. (2021). Changes in cerebral arterial pulsatility and hippocampal volume: A transcranial doppler ultrasonography study. Neurobiology of Aging, 108, 110-121. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2021.08.014
Schank, J. C., Miller, M. L., and Smaldino, P. E. (Preprint, 2017). The evolution of fair offers with low rejection thresholds in the ultimatum game. https://doi.org/10.1101/162313
Miller, M. L., and Ferrer, E. (2017). The effect of sampling-time variation on latent growth curve models. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 24, 831-854.
Miller, M. L., Ringelman, K. M., Eadie, J. M., and Schank, J. C. (2017). Time to fly: A comparison of marginal value theorem approximations in an agent-based model of foraging waterfowl. Ecological Modelling, 351, 77-86.
Schank, J. C., Smaldino, P. E., & Miller, M. L. (2015). Evolution of fairness in the dictator game by multilevel selection. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 382, 64-73.
Miller, M. L., Ringelman, K. M., Schank, J. C., and Eadie, J. M. (2014). SWAMP: An agent-based model as a conservation management tool. Simulation, 90, 52-68.
Payette, N., Bujorianu, M., Ropella, G., Cline, K., Schank, J., Miller, M. … Wei, E. (2013). Future MASON directions: Community Recommendations (Report of the 2013 MASON NSF Workshop) (GMU-CS-TR-2013-9). http://cs.gmu.edu/~tr-admin/papers/GMU-CS-TR-2013-9.pdf
National Institute on Drug Abuse T32 Training Fellowship, Arizona State University REACH Institute, 2022-2025, $180,000
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, 2014, $132,000
University of California at Davis Provost’s Fellowship in the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, 2013, $40,387
SATRN Research Fellowship Grant, 2022-2025, $15,000
University of California at Davis University Grant, 2009, $11,493
University of California at Davis Entering Undergraduate Scholarship, 2008, $10,870
Summer Research Fellowship, University of California Psychology Dept., 2018, $6,000
James & Leta Fulmor Scholarship, 2009, $3,750
MASON Conference and Workshop Invitee Award, 2013, $1,000
University of California at Davis Campus Fee Grant, 2009, $630
University of California at Davis Campus Fee Grant, 2008, $630
Graduate Student Association Spring Travel Award, 2014, $500
William F. Dukes Fund in Psychology Travel Award, 2014, $500
Society for Prevention Research Early Career Preventionist Network Travel Award, 2024, $300
Society for Personality and Social Psychology Diversity Fund Undergraduate, Registration Award, 2010, $200
Miller, M. L. (2024, April 9). Simulation: New methods for research in the social sciences. Invited classroom lecture in Social Science at Arizona State University.
Miller, M. L., & Berkel, C. (2023, February 10). A listening session to guide the development of the Arizona LGBTQ Plus Community-Academic (ALPaCA) Alliance [Conference presentation]. University of Arizona Health Systems LGBTQIA+ National Symposium, Tucson, AZ.
Miller, M. L. (2017, June 25 – 2017, July 7). Invited participant to Advanced Graduate Workshop in Computational Social Science Modeling and Complexity, Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM.
Miller, M. L. (2016, June 26 – 2016, July 8). Invited participant to Advanced Graduate Workshop in Computational Social Science Modeling and Complexity, Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM.
Miller, M. L. (2014, June 22 – 2014, July 4). Invited participant to Graduate Workshop in Computational Social Science Modeling and Complexity, Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM.
Miller, M. L. and Schank, J. C. (2013, June). Agent-based models of wildlife and human behavior at UCDavis. Invited presentation at the MASON Conference and Workshop, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA.
Kostizak, K., Miller, M. L., Shively, N., & Soto, Y. (2025, April 3). Development of the City of Phoenix opioid overdose alert system: Methodology and program framework [Conference presentation]. Arizona Public Health Association Annual Conference 2025, Phoenix, AZ, United States.
Miller, M. L. & Ferrer, E. (2018, August). Sampling-time heterogeneity in latent growth-curve models. Presentation in symposium Considering Measurement and Process Heterogeneity: Its Implications, Pervasiveness, and Detection at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco, CA.
Miller, M. L. & Ferrer, E. (2015, April). The effect of sampling-time variation on latent growth curve model fit. Presentation in continuing education symposium A Survey Course in Quantitative Research and Its Applications in Psychology at the annual meeting of the Western Psychological Association, Las Vegas, NV.
Miller, M. L., Berkel, C. Rudo-Stern, J., Matsuno, E. (2024, May). Predictors of engagement and completion in an online intervention for parents of trans youth. Poster session presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Prevention Research, Washington, DC.
McLemore, K. A., Miller, M. L., and Herek, G. M. (2010, January). The relation between ambivalent sexism, self-stigma, and attitudes about marriage equality in sexual minorities. Poster session presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Las Vegas, NV.
Miller, M. L. (2010). Creation of the American Mythos Ideology Scale. Unpublished senior honors thesis. University of California, Davis, CA.
Matsuno, E., Rudo-Stern, J., Miller, M. L., & Berkel, C. (Research in progress). Acceptability, appropriateness, and sustainability of an online support program for parent of trans youth.
Miller, M. L., Piasecki, T. M., Bartholow, B. D., & Meier, M. H. (Research in progress). Do ecological momentary assessments affect substance use patterns? A non-parametric analysis across several studies.
Miller, M. L., Ghisletta, P., & Ferrer, E. (In prep). Sampling-time variation, efficiency, and latent basis bias in latent curve models.
Miller, M. L. (Research in progress). The Davis Beer Shoppe problem: Revisiting the classic game-theory problem with smartphone information.
Miller, M. L. (Research in progress). Decision-making, cooperation, and coordination: An agent-based modeling approach.
Prevention Science, Aging Brain, Motivation Science, Animal Cognition, Adaptive Behavior, Evolution & Human Behavior, Journal of Positive Psychology, Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, Complex Adaptive Systems Modeling
Association for Psychological Science, Student Research Award, 2014-2017
Society of Personality and Social Psychology, Reviewer, Student Poster Award, 2010
Planning Committee, Production Team, and Postdoctoral Teaching Assistant, 2023-2024, Mountain States Community Engaged Dissemination & Implementation Training Week, MS-CEDI
Diversity Committee, 2016-2018, Psychology Student Association, University of California at Davis