New leaders, focus for Div. 12

Div. 12 (Society of Clinical Psychology) President Diane J. Willis, PhD, will focus the division on "Best practices with special populations" during her tenure. She chose the topic because "clinical psychologists in practice and research have long ignored the low income, disadvantaged population and have made invisible those who are not middle class," she says.

In other division developments, Stanley Sue, PhD, will take over as chair of the science and practice committee and enlist Guillermo Bernal, PhD, Ray Lorien, PhD, and Willis to co-edit a book on best practices with low income and/or ethnic-minority populations. He challenges division members to include more of these populations in empirically supported treatment research, he says.

Other new faces in division leadership include Gary Melton, PhD, as chair of the Fellows Committee, Dan McNeil, PhD, as division program chair, and Elizabeth King, PhD, as co-chair of the Task Force on Public Relations. Luis Vargas, PhD, has joined the division's publications committee, and Lahoma Schultz, a graduate student from Oklahoma State University, is a new student representative.

International collaboration is Div. 17 focus

The 2003 theme for Div. 17 (Society of Counseling Psychology) President Louise Douce, PhD, is "Globalization of counseling psychology." Projects and activities under her theme will include an Internet database on the division's Web site to enable counseling psychologists to connect worldwide, and an international conference titled "School and work-based transitions: theory, research and practice," to be held June 12-14 in Coimbra, Portugal. The division also plans to establish a division of counseling psychology in the International Congress of Applied Psychology and is strategizing to encourage international work and collaboration among counseling psychologists worldwide.

"We hope to examine the challenges and opportunities of international work with the special focus of multicultural expertise, prevention, developmental perspectives and attention to strengths that are core elements of the counseling psychology perspective," says Douce. For questions about this year's theme and activities, contact Douce at (614) 292-5766 or douce.1@osu.edu.

Divisions host symposium on complex work performance

Register now for the joint annual mid-year symposium of Divs. 19 (Military) and 21 (Applied Experimental and Engineering) to be held March 6-7 in Fort Belvoir, Va. The theme for this year's meeting is "Measuring and maintaining performance in complex environments."

The symposium highlights research on human performance on the battlefield, in military and civilian aviation and in air traffic control and other complex work environments. This year's special focus is advances in the measurement of operator performance and human error.

The symposium is held in conjunction with the Potomac Chapter of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. Register before Feb. 18 to receive a reduced rate. For information on registration costs and payment, contact Scott Shappell, PhD, at (405) 954-4846; fax: (405) 954-4852; e-mail: Scott.Shappell@faa.gov.

Div. 48 group seeks involvement

The Ethnicity and Peace Working Group of Div. 48 (Society for the Study of Peace, Conflict & Violence) seeks to increase and apply psychological knowledge about peacebuilding and social justice with a special focus on racial, ethnic and religious bases of conflict and violence, and is inviting psychologists to join the division's effort to fufill this mission. Members of the working group have been involved in several international and national forums to address the origins and resolution of ethnic and religious conflicts, including the 2001 World Conference Against Racism in South Africa and the National Multicultural Conferences and Summits co-sponsored by APA and several APA Divisions.

Div. 48 encourages those interested in peace psychologists' work to contact the division through its Web site, http://gsep.pepperdine.edu/~mstimac/Peace-Psychology.htm, or to contact the working group at dfragin@att.net.

Remembering Lizette Peterson-Homer

Div. 54 (Society of Pediatric Psychology) lost one of its most well-respected and influential members last year with the death of Lizette Peterson-Homer, PhD. Peterson-Homer was well-known for her research in pediatric psychology, which most recently focused on childhood injury, and received the division's Distinguished Research Contribution Award in 1989.

To remember and honor their distinguished colleague, Div. 54 has asked Peterson-Homer's longtime friend and colleague, Michael Roberts, PhD, to write a personal and professional remembrance of Lizette's life, which was published in the division's Journal of Pediatric Psychology (Vol. 28, No. 1).

In recognition of Peterson-Homer's contributions to the field, former division president Donald Routh, PhD, has requested that the Rebecca Routh Coon Injury Research Grant of the American Psychological Foundation be renamed the Lizette Peterson-Homer Injury Research Grant in Lizette's honor (see the December Monitor for more information).

Apply now for Div. 54 research funds

Div. 54 (Society of Pediatric Psychology) is accepting applications for two research grant programs:

* The Routh Student Research Grant program offers up to $500 for current student members of Div. 54 who are enrolled full time in a graduate program in psychology. Research proposals may address any topic within the field of pediatric psychology. The project must be conducted under the supervision of a faculty adviser and may be an independent study or include work leading to a master's or doctoral degree. Proposals should include a 100-word abstract, a project description of no more than seven pages, a detailed budget, a statement of qualifications of the student and a letter of recommendation from the faculty adviser.

* The Lizette Peterson-Homer Injury Prevention Grant, formerly called the Rebecca Routh Coon Injury Prevention Grant, offers up to $1,000 to students and faculty to support research related to the prevention of physical injuries in children and adolescents. Application materials should include a proposal of no more than seven single-spaced pages that includes a 100-word abstract, a project description, a detailed budget, a curriculum vitae and a faculty supervisor letter if the applicant is a student.

The submission deadline for both grant programs is April 1. Send five copies of the appropriate proposal materials to Sharon L. Berry, PhD, Psychology Manager and Director of Training, Children's Hospitals and Clinics, 2525 Chicago Ave. South, Minneapolis, MN 55404. For questions about applying, contact Berry at (612) 813-6727; e-mail: Sharon.Berry@ChildrensHC.org.

New e-mail for Div. 55 Div. 55 (American Society for the Advancement of Pharmacotherapy) has a new main e-mail address: div55@namgmt.com. Members and psychologists who want to communicate with the division electronically can use this new address immediately.