Two College of Arts and Science faculty members, Timothy Trull and Christopher Wikle, were among the five Mizzou researchers the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) named 2023 Fellows — a distinguished lifetime honor within the scientific community.
AAAS Fellows are recognized for their distinguished efforts in advancing their respective fields of science.
Timothy Trull
Timothy Trull
Curators’ Distinguished Professor and Byler Distinguished Professor of Psychological Sciences
"For more than 30 years at Mizzou, I have felt supported by my colleagues, department and college to pursue innovative research on mental health, often using new methods and technologies."
Timothy Trull is being recognized for distinguished contributions to the field of psychology and clinical science, particularly using rigorous psychometrics and ambulatory assessment to study personality and psychopathology.
Trull’s research focuses on studying people with mental health conditions who use digital technology and smartphones to go about their daily lives. By assessing mood, motivations and behaviors through the smartphone and external sensors, his efforts have helped identify precursors and influential states that are associated with emotion dysregulation, impulsivity and problematic behaviors like substance use. His work has informed numerous treatment interventions that can be delivered in person or through smartphones.
“For more than 30 years at Mizzou, I have felt supported by my colleagues, department and college to pursue innovative research on mental health, often using new methods and technologies,” Trull said. “In addition, I have been able to collaborate with faculty and students, not only in my own department, but also in other departments and colleges. I have never felt placed in an academic silo, and I have learned so much from others along the way.”
Christopher Wikle
Curators' Distinguished Professor and Department Chair of Statistics
“Mizzou has given me access to great collaborators over the last 26 years, and the infrastructure continues to get stronger in terms of research support.”
Christopher Wikle is being recognized for outstanding research in spatio-temporal statistics in geophysics and other applications, for exceptional mentoring and teaching, and for sustained editorial services to professional societies.
Wikle’s research focuses on developing new approaches to help people better predict, prepare for and understand environmentally extreme events. His efforts have helped improve seasonal forecasts for tornado impacts in the Midwest, model the spread of invasive species in the Southeast, model the spread of wildfires in California, and better predict ocean patterns and the potential impacts on weather, climate and ecosystems.
“I have always loved math and science, and there is a famous saying about statisticians that we get to play in everyone else’s backyard,” Wikle said. “Mizzou has given me access to great collaborators over the last 26 years, and the infrastructure continues to get stronger in terms of research support.”
Christopher Wikle
More about AAAS
AAAS is the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal Science. Founded in 1848, the nonprofit fulfills its mission to “advance science and service society” through initiatives in science policy, international programs, science education and public engagement.