Leah Skovran

Leah Skovran is a second year PhD/MLS student. Leah was born and raised in Rapid City, South Dakota—home of the Black Hills Motorcycle Rally and fantastic outdoor attractions, including Mt. Rushmore. She received her B.A. in psychology from Creighton University in Omaha, NE. At Creighton, she was involved in a variety of leadership positions, including concertmistress of the Creighton University Symphony, President of the Delta Zeta Sorority, and Vice President of Creighton’s Psi Chi chapter. As an undergraduate, Leah received grants from both Psi Chi and the American Psychological Foundation/Council on Undergraduate Research to conduct research investigating the role of sensation seeking in psychopathic sexual offenders, the factors that play a role in juvenile transfer in the United States legal system, and an interesting line of programmatic research in children’s rights, and how parents’ and children’s attitudes towards these rights change across cultures.

Since joining the law and psychology program at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln in the fall of 2006, Leah has been involved in a number of research endeavors as well as service activities within the department. Leah serves as a graduate student mentor for the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program, which gives undergraduates from across the nation the opportunity to gain research experience, and receive advising necessary to attend the graduate program of his or her choice. Within the lab, Leah has been involved extensively with a project investigating the role of emotion in death penalty cases. More specifically, the study is looking at the role particular emotions play (i.e. fear, anger) in how certain jurors’ are in their decisions (i.e. guilt or innocence, death penalty or life in prison). Further, the study seeks to identify the factors that jurors, who experience particular emotions, label as most important in their decision making processes. Leah is also active in the lab’s trial consulting firm, Scientific Resources for the Law.

In between spending hours in the lab and in class, you can find Leah at University of Nebraska sporting events, Creighton basketball games, and wakeboarding at the lake during the summer months!

Cherney, I. & Skovran, L. (2005, March). Children’s rights: The effects of culture and socioeconomic status on a child’s perception: An international perspective. Poster presented at Great Plains Student Psychology Convention, Omaha, NE.

Skovran, L. & Cherney, I. (2005, May). Children’s socioeconomic status and the perception of their rights: An international perspective. Poster presented at the Midwest Psychological Association Conference, Chicago, IL.

Skovran, L., Butler, T., Huss, M., &. Scalora, M (2005, November). The Relationship between sexual fantasies and sensation seeking behavior in psychopathic offenders. Poster presented at the Meeting of the Nebraska Psychological Society (NPS), Lincoln, NE.

Skovran, L. (2005, Winter) Risky business: An analysis of reasoning differences in risky decision making between adolescents and young adults. Eye on Psi Chi. In Press. [Abstract only].

Cherney, I., Skovran, L. & Polachek, E. (2006, March). Children’s and adults’ perceptions of children’s rights. Presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Adolescence (SRA), San Francisco, CA.

Skovran, L., Huss, M., & Scalora, M. (2006, August). Sexual fantasies and sensation seeking in psychopathic offenders. Paper presented at 114th annual conference of the American Psychological Association, New Orleans, LA.