Michelle Evans-Chase, PhD

Dissertation Title: Mindfulness Meditation with Incarcerated Youth: A Randomized Controlled Trial Informed by Neuropsychosocial Theories of Adolescence

Advisor: Dr. Phyllis Solomon

Michelle Evans-Chase received her PhD in Social Welfare from the University of Pennsylvania where she studied adolescent development, trauma, and interventions for youth in the juvenile justice system. Michelle’s current work focuses on evidence-based program design and implementation that takes into account the specific needs of different populations including those defined by age, resources, disability, and institutional setting. She has guided program implementation and evaluation for youth in the juvenile justice system, for people with spinal cord injuries in rehabilitation settings, and for high-risk youth in educational settings. Michelle has done invited presentations in conferences and workshops around the country and as far away as Veijle, Denmark. She has been an educator for 20 years teaching in both Psychology and Social Work programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Along with lecturing at SP2, Michelle is a ¾ time Assistant Professor of Psychology at Rowan University.

Outside of her academic pursuits, Dr. Evans-Chase is an avid ocean advocate and athlete with an array of experiences swimming and paddleboarding in oceans around the world. She has worked for the past 10 years alongside her husband to encourage others to challenge the limits of age and gender in embracing new ocean based athletic endeavors. She has coached and taught women and men aged 22 to 72 to overcome their fears of swimming and paddling in deep ocean water, encouraging them to become empowered ocean advocates and athletes themselves. These experiences, combined with her knowledge of program design has given rise to collaborative partnerships with NOAA’s National Marine Sanctuaries on multiple ocean and community safety initiates in the underserved communities of American Samoa.