Dr. Christopher Podlesnik
My research focuses on the role of fundamental conditioning processes in choice and the relapse of operant behavior, with interests in translating this research to understand and develop behavioral treatments for challenging behavior. I am faculty in the Behavior Analysis Program at the University of Florida, after previously holding faculty positions at Auburn University, the Florida Institute of Technology, and The University of Auckland. I also completed a post doctoral fellowship in the Pharmacology Department at the University of Michigan. I served as Associate Editor for the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior and Behavioral Processes, am past President of the Society for the Quantitative Analyses of Behavior, and served as board member for the Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior. I received both the 2011 BF Skinner Early Career Award from Division 25 of the American Psychological Association and the 2016 Federation of Associations in Behavior and Brain Sciences Early Career Impact Award for the Association for Behavior Analysis International. I am a BCBA-D and received my PhD from Utah State University and a BA from West Virginia University.
Doctoral students
- Carla Martínez-Pérez, M.S.
Carla is a fourth-year PhD student who earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a minor in Biology from St. Lawrence University in 2021. During her undergraduate studies, she collaborated with her advisor, Dr. Adam Fox, on multiple research projects exploring delay discounting in both rats and humans. Carla went on to earn her master’s degree in Behavior Analysis from the University of Florida in 2024, under the mentorship of Dr. Chris Podlesnik. Her current research interests center on the quantitative analysis of relapse phenomena. In 2023, Carla received the Innovative Student Research Grant from the Society for the Advancement of Behavior Analysis. - Kyleigh Montague, B.S.
Kyleigh Montague is a third-year doctoral student in the POD Lab. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a minor in Applied Statistics and Data Analysis from Kennesaw State University in 2021. While at KSU, she served as an undergraduate research fellow at the Marcus Autism Center in Atlanta, Georgia, where she later worked as a post-baccalaureate research fellow before joining the POD Lab. She currently investigates behavioral processes contributing to relapse and evaluates mitigation techniques to attenuate these effects. Further, Kyleigh is interested in refining quantitative and theoretical models of choice to better describe and explain dynamic behavior change. Kyleigh received the 2024 Innovative Student Research Grant from the Society for the Advancement of Behavior Analysis. - Diego A. Ávila Rozo, M.S.
Diego is a first-year PhD student who earned his bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Fundación Universitaria Konrad Lorenz in Bogotá, Colombia. During his undergraduate studies as a research practitioner, he conducted research about resistance to change and verbal behavior led by his supervisor, Dr. Diana Delgado. Then, he earned his Master’s degree in Psychology with an emphasis on choice and decision-making from Universidad Nacional de Colombia under the mentorship of Dr. Arturo Clavijo-Álvarez and conducted research related to delay discounting, nicotine addiction, and cue reactivity. Diego is also a board member of Asociación Colombiana de Análisis de la Conducta – ABA Colombia (Colombian Association of Behavior Analysis) and the cofounder of CIIAC – Centro de Investigación e Innovación en Análisis de la Conducta. His research interests are choice models, molar behaviorism theories, behavioral economics, and quantitative models of relapse phenomena. - Angel M. Villalobos, M.S.
Angel earned his bachelor’s degree in Psychology with an Honorable Mention from the National Autonomous University of Mexico in 2021 and his master’s degree in Behavioral Sciences with a focus on Behavior Analysis from the Center for Studies and Research in Behavior at the University of Guadalajara in 2024. During this time, he worked on research involving delay discounting, schedule-induced behaviors, motivating operations, and suboptimal choice with both human and non-human subjects. Angel is currently a first-year PhD student at the University of Florida in the POD Lab. His current interests focus on translational research of relapse phenomena, choice, and motivation.
Former Doctoral students
- Carolyn Ritchey, PhD
- John Y. H. Bai, PhD
- Josh Bensemann, PhD (co-supervised)
- Vikki Bland, PhD (co-supervised)
- Arnja Dale, PhD (co-supervised)
Collaborators
- Toshikazu Kuroda, PhD
- Matthew S. Lamperski
- Shane M. Downs
Undergraduate Research Assistants, Psychology
- Acacia R. Hager
- Angela G. Vassallo
- Khushi Desai
- Natalie S. Work
- Nyla S. Ross
- William Buckholz
Undergraduate Research Assistants, Computer Science
- Han Mach
- Ronan Virmani
- Susana Lugones
Former Undergraduate Research Assistants, Psychology
- Katie Murphy
- Jialong Zhen
- Alexander Siejo
- Bella Hoins
- Jarrod Williams
- Marielle Goldschlag
Former Undergraduate Research Assistants, Computer Science
- Shane Downs
- Matthew Lamperski