Rate My Professor Steven Neese

Steven Neese is an Associate Professor of Psychology and Department Chair of Psychology and Behavioral Neuroscience at Cornell College, where he joined as Assistant Professor in 2016. He holds a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale (2007), an M.S. in General Psychology from New Mexico Highlands University (2003), a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (2000), and an A.D. in General Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Sheboygan (1999). His research specializations include early life diet, hormonal, and social influences on learning, memory, and compulsive behaviors in rodent models, with a focus on the effects of endogenous, dietary, and environmental estrogens on behavioral outcomes. Current projects model childhood obesity in rats to determine sex differences across behavioral paradigms in early adulthood.

Neese employs an interactive teaching approach, using problem-solving stories to engage students in topics like spatial cognition, cognitive control, intelligence, and observational methods. He teaches courses such as Cognitive Neuroscience, Introduction to Behavioral Neuroscience, Memory and Cognition, Research Methods I, Learning, and Senior Seminar. Key publications include 'Testosterone impairs the acquisition of an operant delayed alternation task in male rats' (Hormones and Behavior, 2012), 'Estrogen receptor-selective agonists modulate learning in female rats in a dose- and task-specific manner' (Endocrinology, 2016), 'Voluntary exercise impairs initial delayed spatial alternation performance in estradiol treated ovariectomized middle-aged rats' (Hormones and Behavior, 2013), and 'Impact of Dietary Genistein and Aging on Executive Function in Ovariectomized Rats' (Reproductive Sciences, 2009). Earlier contributions from his graduate work appear in 'Recovery of function after vagus nerve stimulation initiated 24 hours after fluid percussion injury to the cortex of rats' (Journal of Neurotrauma, 2006). His scholarship has over 700 citations and involves mentoring undergraduates on conference posters at Society for Neuroscience and other venues.