Biography

Jennifer Rennels is a developmental psychologist. She investigates how early social experiences influence infants and children’s perception of people based on gender, race, and attractiveness. Her research provides insight on the development of biases and stereotypes and how people process information about others. Currently, she is examining how predominant early experience with females and own-race individuals affects development of expert face processing and social preferences.

She received her Ph. D. in psychology (developmental emphasis) from the University of Texas at Austin in 2003 and joined UNLV’s department of psychology faculty in fall 2003. Her research has been supported by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

Jennifer Rennels is also coordinator of the UNLV Child & Family Policy Consortium, which fosters collaborative research across and within disciplines that is relevant to infants, children, and families within the community who are culturally, linguistically, and ability diverse. The research is translational in that it is applied within community settings or used to inform issues relevant to infant, child, and family policies at the local, state, or federal level.