Prof. Melanie Dirks trained as a clinical and developmental psychologist, earning her PhD at Yale University. She completed a pre-doctoral clinical internship at the University of Illinois at Chicago and a post-doctoral fellowship at the Offord Centre for Child Studies at McMaster University before joining the faculty at McGill University in 2009, where she is now Full Professor. Prof. Dirks’ research focuses on (a) mapping the social and emotional skills children, adolescents, and young adults need to develop and maintain healthy relationships with peers and siblings; (b) understanding how interpersonal functioning contributes to psychological symptoms. Prof. Dirks has taught Psyc 304 (Child Development) (sample syllabus; 2020 Songabus; 2021 Songabus) and Psyc 412 (Developmental Psychopathology)(sample syllabus; 2021 Songabus). Her contributions to teaching and mentoring have been recognized with the Leo Yaffe Award, awarded by McGill’s Faculty of Science, and McGill’s Principal’s Prize for Teaching.