Heather Lench Ph.D.

Heather Lench, Ph.D., is an internationally recognized expert in the emotions that shape how people think and behave. Earning her Ph.D. at University of California, Irvine, she developed a line of experimental work that showed how people’s unconscious intuition and emotions impact the decisions they make, and also completed training for Marriage and Family Therapy. This combination of learning about the science behind psychology research and hearing the struggles of individuals and couples gave her a life-long passion for taking scientific findings and sharing them with people to improve their lives.

Heather is currently Professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences and Senior Associate Vice President for Faculty Affairs at Texas A&M University. There she directs the Emotion Science Lab that focuses on giving people the tools to use their emotions. She publishes peer-reviewed articles on emotions like boredom and anger, and how they can be useful, and speaks about emotions and how to use them around the world at conferences, on podcasts and radio, and once in a children’s show with a wombat. Her work has been supported by the National Science Foundation and a John Templeton Foundation working group, has been recognized with fellow status and awards, and featured in outlets such as Wired, NPR Science Friday, BBC, and the New York Times. Her research paves a way for people to think about their feelings and develop a toolkit of emotion for constructing the life they want.