Dr. Erika Lunkenheimer is an Assistant Professor in the department of Human Development and Family Studies at Colorado State.  Dr. Lunkenheimer completed her Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy from Northwestern University (1999), her Doctorate in Developmental Psychology from the University of Michigan (2006), and her postdoctoral training in Prevention Science at the University of Oregon (2008).  She studies self-regulation, coregulation, and parenting in early parent-child interactions, with the ultimate goal of using basic developmental research on families to inform prevention science.  Her current research involves studying patterns of physiology and behavior during interactions between parents and children as they play, problem-solve, and encounter minor, everyday stressors (e.g., a child not getting a desired toy).  She employs a dynamic systems framework to understand the effects of these real-time dyadic patterns on child behavior, for example, how the flexibility of parent-child interaction patterns influences children's self-regulation, behavior problems, and school readiness in early childhood.

Dr. Lunkenheimer enjoys exploring her beautiful state of Colorado, spending time with her family, and singing karaoke, especially songs from the 80s.