Sean Mooney-Leber – University Excellence in Teaching 2025

Inspiring Curiosity in the Classroom and Beyond

Since joining UW-Stevens Point in 2020, Assistant Professor Sean Mooney-Leber has earned some of the highest student evaluations on campus. An incredible asset to the UW-Stevens Point Department of Psychology faculty, Mooney-Leber shares his enthusiasm for science through his courses and through teaching students who are interested in his research.  

He leads a course he developed in behavioral neuroscience and also teaches research methods in psychology, along with the introductory level psychology course. Human behavior is central to so many fields and Mooney-Leber said he's always hoping to spark an interest even if some intro class students may only enroll in order to satisfy a graduation requirement.

To encourage an atmosphere of sharing, he begins classes with a round of music trivia which feeds the process for engagement during the rest of class. Asking the students to identify clips of music he plays. Or, it might be a "Price is Right style" quiz to correctly rank caffeine levels of various beverages.

"This sets the pace for answering questions related to course materials during lectures. Moreover, as someone who specializes in learning theory, I believe it is critical to almost exclusively engage students with positive reinforcement when interacting in the class," he shared.

UW-Stevens Point at Marshfield transfer student Lynn Witzel observed how that low-stakes music snippet exercise to begin classes encourages more interaction throughout the course, giving students a level of comfort in participation. She is a psychology major, having recently added a neuroscience minor.

She said the learning atmosphere Mooney-Leber creates puts students like herself at ease.

"He creates a very casual classroom environment where people don't need to be ashamed of asking questions or getting something wrong," Witzel said. "He understands that college life can be very overwhelming for students, and he's willing to help anyone who wants to learn and improve."

This year, Dr. Mooney-Leber is recognized with one of the university's highest faculty honors, the University Teaching Excellence Award. As he leads students through complex concepts, he attempts to foster longer conversation around the class topics. Getting students to share their ideas is an emphasis, he said.

"Being correct is not always the point of the engagement," said Mooney-Leber.

Mooney-Leber taught courses that investigated the impacts of substance use on the brain well before he held his current position. It was in his UWSP Psychoactive Drugs and Behavior course where a second semester freshman, now '23 alum doctoral student, Zach Mikkelson began to connect the idea of behavioral research for his career pursuit. He spent his undergraduate years gaining experiences he would apply later, in Mooney-Leber's Behavioral Genetics Lab.

Mikkelson uses that knowledge every day, as he studies the neurobiology of decision making, working at the University of Memphis in a behavioral neuroscience lab. The team is investigating the role of specific brain circuits in cost/benefit decision-making. That understanding could lead to the development of more effective substance use disorder treatments.

He recalls how he felt encouraged in one of his first courses under Mooney-Leber, Research Methods in Psychology.

"He described it in a way that seemed like something I could be good at," Mikkelson said.

Then hearing he was looking for students to work as assistants in his research lab, Mikkelson enthusiastically applied. He said working with Mooney-Leber opened the door to understanding research methods, how to critically evaluate evidence, review articles, and practices for searching databases.

For those like Mikkelson who want to delve deeper, Mooney-Leber collaborates with students on multiple research projects in the field of behavioral genetics. His active research interest areas include behavioral genetics, neuropharmacology, and early-life adversity and stress.

One of his most recent student-mentored projects looked into the influence of genetics on cognition and behavior following acute stress. And while they can lean on Mooney-Leber to help supervise their experimentation and data collection, he said he empowers students to lead the research protocol.

As the faculty adviser for the campus Neuroscience Club, Mooney-Leber emphasizes activities that will help support students in their career path. For example, providing feedback when students get the opportunity to share their research presentations.

"He had us practice with him. He would walk us through things to avoid saying, and he made us prepared," said Mikkelson.

Besides student-centered course design and collaborative research opportunities, Dr. Mooney-Leber has further been instrumental in helping to support students seeking advanced psychology studies. He advises their search and offers insight on graduate school interviews. Mikkelson said it was Mooney-Leber who first encouraged his path in pursuit of a Ph.D. and helped him as he prepared for the application process.

Students have benefitted in multiple ways from Mooney-Leber's attention, as a teacher and as a research mentor.

"It's all about seeing people succeeding," he said. "They will go off in world and reflect our work."