April Bleske-Rechek is a professor of psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Prior to joining the Psychology Department at UWEC in 2003, she earned her Bachelor’s Degree from UW-Madison (1992-1996), earned her PhD in Psychology with a minor in Quantitative Methods from the University of Texas at Austin (1996-2001), and spent two years at Vanderbilt University as a research associate with the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth (2001-2003). At UWEC, April teaches Research Methods, Personality Psychology, Evolutionary Psychology, Behavioral Genetics, and Senior Seminar. She also runs the Individual Differences and Evolutionary Psychology (IDEP) lab, mentoring 8-12 students each year and overseeing several studies each semester. April and her students have authored over 25 scholarly articles, and her research has been featured in national media outlets such as the Chronicle of Higher Education, Scientific American, Psychology Today, and The Huffington Post.

April has been awarded top honors at her university. In 2010, she was recipient of UWEC’s Excellence in Teaching Award, and in 2016 she received UWEC’s Excellence in Mentoring in Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity Award. In 2017, she was UWEC’s Nominee for the UW System Board of Regents Teaching Excellence Award.

In her free time, April enjoys time with her husband, son, and two daughters; plays ultimate Frisbee and competitive tennis; and serves as a gymnastics coach for the Eau Claire YMCA.

Skills and capabilities

• Survey and research design
• Advanced statistical analysis (SPSS/JASP/jamovi) and interpretation
• Visual representations of data
• Project life cycle management
• Technical writing
• Public speaking

Domains of knowledge

• Psychometrics (measurement, assessment, and evaluation)
• Individual differences (personality, vocational interests, work attitudes and values)
• Gender differences
• Intellectual giftedness
• Teaching and learning
• Scientific literacy