Amy Bellmore

Amy Bellmore is fascinated by humans and inspired by teens. She works as a Professor of Human Development in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she conducts research on the peer relationships of adolescents and teaches courses on adolescent development. She earned a PhD in developmental psychology at the University of Connecticut and completed postdoctoral training at UCLA. While she did not declare a major in psychology until the middle of her sophomore year in college, she has evidence that she was destined to study teens from a work aptitude test she took her sophomore year in high school. Based on the results of the test about her interests and skills, she discovered that the best job for her was a research psychologist. Now that she has worked in that career for almost 20 years, she is happy to verify that the test was correct.

Amy’s scholarship focuses on the social experiences of teens. Most of the research she does takes place through partnerships with public middle and high schools across Wisconsin who share the goal of promoting the welfare of adolescents. Following the leads of the teens themselves, who have moved parts of their lives to online spaces, Amy’s most recent research attends to the ways teens use social media to create and maintain their social relationships.