Erin Westover, OTD, OTR/L, recently joined our occupational therapy faculty. Here’s more about Dr. Westover in her own words:
I am excited and privileged to be joining the talented faculty team within the Division of Occupational Therapy Education as an assistant professor. I bring experience within occupational therapy education, as well as a practice background with children and youth, particularly in educationally based settings. I will mainly be teaching within the occupation-based practice courses in relation to my expertise area, but I have also enjoyed teaching a wide variety of courses over the last few years so I will be happy to jump in and assist wherever the OT team needs me!
My scholarship background has related to my favored population of children and youth, specifically children with autism and other developmental and intellectual disabilities. Most recently, my work has focused on the scholarship of teaching and learning. I have been working on studies about faculty perceptions and outcomes of active learning methods used in occupational therapy education, as well as studying graduate learner characteristics, such as intrinsic motivation and personal accountability for learning.
I am a proud Nebraska native, growing up in the small town of Superior and completing my undergraduate degree at Concordia University in Seward. I moved out of state to attend my graduate program at Washington University in St. Louis and then to practice in the Salina, Kansas area for several years, but my husband, daughter, and I are happy to now have been back in our home state for the last 4 years. I would say we still have plenty of exploring to do to get to know Omaha, however! I enjoy just about any outdoor activities like gardening or running, Husker volleyball, trying out local coffee shops, and finding fun things to do with my 5-year-old daughter, Brynn.