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Meet Industrial Organizational Psychologist Lori Foster Thompson

Lori Foster Thompson is helping lead a new field of psychology called Humanitarian Work Psychology.

Professor of Psychology Lori Foster Thompson is the subject of a video created by students in COM 437 – Advanced Digital Video, in the Department of Communication. Foster Thompson studies and teaches  industrial and organizational psychology, that is, the psychology of the workplace. Most recently, she has been researching how technology is affecting our experience of work.

She is also passionate about how industrial psychology can make the world a better place. We profiled Foster Thompson last summer for her work in leading global development of the emerging field of Humanitarian Work Psychology. That field studies how experts can work together in virtual and social networks to respond to humanitarian crises around the globe–and then uses that knowledge to enhance crisis response, prevention, and well-being throughout the globe.

Foster Thompson recently headed up a delegation to the United Nations that represented nine psychological organizations to discuss how this work can enhance global capacity for humanitarian efforts.

View the students’ video on NC State’s YouTube channel.