Before joining the University of Rhode Island psychology staff as department chair this fall, Davis Schnyer researched cognitive neuroscience in one of the three original research labs involved in TRACK TBI, a national multisite study.
Schnyer has observed the behavior, memory and attention of healthy people, as well as those suffering from mental illness or brain injury.
“I always was pretty much devoted to basic science research on how the brain gives rise to our behavior, which is basically the definition of cognitive neuroscience,” Schnyer said. “I started early on looking at Alzheimer’s and memory disorders.”
His research involved brain and structural imaging, as well as electroencephalography, defined as the recording of brain electrical activity.
To Schnyer, research is not only part of his job. It is a process comparable to a chase or a “hunt.”
“I like the research process, I like thinking about problems, I like trying to formulate methods to solve problems and I’m not deterred by the frustrations…when it doesn’t work,” Schnyer said.
Apart from his work and personal life, Schnyer said he has other pastimes that keep him curious.
“I like to tinker with stuff,” Schnyer said. “I’m the only person who loves it when something breaks because then I have to figure out how to fix it.”
His main goal as a professor is to achieve excellence in his research alongside excellence in education, Schnyer said.
Schyner has received multiple awards for both his teaching and research, such as the Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science in 2024, the John Wiley Best Paper Award in 2016 and the Flynn Cognitive Research Fellowship from 1995-1996.
“[Teaching and research] are the two things that we do as academics,” Schnyer said. “It’s not necessarily that easy to do both well”
With research focused on the brain and its complexity, working to discover more about the way the brain works is his main priority, Schnyer said.
“…The basic thing I’m fascinated with is how sort of this three pound blob organ gives rise to this incredibly rich, conscious experience we have.”
Before joining the team at URI, Schnyer taught psychology at the University of Texas, the University of Virginia and the University of Arizona.
“I believe in the academic mission of education,” Schnyer said. “What’s rewarding to me is just to see that process happen, to see students engaged in learning, that’s inspiring to me.”
Although Schnyer has only recently joined the University of Rhode Island, he has already picked up on some of the qualities that sets URI apart from other universities.
“Psychology here at URI is one of the most popular majors,” Schnyer said. “The building, the department, greater degrees of excellence, both in terms of education and research, is a challenge that I’m interested in.”
