I have been a member of the APS since I was in graduate school and have always been attracted to the APS because of its focus on the science of what we study in psychology. That has meant to me that we take a rigorous and critical approach to our research as we try and understand all aspects of cognition and behavior. I was especially proud of helping to design the APS program where we took on the difficult task of understanding how issues in the way we published and used data were not meeting the level of rigor or transparency required for a healthy science. We continue to grapple with these issues in our science today, but due to these early challenges, APS has started to set the standards of what a strong psychological science should be, as evident in our influential journals. We continue to face challenges in our field, like staying abreast of new technologies such as AI for enhancing the use of our data, embracing an interdisciplinary view of the human condition, and training the next generation of psychological scientists with a changing job market in academia and industry. APS can play an important role in using our conference to bring people together to chart the next decade of psychological science. We often go to meetings to hear about others’ research, but we can also use the meetings to create new collaborations and projects; review and consider issues we may have in the way we conduct science, to make sure we doing the best work possible; and hear from colleagues around the globe and across disciplines about research that enhances our understanding of the state of psychological science in these spaces. I look forward to helping guide APS into the next decade of psychological science. 

The outlook for science has changed dramatically this year, posing new challenges for us as individual scientists and for our professional organizations. APS’s values and interdisciplinarity position it to be a leader. As a field, we must advocate for science-based decision making, ample scientific funding, and protection of our scientists and trainees. APS can leverage its size and resources to serve as an advocate, working across all psychological science subdisciplines to address shared needs and concerns. This involves partnering with organizations such as FABBS (Federation of Associations in Behavioral and Brain Sciences) to represent our field in the federal policymaking process, as well as educating scientists to effectively contribute to advocacy efforts, an area in which many of us lack expertise. APS also stands strongly for global science, taking tangible steps some time ago to broaden the society (even reflected by a name change!), increase programming outside of the US (including the 2026 Convention in Barcelona, Spain), and support broad access and participation, including through the Global Summit. My hope is that the society can build on the goodwill that it has created through its past actions to maintain and strengthen connections amongst scientists across the globe, in a time when people may be increasingly divided. APS stands for a commitment to representing diverse scientists and the study of societal problems that impact individuals from a variety of backgrounds. Finally, APS has a history of supporting trainees and early career researchers. The webinars provide tangible skill-building and professional development in flexible and accommodating format. As resource reductions threaten to shift the landscape for scientific training, it is critical to look out for the needs of the next generation of scientists. APS is committed and ideally positioned to do so; it would be my privilege to contribute to this mission. 

Psychological science stands at a pivotal juncture. As the world faces increasingly complex social, economic, and environmental challenges, there is a growing need for scientific insight into how individuals think, feel, and behave in context. One of our field’s biggest opportunities is to fully embrace the richness of human experience by studying how psychological processes are shaped by culture, technology, and the environments in which we live. To do that, we need to broaden our ideas of how psychology research is conducted and adopt approaches that are more interdisciplinary and grounded in real life. That’s been the focus of much of my work—from exploring how personality manifests in people’s daily lives, to mapping psychological traits across regions, to using smartphone data to track behavior in everyday settings. These methods deepen our understanding of how people interact with their environments and produce insights that matter for public policy, education, mental health, and industry. This kind of work requires a support system that fosters collaboration across disciplines, promotes open and accessible data, and encourages innovation in how we do research.  I believe APS can play a vital role in providing such support. By creating spaces for cross-disciplinary exchange—among psychologists, data scientists, and public health experts—APS can help psychological science become more integrated with real-world issues. APS can also lead by investing in training, infrastructure, and communication—so researchers are equipped to work with complex data and share their findings in ways that make a difference. Promoting open science and global collaboration will only increase our reach and relevance. In short, the future of psychological science lies in its capacity to connect—to other disciplines, to technological innovation, and to the real-world contexts in which people live. APS can and should be the engine that drives this integration forward.