Cherie D. Maestas, Marshall A. Rauch Professor of Political Science and Director of the interdisciplinary Public Policy Program in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences received her PhD from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 2000. She directs POLS-Lab, a research resource for experimental research housed in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration and is the co-founder and Academic Director of YourVoiceCLT, a joint effort with Diane Gavarkavich and the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute to develop a high quality survey research panel in Mecklenburg County to serve the needs of local governments, non-profits, and academic researchers.
Dr. Maestas received her PhD from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 2000. She publishes research on topics related to political communication, political psychology, risk attitudes, and legislative responsiveness. Her co-authored book Catastrophic Politics: How Extraordinary Events Redefine Perceptions of Government (Cambridge University Press 2012) examines public response to media coverage of government performance during a catastrophic event.
Her current research examines how emotions and personal characteristics (e.g. emotion regulation, personality traits, political predispositions) moderate the effects of media messages and policy framing. Her research has been funded by the Department of Defense Army Research Office, the National Science Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation of New York and appears in journals such as the American Political Science Review, Journal of Politics, American Journal of Political Science, Political Analysis, and Political Psychology. She teaches graduate and undergraduate courses on Political Psychology, Research Design, Introductory Statistics, Survey Research and Public Policy.
Office: Fretwell 455D Email: cmaestas[at]uncc.edu