By Arturo Echevers
Kentucky has always held a special place in Jasmine Ernst’s heart. After growing up in Louisville, she earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Psychological Sciences at Western Kentucky University.
However, after receiving her Doctorate in Developmental Psychology at the University of Minnesota, the job market made Ernst uncertain she could return home to begin the next phase of her professional journey.
But she knew that if an opportunity in Kentucky arose, she would take it, and in fall 2025, she did just that.
The University of Louisville hired Ernst as an assistant professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences.
“It kind of felt like really good timing, and sort of like luck played a role in it too, because there was an opening when I was looking for a job,” she said.
Since coming to U of L, Ernst has felt welcomed by her department.
“It’s been great to be in a department that has people who do so many different types of psychology,” she said. “The faculty and the department complement each other really well, and that’s always really exciting as a faculty member.”
Ernst’s work at U of L
Ernst teaches Advanced Statistics to graduate students. Although learning curves have accompanied the new position, she says the fun of it never wanes.
She especially enjoys connecting with students by helping them do things they didn’t know before, like how to use a particular software or technique.
In spring 2026, Ernst will begin teaching the honors section of Life Span Developmental Psychology, a class that holds a special connection to her career.
“That was [a class] that I took my first semester of my freshman year, and I didn’t know anything about developmental psychology before that,” Ernst said. “It led to me ultimately pursuing the path that I did in my career.”
Ernst is the director of the Early Learning and Cognitive Development Lab and welcomes curious students who want to learn.
Her lab has different opportunities for students to thrive, like collecting data or quantitative work with statistics.
Previous work at WKU
Her path to research began when she was an undergraduate at WKU, in a lab that worked with a local Head Start. Head Start is a federally funded program that provides free educational assistance to low-income families. She stayed with the program for five years.
At her lab in WKU, Ernst got hands-on experience with an area of research that would define much of her career’s work; executive function.
The term refers to the set of cognitive skills needed to solve problems and adapt to new situations. This set of skills plays an important role in controlling a person’s thoughts, feelings and actions.
“That was when I started thinking more deeply about executive function outside of the classroom space,” Ernst said.
Executive function research has been used to improve the learning process by inhibiting distractors, increasing focus and helping people combine new information with previously learned ideas to improve their adaptability.
Through data interpretation, predictions can be made about the best approaches for children to learn math and science effectively.
Creating opportunities for students of all ages
In the long run, Ernst plans to seek funding so that graduate students can join her research projects.
In addition, she is collaborating with local educators to develop activities for children that will improve their classroom learning experiences.
“Teachers really are the experts of their own classrooms,” Ernst said. “I could develop an activity, and it might work with one kid in the lab, but I don’t have the expertise of exactly what it would look like when you have a classroom of 20 kids.”
By incorporating her research into the activities, Ernst ensures all children can learn efficiently, effectively and in a way that’s entertaining, so even the hardest topics are easier to digest.
Ernst encourages all students to do things that they’re interested in. Even if they don’t know why they’re interested in those topics, she says it can help them decide their major or career path.
“If you just give yourself the space to take opportunities as they come and follow your interest as they naturally arise, then the answer might just sort of fall in your lap.”
