Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. Sarah Hill.
Hi Dr. Hill, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
I earned my Ph.D. in Psychology from UT – Austin in 2006, where I studied under Dr. David Buss. Much of my early career research focused on the psychology of attraction, partner preferences, and mate choice. I joined the department of psychology at TCU is 2008, where my research interests have expanded to include research questions addressing the connections between the mind and the body and how our physical states affect how we think, fee, and behave. This is what led to be to become interested in the effects of women’s sex hormones on women’s psychological experiences and, ultimately, what got me interested in looking at the psychological effects of the birth control pill.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has definitely not always been a smooth road. I was a terrible student in high school because I wasn’t particularly interested in anything I was learning about and learning things has always taken me longer than it takes others. It wasn’t until I was in college that I really got excited about learning. I found classes in biology, anthropology, and sociology that really excited me. And when that happened, I made two decisions 1) I was going to learn how to study so that I could be a good student, and 2) I was going to be a professor so that I could like that same love of learning in my students that I had lit in me. Transitioning between being someone who didn’t give a sh*t to someone who wanted to graduate summa cum laude and get into a top 25 graduate school was a tough road. But I made it. I was able to achieve both of these goals by working hard and not being afraid to ask for help when I was struggling.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am an award-winning research psychologist and professor and have spent most of my 20+ year academic research career studying women’s brains, health, and psychology. I earned my Ph.D. at the University of Texas working with one of the founding fathers of evolutionary psychology, Dr. David M. Buss, and I am an internationally recognized thought leader in the application of these ideas to understanding women.
During my career, I have published close to 100 academic research articles on topics related to women’s psychology and health and have received more than half a million dollars in federal research grant money to study them. At a theoretical level, my work integrates three great syntheses of the last few decades: evolutionary psychology, cognitive science, and behavioral ecology. My research is regularly covered by national and international media, including The Washington Post, The New York Times, and many other newspapers and popular magazines, as well as numerous radio programs and podcasts.
My first book, This Is Your Brain On Birth Control, has been read by tens of thousands of readers and has garnered international media attention from outlets such as The Guardian, The Cut, The Lily, as well as dozens of podcasts and television shows like Today and Great Britain’s Good Morning, and the internationally released Netflix docuseries The Principles of Pleasure. My TEDx talk on the effects of the birth control pill on the female brain has been viewed more than 550,000 times.
I am most proud of my book. Like everyone, it scares me to put myself out there. And this was a huge act of courage and vulnerability to me. I knew that it would put me in the public eye, but I felt like the information was too important not to share with women. I had to learn to be comfortable in front of others, which meant having to learn to get really comfortable with myself.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
That I was a total slacker in middle and high school. And that I didn’t get my act together academically until the end of my first semester in college. I was completely unmotivated to work hard at anything until I found subjects that I loved (which, as an undergraduate, were anthropology and biology). One semester in high school, I had so many unexcused absences that once I started going to classes (something that had to happen because my parents found out what I was up to and put me on a tighter leash), the teachers all thought that I was a new student!
This usually surprises people since I am a scientist and educator. I think that people think that their professors and those in the sciences have always had their act together. This wasn’t true for me at all. It took finding what I love to learn about for me to discover that I love learning.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.sarahehill.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahehillphd/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarahehillphd
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/sarahehillphd
