Bio

Hi,

I am Dr. Maria Lechtreck. My name is pronounced “Lectric” (as if it were “electric” without the first “e”). I teach in-person and online undergraduate courses and provide academic advising for undergarduate students.

Prior to coming to the University of Minnesota Duluth, I lived in Alabama for over five decades. I never acclimated to those long sweltering summers so I finally made a change in lattitude. During the 2022-2023 school year, I lived and taught in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where I fell in love with Great Lake living. The following year, I moved to Duluth, Minnesota, accepting this Teaching Assistant Professorship with UMD.

I earned my Ph.D. in Psychology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). My dissertation was a driving simulator study investigating driving anger in persons with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). During graduate school I also completed a comprehensive array of certificates in teaching and learning. Specifically, I earned certificates in pedagogy, online teaching, mentoring, accessibility, diversity, technology, and student mental health.

I earned my B.S. in Social Science at the University of Montevallo in rural Alabama.

My dream job as a child was to study animal behavior just like ape researchers Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey, and my first research paper in graduate school was an exploration of dolphin personality.

In my free time, I enjoy nature and the outdoors, museums, and non-fiction reading.