Introducing My Mentor: Dr. Jamie Tester

After weeks of reaching out to multiple different people and departments, I have finally found my mentor! When I first started my mentor search, I only reached out to professors from the Psychology department and professors that I knew. They then directed me to other professors until I got all the way to the Special Education department and the Social Work department. I was directed to these departments due to the fact that most of the psychology professors were either not interested in my research project, or they did not have time for it. I spoke with multiple people in each of these departments until I found Dr. Jamie Tester. Jamie Tester is an assistant professor in Social Work. Some of the classes she teaches are Introduction to Social Welfare, Child Welfare, and Social Welfare policy. She has been in the field for approximately 10 years, working in both nonprofit and government settings. She specializes in areas with juveniles and at risk families, as well as families who are impacted by allegations of abuse and neglect or extreme custody disputes. She received her Bachelors of Arts from the College of Saint Scholastica in Duluth, Minnesota. She then got her Masters in Social Work at the University of Minnesota in Duluth, Minnesota. She also has her J.D. from Hamline University School of Law. In addition to having these degrees, she also has her Advocacy and Problem Certification. She has many responsibilities as the Field Director at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Mostly she works with students pursuing degrees in social work to help them identify which areas of social work practice they are most interested in and which placement settings will challenge them. Dr. Tester coordinates panel discussions on campus to expose students to different areas of social work. She shows them opportunities from the community to speak. She also works with different community agencies and university partners to create and develop internship opportunities to prepare them for a profession in social work after graduation.

Each year, Dr. Tester works closely with a cohort of 6-10 students who complete their internship requirement by spending a semester with university teaching partners in South Africa and Costa Rica. Dr. Tester is also very interested in Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and the effects if has on young individuals. She also teaches about ACEs and is very skilled in developing research, which makers her the perfect mentor for the project I wish to do. I am very excited to work with her on a project we both feel so passionately about!