FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Robert Laird, chair of the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences at the University of Alabama, will be on campus Thursday, Oct. 4, as the featured speaker for the HESC Research Colloquium.

Laird is scheduled to present from 3:30-4:30 p.m. in the AFLS Building's Hembree Auditorium (Room 107E).

His research focuses on family and peer relationship contributions to children's development of social and behavioral competencies. He has co-authored more than 50 peer-reviewed papers with several appearing in journals such as Child Development, Developmental Psychology and the Journal of Adolescence.

His presentation is also being streamed live. Anyone interested can watch here.

Laird has served on grant proposal review panels for the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health, and is funded by the National Science Foundation and the W.T. Grant Foundation. He has also served on the faculty at the University of Rhode Island, Louisiana State University and the University of New Orleans.

The HESC Research Colloquium is intended for students, faculty and staff in the School of Human Environmental Sciences in the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences. It's purpose is to expose them to research in areas related to apparel merchandising and product development, human development and family sciences, hospitality, and dietetics and nutrition.

Laird's presentation is open to everyone on campus.

About the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences: Bumpers College provides life-changing opportunities to position and prepare graduates who will be leaders in the businesses associated with foods, family, the environment, agriculture, sustainability and human quality of life; and who will be first-choice candidates of employers looking for leaders, innovators, policy makers and entrepreneurs. The college is named for Dale Bumpers, former Arkansas governor and longtime U.S. senator who made the state prominent in national and international agriculture.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.