Our Team
Center Directors
Co-Executive Directors
Nathaniel von der Embse, Ph.D., NCSP
Dr. Nate von der Embse is a school psychology professor at the University of South Florida and recipient of the 2018 Lightner Witmer Award for Early Career Scholarship from the American Psychological Association. He has been awarded over $35 million in research funding and ranks in the Top Ten Most Productive school psychology researchers internationally. His research focuses on improving educational decision-making by identifying the influence of external policies and contextual drivers while developing novel solutions to improve the selection and use of preventative school mental health assessments and interventions. Dr. von der Embse’s research has resulted in over 100 peer-reviewed publications, professional articles, and book chapters and has been featured in the , , and . He is co-creator of the Social, Academic, and Emotional Behavior Risk Screener (SAEBRS) assessment suite and provides technical assistance to the largest school districts in the US to install universal mental health and prevention services, and consults with professional associations and state governments on best practices in school mental health.
Shannon Suldo, Ph.D.
Dr. Suldo is a Professor and Director of Clinical Training in the School Psychology Program at the Â鶹ÊÓƵ. She is a Licensed Psychologist (PY #7704, Florida) and completed her graduate training in the School Psychology Program at the University of South Carolina in 2004. She has extensive research and clinical experiences in school-based mental health services, including: establishing empirical links between student mental health and academic success; conceptualizing and measuring student mental health in a dual-factor model that considers psychopathology and subjective well-being; evidence-based positive psychology interventions for promoting positive indicators of student and educator well-being; and schoolwide strategies to identify youth with mental health problems. She also studies the stress, coping strategies, and mental health of high school students in accelerated courses, and is Principal Investigator of studies funded by the Institute of Education Sciences to identify and facilitate student-level and environmental factors that predict academic and emotional success among students in Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses. She is an Associate Editor of School Mental Health. In recognition of her research accomplishments, she received the 2009 Lightner Witmer Award for Early Career Scholarship and the 2019 Thomas Oakland Award for Mid-Career Scholarship from Division 16 of the American Psychological Association.
Evan Dart, Ph.D., BCBA-D
Dr. Dart is an Associate Professor in the School Psychology Program at the University Â鶹ÊÓƵ. He is a licensed psychologist and board certified behavior analyst and completed his graduate training in the school psychology program at Louisiana State University. Dr. Dart ranks in the Top Ten Most Productive school psychology researchers internationally and his research interests are best summarized as school-based behavioral interventions implemented within a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS). His work in school mental health focuses on the development and evaluation of progress monitoring tools to assess students’ social-emotional functioning and the adaptation of existing behavior interventions (e.g., Check-in/Check-out) to address mental health concerns. Dr. Dart co-edited a special issue of School Mental Health devoted to addressing students’ internalizing behavior through multi-tiered systems of support. His research has resulted in over 50 peer-reviewed journal articles and he was named the recipient of the 2019 Lightner Witmer Award for Early Career Scholarship from Division 16 of the American Psychological Association.
Center Director
David Wheeler, Ph.D.
Dr. Wheeler is a Licensed School Psychologist with a lifetime (30+ years) of services as a practicing school psychologist and state and national leader. Dr. Wheeler completed his graduate studies at the University of Texas-Austin with a specialization in school psychology. Prior to joining the SMHC, Dr. Wheeler was the School Psychology Consultant for the Florida Department of Education where he was instrumental in developing state rules, policies, and technical assistance for special education, school psychology, student mental health, and providing leadership in the implementation of Florida’s multi-tiered system of support. Dr. Wheeler served as the Commissioner of Education designee on the Suicide Prevention Coordinating Council and as a Department of Education liaison with other agencies and professional associations. He has participated on numerous state and national policy workgroups, including the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) Maltreatment Policy Workgroup and the 2020 NASP Standards Revision, Practice Model Writing Team. In 2019, Dr. Wheeler received the Willard Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award from the Florida Association of School Psychologists and the President’s Certificate of Achievement from the National Association of School Psychologists.