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Julia Ross, Ph.D.

Lecturer of Psychology,
College of Human Sciences and Humanities

Contact number: 281-283-3343
Email: rossj@uhcl.edu
Office: Bayou Building 2617

Biography

Julia M. Ross, Ph.D., is a Lecturer in the Department of Psychological and Nursing Sciences at the University of Houston-Clear Lake (UHCL). A UHCL alumna, she earned a B.S. in Psychology with a minor in Professional Writing before earning her Ph.D. in Applied Social Psychology (formerly Applied Social and Community Psychology) from North Carolina State University in 2026.

Dr. Ross draws on social, community, and health psychology to examine how psychosocial, sociocultural, and structural factors shape health, health behaviors, and well-being. Guided by critical and intersectional perspectives, her research addresses race, gender, weight, chronic and identity-related stressors, body image, weight stigma, health decision-making, health information seeking, and weight- and eating-related attitudes and behaviors.
Her applied and community-engaged research experience includes work with Independent Living Research Utilization at TIRR Memorial Hermann, the Living F.R.E.E. Lab at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Dr. Lorna H. McNeill and her team in the Department of Health Disparities Research at MD Anderson Cancer Center. These experiences strengthened her commitment to community-informed, translational research with historically underserved populations. Her work is supported by extensive quantitative and qualitative methodological training and includes peer-reviewed publications and community-engaged research dissemination.

The daughter of two retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonels, Dr. Ross grew up in San Antonio, Texas, in a military family. Her experiences across academic, healthcare, community, and military-connected environments have contributed to her interest in how social context, identity, institutions, and communities shape opportunities for well-being.

As an educator, Dr. Ross uses a student-centered, collaborative approach and is deeply committed to mentoring undergraduate students. She helps students develop their scholarly voices, research and critical-thinking skills, and confidence as emerging professionals. Returning to UHCL as a faculty member represents a full-circle moment in her academic journey.

Publications

  1. Ross, J. M., Volpe, V. V., & Vollmer, A. R. (2026). Exploring the associations between internalized racial oppression, emotional eating, and mental health symptoms among Black young adult women. Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology.
  2. Ross, J. M., Holland, M. C., Collins, A., Badejoh, O.O., & Volpe, V. V. (2026). Exploring the link between internalized weight stigma and meal skipping behavior in Black Young Adult Women: A Brief Report. Journal of Health Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1177/13591053261430429
  3. Volpe, V. V., Ross, J. M., Holland, M. C., Badejoh, O., & Buhrman, G. (2025). Online Health Information Searching and Health Advertisement Exposure among Black Young Adult Social Media Users. Journal of Health Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1177/13591053251378224
  4. Volpe, V. V., Ross, J. M., Collins, A., Spivey, B. N., Watson-Singleton, N. N., Goode, R. W., Hoggard, L. S., & Woods Giscombé, C. L. (2024). Gendered racial microaggressions and emotional eating for Black young adult women: The mediating roles of superwoman schema and self-compassion. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 48(1), 93–107. https://doi.org/10.1177/03616843231182913
  5. Volpe, V. V., Collins, A., Ross, J. M., Lewis, J., Ladd, B., Ellis, K., & Fitzpatrick, S. (2024). Black young adult superwomen: Contextualizing challenges with acceptance and avoidance and subsequent emotional eating. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 58(5), 305–313. https://doi.org/10.1093/abm/kaae017
  6. Ross, J. M., Hope, M. O., & Volpe, V. V. (2024). Intersections of racial/ethnic and religious identity on bodily well-being for Black emerging adults. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, 11(3), 1808–1818. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40615-023-01653-y
  7. Volpe, V. V., Thomas Tobin, C. S., Bernard, D. L., Muhigaba, P. B., & Ross, J. M. (2024). Necessary, burdensome, or threatening? Awareness of Black-White disparities in health care access and self-rated health for Black and White Americans. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 94(5), 550–559. https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000740
  8. Volpe, V. V., Muhigaba, G. P., Ross, J. M., Briggs, A. S., Mejía-Bradford, S. C., Alexander, A. R., & Hope, E. C. (2023). Finding the bright side: Positive online racial experiences, racial identity, and activism for Black young adults. Computers in Human Behavior, 144, 107738. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2023.107738

Courses (Current Academic Year)

  • PSYC 4371- Experimental Methods & Statistics
  • PSYC 3315- Psychological Thinking
  • PSYC 2319- Social Psychology