Deirdre B. Yeater, Ph.D.
Office Location
Dr. Yeater joined Sacred Heart University in the fall of 2008. Dr. Yeater’s research has been in the areas of comparative cognition and conservation psychology. She has studied a wide variety of species include several species of dolphins, belugas, dogs, otters, and preschool children.
Degrees & Certifications
- Ph.D., Experimental Psychology (concentration in marine mammal behavior & cognition), University of Southern Mississippi
- MA, Experimental Psychology (concentration in marine mammal behavior & cognition), University of Southern Mississippi
- BS, SUNY Maritime College
Teaching Responsibilities
Dr. Yeater enjoys teaching and incorporates her research and training experiences with animals in her classes. She frequently teaches Human and Animal Learning (PS 335), Research Design and Analysis II (PS 302), Capstone in Psychological Research (PS 397), and Service Dog Training (PS 299). She offers unique travel courses and in the past has led students in special courses in San Diego, California, Bimini, The Bahamas, and Dingle, Ireland.
Research Interests & Grants
Dr. Yeater is the co-director of the Comparative Cognition Lab and the Canine Cognition Project in collaboration with Dr. Dawn Melzer. Dr. Yeater’s research has been in the areas of: dolphin imitation and social learning, dolphin behavior - such as object play, social interactions in belugas, the effects of vessel traffic and swimmers on dolphin behavior, the effects of noise on marine mammals, and environmental enrichment with river otters. Dr. Yeater also conducts research in the area of conservation psychology and human animal interactions, such as Animal Assisted Therapy. She is currently studying several cognitive tasks, such as a violation of expectation paradigm with dolphins, belugas and dogs. She studies long term memory in dogs and otters and is on the Leadership Team for the Big Team Science group, “ManyOtters”.
Undergraduate students are encouraged to contact Dr. Yeater about assisting with animal behavior and cognition research opportunities.
Follow on Instagram: @shucaninecgnition @manyottersproject
Media & In the News
- Yeater’s research featured in “Psychology professor creates big team science network for otter research”: RIT 11/18/25