Katie E. Cherry, Professor & Department Chair

Katy Cherry

Office: 119 Audubon Hall

Department of Psychology
Louisiana State University
Baton Rouge, LA 70803
Office Phone: 225-578-4099
Email: [email protected]

View my VITA.

For more information about current interdisciplinary research initiatives, please visit my website.

Dr. Cherry is not accepting new students for Fall 2025. 

Research Interests

  • Disaster Stress and Cognition in Midlife and Later Adulthood
  • Interdisciplinary Studies of Healthy Aging

Dr. Cherry is interested in factors that impact healthy aging. Current research projects focus on disaster stress related to the historic flooding of 2016 and prior hurricane experience. Students may be involved in recruiting and testing community-dwelling adults both at LSU and off-campus locations, data entry, and library work. For more information, contact Dr. Cherry at [email protected].

Representative Publications

Post-Disaster Resilience and Recovery 

Cherry, K. E. (Ed.). (2015).  Traumatic Stress and Long-Term Recovery:  Coping with Disasters and Other Negative Life Events.  New York, NY: Springer.

Cherry, K. E., Sampson, L., Nezat, P. F., Cacamo, A., Marks, L. D., & Galea, S. (2015).  Long-term psychological outcomes in older adults after disaster:  Relationships to religiosity and social support.  Aging & Mental Health, 19(5), 430-443.

Cherry, K. E., Sampson, L., Nezat, P. F., Galea, S., Marks, L. D., & Lyon, B. A. (in press). Prior hurricane and other lifetime trauma predict coping style in older commercial fishers after the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Journal of Applied Biobehavioral Research.

Cherry, K. E.,  Brown Silva, J. L., Marks, L. D., Galea, S., Volaufova, J., Lefante, C.,  Su, L.J., Welsh, D. A., & Jazwinski, S. M. (2011).  Longitudinal assessment of cognitive and psychosocial functioning after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita:   Exploring disaster impact on middle-aged, older, and oldest-old adults.  Journal of Applied Biobehavioral Research, 16, 187-211.

Interdisciplinary Studies of Memory and Healthy Aging

Cherry, K.E., Blanchard, B., Walker, E.J., Smitherman, E., & Lyon, B. (2014).  Knowledge of memory aging across the lifespan.  Journal of Genetic Psychology, 175, 547-553.  doi: 10.1080/00221325.2014.982069.

Cherry, K.E., Marks, L.D., Benedetto, T., Sullivan, M. C., & Barker, A. (2013). Perceptions of longevity and successful aging in very old adults.  Journal of Religion, Spirituality and Aging, 25, 288-310.  doi: 10.1080/15528030.2013.765368

Cherry, K. E., Silva Brown, J., Jackson Walker, E., Smitherman, E. A., Boudreaux, E. O., Volaufova, J., & Jazwinski, S.M. (2012). Semantic encoding enhances the pictorial superiority effect in the oldest-old.  Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition, 19, 319-337. 

Applied Gerontology

Cherry, K. E., Allen, P. D., Denver, J. Y., & Holland, K. R. (2015).  Contributions of social desirability to self-reported ageism.  Journal of Applied Gerontology, 34(6), 712-733

Cherry, K.E., Jackson Walker, E.M., Silva Brown, J. L., Volaufova, J., LaMotte, L.R., Su, L.J, Jazwinski, S.M., Wood, R.H., Ellis, R, & Frisard, M.I. (2013).  Social engagement and health in younger, older, and oldest-old adults in the Louisiana Healthy Aging Study (LHAS).  Journal of Applied Gerontology, 32, 51-75.