Dr. Mark Combs, Ph.D.

In 2004 I enrolled at Saddleback College taking various psychology courses and eventually transferred to the University of California Irvine (UCI), where I graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.S. in Psychology. After graduation, I applied and was accepted into a multidisciplinary Ph. D. program, again at UCI, and worked with Dr. Dan Stokols, an environmental psychology leader and editor of the field's first handbook.

While at UCI as a graduate student, I realized that I loved teaching and working with undergraduates. During this time, I mentored several UCI undergraduate students working on various summer undergraduate research projects (SURP) in the School of Social Ecology and was recognized for this work, winning the Outstanding Graduate Mentorship award in successive years from 2009 to 2011. I also served as a teaching associate during this time for Naturalistic Field Research. This class fulfills the writing requirement for a degree from the school of Social Ecology. Students taking Naturalistic Field Research conducted on-campus research and authored 20-page research papers under my supervision.

I returned to Saddleback as an associate faculty member in 2016 and have taught PSYC1, PSYC2, and PSYC30. I also teach at Golden West College, where I teach social science statistics and research methods. Having made the journey from a junior college, to grad school, and back, I have to say that I love hearing about my students' future academic plans. Quite often, my students ask for my opinion about their academic goals. I welcome these conversations as I enjoy promoting our fantastic junior college system here in California that makes it easy to transfer to one of California's world-class 4-year school systems.

Dissertation / Research Interests

My dissertation focused on the financial, psychological, and health challenges faced by near-term Baby Boomer retirees, stemming mainly from their loss of retirement assets associated with the 2008 economic recession. Specific sources of these financial and social challenges included the sustained decline in defined benefit pension plans and retirees' increasing reliance on home equity as a source of funds to cover retirement costs. The impacts of these societal trends on retirees' social integration, emotional and physical well-being were examined through a series of secondary data analyses using the Health and Retirement Survey (HRS) database housed at the University of Michigan. My statistical analyses revealed significant links between Baby Boomer retirees' overall well-being and the powerful economic and social changes (e.g., increasing economic inequality) that have occurred in the U.S. in recent years.