Visiting professor to draw on transgenerational epigenetics research
McHenry, MD – Dr. Susie Mosser, a visiting professor of psychology at Garrett College, will be this month’s Joan Crawford Lecture Series presenter. Her presentation – Unlike Las Vegas, What Happens in the Womb Doesn’t Always Stay in the Womb – will take place on Wednesday, March 25th at 6 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center at Garrett College.
“My lecture will explore how trauma and environment can shape not only our own lives, but potentially the lives of future generations,” said Dr. Mosser. “I’ll be drawing on research in transgenerational epigenetics, discussing how experiences beginning as early as the womb may influence behavioral and psychological outcomes across generations.”
The presentation will highlight studies such as the well-known “mouse and cherry blossom” experiment, which demonstrated how a learned fear response to a scent could be passed down to later generations. Mosser will also connect these findings to human development, noting that “because a female fetus carries all the eggs she will ever have, we were once biologically present in our grandmother’s womb.”
Mosser said the talk will also touch on “intergenerational trauma, resilience, and the ways our bodies store and respond to lived experiences.” She will also discuss her January 2026 trip to Cayo Santiago – a restricted island home to more than 2,000 rhesus macaque monkeys – that she undertook to continue her research.
Mosser, a Southern Garrett High graduate, earned an Associate of Arts in social and behavioral sciences from Garrett College. She then completed a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Point Park (PA) University, a Master of Science in counseling psychology from Chatham (PA) University, and a doctoral degree from Viridis Institute for Ecopsychology and Environmental Humanities.
A Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) since 2011, she has her own private practice in addition to counseling at other entities, including the Dove Center. Her private practice is for perinatal mood and anxiety, perinatal bereavement, and women’s wellness.
Mosser is a published author in addition to being a practicing counselor and a college faculty member. Her books include Swimming in a Sea of Octopuses: Adapting to Increasing Speeds of Life, Peri Wrinkle – Smoothing out Perinatal Mood & Anxiety Disorders, and Because Life is so Bipolar.
She has another book scheduled for publication this year on transgenerational epigenetic transmission of intrauterine traumas. The book will focus on how psychological and physical stress, as well as environmental issues – including microplastics and other chemicals – can have lifelong impacts on a fetus.
