Through simulation, modeling and other methods, Eduardo Salas, professor of psychology, studies teamwork in settings ranging from military command and control and commercial aviation, to business, medical and emergency management agencies.

For 20 years Salas and his colleagues have been able to provide specific principles of what comprises effective teamwork, how it can be fostered and what instructional strategies can be used to enhance it. "Currently, I am doing research into multicultural teams during hostile operations. It's basically about fostering teamwork while interacting with teammates from various cultures during peacekeeping operations," Salas said. Multiculturalism essentially adds another layer to the challenge of communicating a central concept to a group. Team members are forced to interpret environmental and personal cues while at the same time operating from different frameworks of beliefs, values, assumptions, preferences and styles.

By understanding the competencies required for an effective team performance and the variable contributed by forces such as multiculturalism, Salas and his team at UCF's Institute for Simulation and Training develop tools and interventions for developing teams and team leaders.

It is largely because of Salas' ability to affect study in the field across the board that he was selected by UCF's Research Council and the Office of Research as the year's Distinguished Researcher.

Salas is a prolific writer and was ranked in a recent survey as the 6th most productive industrial/organizational psychologist over the past decade. He has co-authored more than 200 journal articles and book chapters, out of which 55 were published in the last three years. He has edited 13 books.

Salas makes a point of touching others with his work. He is credited not just with helping define the fields of team effectiveness and training but also actively sharing his knowledge with colleagues, junior and senior, and students. His research activities support two post-doctoral fellows and 15 undergraduate and graduate students. Salas has served as principal investigator or co-principal investigator on a dozen funded research projects since 1999.