Heather Werner, MSW

Heather found her niche teaching research nine years ago as a Lecturer at California State University, Chico – affectionately known by locals as “Chico State”.  Since that time, she has been teaching in several departments in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences (BSS) – primarily Social Work, Social Science, and Sociology.  She finds teaching social research methods and mentoring students in their research projects extremely rewarding.  In December 2022, she was honored as the BSS Outstanding Lecturer of the Year.

In addition to teaching, Heather served on the General Education Curriculum Advisory Board at Chico State for three years and manages annual assessments of Student Learning Objectives (SLOs) for multiple departments.  Recently, she has also taught in the Child Development Department at Cal Poly Humboldt, focusing primarily on Social Policy and Advocacy.

Prior to teaching, Heather spent nearly a decade working for the State of California as an Adoptions Specialist, facilitating child welfare adoptions across Northern California.  Heather graduated from Chico State with a Bachelor’s Degree in Child Development and a Master’s Degree in Social Work (MSW) with an emphasis in Child Welfare (Title IV-E).

Heather has also completed a certification in perinatal mental health (PMH-C) through Postpartum Support International (PSI) and has worked as a Perinatal Health Coordinator serving low-income pregnant and postpartum women.  She feels passionate about research and projects related to adoption, child welfare, mental health, education, work/life balance, and family well-being.

Heather resided in Chico (Butte County) for 22 years and relocated to Humboldt County in 2022.  She and her partner, Jon, have three children between the ages of 6 and 20.  In her free time, she enjoys reading, dancing, yoga, hiking, going to the beach, and creative projects.