About Us

People

Program Administrators

Photo of Sarah Miller

Sarah Miller, Ph.D., ABPP
Fellowship Training Director
Sarah Miller (she/her) is the Director of the State Forensic Service.  She conducts criminal forensic mental health evaluations and provides consultation to examiners, attorneys, judges, and others.  Prior to that, she worked with the Behavioral Health team in the Maine Department of Corrections and ran an independent forensic practice.  Before coming to Maine, she worked at Bridgewater State Hospital in Massachusetts conducting forensic evaluations in a high security correctional setting.  Dr. Miller is board certified in forensic psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology.  She earned her MA and PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Alabama with a concentration in Psychology and Law.  She completed her postdoctoral fellowship in forensic psychology at University of Massachusetts Medical School.

 

Photo of Jeff Hacker standing outside

Jeffrey Hecker, Ph.D.
Fellowship Program Coordinator
Dr. Hecker (he, him) is Professor and Director of Clinical Training in the Department of Psychology at the University of Maine. His research has focused on anxiety disorders, juvenile sexual offending, and rural mental health. He has maintained a part-time practice in clinical and forensic psychology throughout his career. Dr. Hecker was a contracted evaluator with the State Forensic Service from 1988 to 2007 and renewed this relationship in 2021. He has extensive experience in higher education leadership having served as department chair, college dean, Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs & Provost, and Senior Advisor to the President, all at UMaine.

 

Photo of Shalene KirkelyShalene Kirkley, Ph.D.
Fellowship Training Coordinator

Shalene Kirkley (she/her) is a Forensic Evaluator with the State Forensic Service. Before joining State Forensic Service, she was in private practice in Arizona as a forensic psychologist conducting evaluations in criminal and civil courts, primarily in areas of competency to stand trial and decisional capacity. Dr. Kirkley has also taught graduate courses in psychological assessment and ethics, and supervised interns and postdoctoral residents in clinical and forensic evaluations. She obtained her MA from Boston University and her PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Alabama with a concentration in Psychology and Law. 

 

Photo of April O'Grady

April O’Grady, Ph.D.
Fellowship Program Administrator and Advisor

April O’Grady (she/her) is the Director of the Psychological Services Center (PSC), UMaine’s in-house training clinic for the Doctoral Training Program in Clinical Psychology. Through her work at UMaine, she provides clinical training and supervision for doctoral students with particular interests in forensic psychology and supervises forensic evaluations for the Department of Corrections. She has been a contracted evaluator with State Forensic Service since 2004 and maintains an active private practice conducting evaluations for both state and federal courts. Particular areas of expertise are in competence to proceed, criminal responsibility, abnormal condition of the mind, recidivism risk, diagnosis and treatment planning within the legal context, and civil commitment. She obtained her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at UMaine.

 

Photo of Laura Shaw
Laura Shaw, Esq.
Legal Studies Coordinator

Laura Shaw (she/her) is an Attorney at Dirigo Law Group, LLP, a small private practice law firm located in Camden, Maine. Laura has an immigration practice as well as a general litigation and appellate practice, and has extensive experience in the areas of immigration law, criminal law, family law, personal injury law, appellate law, and civil litigation. Laura attended Fordham University where she earned a BA in Sociology and Spanish. Thereafter, Laura earned her law degree at Maine Law in Portland where she graduated first in her law school class. During law school, Laura served as a teaching assistant in Contracts and Legal Writing. Before entering private practice, Laura clerked for the former Chief Justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, Maine’s highest state appellate court.

 

Program Supervisors

Photo of Andy Wischl sitting at desk

Andrew Wisch, Ph.D., ABPP

Andy Wisch (he/him) has specialized in criminal forensic psychological evaluation and consultation since 2004. During that time, he has conducted evaluations as a contract examiner for the State Forensic Service and as a privately retained expert, including adult competency and criminal responsibility evaluations, pre-sentence evaluations (including sex offending and violence risk assessments), juvenile competency, bindover, pre-dispositional evaluations, civil commitment evaluations, and evaluation of psychological damages in personal injury cases. Dr. Wisch is board certified in forensic psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the American Board of Forensic Psychology (2014-2019) and served as board President (2018). He was a member of ABFP’s examination faculty from 2012 to 2017. He currently serves as a public member of the Maine Board of Bar Examiners (2016-2024).

 
Debra Baeder, Ph.D.

Debra Baeder (she/her) is board certified in forensic psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Psychology. She served as the Chief Forensic Psychologist for the State Forensic Service in Maine and then as the Director of Clinical Services for the Maine Office of Behavioral Health for a combined 23 years. She currently has a small private practice doing all manner of forensic evaluations for the State Forensic Service. Her expertise includes evaluations of adult pre-trial defendants on issues of competence and criminal responsibility as well as evaluations of juveniles on matters pertaining to dispositional recommendations, risk assessments, competence, and waiver to criminal court. Dr. Baeder helped develop the statute and evaluative protocol for juvenile adjudicative competence in Maine. She has regularly provided training and consultation for psychologists and legal personnel both in Maine and nationally.

Place

Maine is a wonderful place to live. We have sophisticated cities known for their culinary delights, and beautiful coastal landscapes to enjoy. There is something for everyone: rural / urban, mountains / sea, lakes / rivers, conservative / liberal, and everything in between. UMaine is located on Marsh Island between the Stillwater and Penobscot rivers in Orono, and is approximately 5 miles from Bangor. The State Forensic Service sits alongside the Kennebec River in the heart of central Maine, one hour north of Portland. Augusta is a nationally designated Main Street community, with a dedication to restoring the historic downtown. 

While there is much to love about living in Maine, potential applicants should be aware that Maine does not enjoy great diversity in terms of racial demographics. Over 90% of Mainers identify as White alone according to the 2020 census. Over 90% of Maine Department of Health and Human Services staff identify as White, and our program faculty are primarily White, professionals, academics, scholars, and clinicians. Yet, similar to disparities seen on a national level, Black people in Maine are six times more likely to be incarcerated than White people. The State of Maine recognizes the need to directly address racial and cultural inequities from a systems and policy standpoint, and to that end, created the Permanent Commission on the Status of Racial, Indigenous & Tribal Populations in 2019. Our program is committed to participating in the drive toward a diverse, just, and inclusive Maine. We seek Fellows interested in joining the conversation about racial justice and advancing the role forensic psychologists can play in working toward systemic change.