Dr. Scott Walters

Education & Experience:
My background combines psychology and public health, with a focus on turning behavioral science into practical approaches that improve health. I earned my PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of New Mexico and completed a clinical internship through the Boston Consortium in Clinical Psychology. Before joining UNT Health Fort Worth, I served as Assistant and Associate Professor at the UTHealth Houston School of Public Health. I currently serve as Regents Professor and Director of the PhD Program in Public Health Sciences at UNT Health Fort Worth.

Teaching Areas & Public Health Interests:
I believe the best public health education connects science with practical application. My courses have included addictive behavior, health behavior theory, motivational interviewing, health communication, and research methods. My goal is to help students connect behavioral science to real public health problems—not just learn theories, but understand how research can improve people’s lives. I especially enjoy mentoring graduate students and early-career investigators as they develop their own research programs.

Along the way, I’ve received teaching awards from the University of New Mexico, UTHealth Houston School of Public Health, and UNT Health Fort Worth. From 2019 to 2023, I also held a Senior Consortium Research Fellowship with the U.S. Army Research Institute

Professional Activities & Awards:
I’ve collaborated with healthcare systems, community organizations, military units, and public agencies to develop and implement evidence-based approaches to improving health. As a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers, I’ve conducted more than 300 trainings in healthcare, behavioral health, criminal justice, military, and public health settings.

I have authored five books and more than 150 peer-reviewed publications. I also enjoy writing newspaper commentaries that find lessons in unexpected places—from Ben Franklin and classic rock to Western movies and cartoon villains.

Whether I'm conducting research, teaching students, or working with community partners, my goal is the same: to make behavioral science practical, accessible, and useful.

Scholarly Interests:
At its core, my research asks how behavioral science can help people make healthier choices and help organizations deliver more effective care. To answer that question, my work combines insights from psychology and implementation science. Over the past two decades, I have developed, implemented, and evaluated interventions addressing alcohol and drug use, mental health, violence, cancer prevention, and other public health challenges. Much of this work has been supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Recent projects have included adaptive smartphone interventions for adults experiencing homelessness, communication skills training for U.S. Army operational units, implementation strategies to reduce opioid use and overdose, and efforts to improve substance use treatment for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

From 2020 to 2025, I served as Steering Committee Chair for the HEALing Communities Study, the largest implementation science study in addiction science, spanning 67 communities across four states.

Link to Dr. Walters' Curriculum Vitae

Link to Dr. Walters' Research Profile