RISE Initiative

 

Natali Barragan (MS Psychology)

Research interests include parent-child interactions and the factors that promote or disrupt a healthy parent-child relationship.

 

 

 

 

Karissa Beesley (MS Psychology)

Interested in examining how social relationships in the workplace are impacted by remote work post-pandemic.

 

 

 

 

Jessie Evers (MA Counseling)

I am interested in researching romantic relationships, specifically         looking into relational commitment and how that affects relationship dynamics. Furthermore, I am interested in PTSD, particularly in first responders (i.e., police & firefighters). 

 

 

 

Alexis Faison (PhD Counseling Psychology)

Research focuses on ethnic/racial identity development and minority mental health, with emphasis on African Americans. Utilizes social justice and multicultural approaches in my research and clinical practice.

 

 

 

 

Courtney Grigsby (PhD Biology)

I am interested in computational evolutionary genetics. I will be working on methods for detecting variations and mutations using next-generation sequencing data.

 

 

 

Ana Maria Melendez Guevara (PhD Family & Human Development)

I am interested in contextual stressors that influence mental and physical health outcomes for underrepresented populations, as well as a sociocultural responsive intervention with a focus on interventions that embrace a trauma-informed approach.

 

 

 

Lauren Hocker (PhD Counseling Psychology)

My research interests include experiences of stress between romantic partners, dyadic coping, interpersonal violence, and gender and sexual minorities. 

 

 

 

 

Jessica Hopkins (MA Counseling)

I am interested in exploring research topics relevant to close relationships, mental health, and wellbeing.

 

 

 

 

Marianna Kaneris (MS Psychology)     

My research area includes examining the relationships of psychosocial factors and health behaviors on mental health and well-being outcomes. 

 

 

 

Victoria Klennert (MS Psychology)

Research generally focuses on the influence of gender on health and behavior, marginalized populations and sexual minorities, social determinants of health, as well as biopsychosocial approaches, quality of life, protective factors and resiliency in times of adversity.

 

 

 

Kai Kline (PhD Counseling Psychology)

My research examines individual/relational constructs among gender and sexual minorities. Specifically, how TGNC individuals' experiences of gender dysphoria and internalized transphobia impact their relationships.

 

 

 

Elyse Ku (MS Psychology)

Research interests are ADHD, emotion regulation, and interoception. Interested in using machine learning to explore the patterns of emotion regulation among people with ADHD.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Albina Letniku (MS Psychology)

Research focuses on body image; specifically, the relationship between social media use and body satisfaction.

 

 

 

 

Haojian Li (MS Psychology) Currently working on understanding and predicting people's online and social media behavior, including cyberbullying and bystander behavior in cyberspace

 

 

 

 

 

Laura Malouf (PhD Family & Human Development)   

Impact of gender socialization and stigmatization on social relationships, help-seeking, achievement, and health outcomes; health discrepancies among gender, sexual, and ethnic minorities. 

 

 

 

Olivia Maras (PhD Psychology) Studying adolescent’s peer, romantic, and familial relationships, dating violence prevention, and adolescent’s use of technology/social media.

 

 

 

 

Kamryn Morris (PhD Family & Human Development)

My research focuses on racial discrimination stress and posttraumatic stress symptoms among Black youth in relation to their navigation of the school context.

 

 

 

 

Stephanie Morse (PhD Criminology and Criminal Justice)   

My work is focused on offender rehabilitation and promoting resilience and positive outcomes with correctional populations.

 

 

 

 

Alexis Mostoller (MS Psychology)

I am interested in studying gender role strain in the context of toxic masculinity on social support seeking. 

 

 

 

 

Feroza Mushtari (MS Psychology)

Research area includes trauma and posttraumatic growth. Interested in exploring how acceptance, emotional expression, and age of onset play a role in posttraumatic growth.

 

 

 

Cassandra Ryder (PhD Communications)

Research focuses on communication within romantic relationships, technology such as online dating apps and virtual reality, and how people make sense of bad dates.

 

 

 

 

Selena Quiroz (PhD Developmental Psychology)

Main area of research: Formation, maintenance, and dissolution of romantic relationships in adolescence and young adulthood, with particular interest in technology and dating violence.

 

 

 

 

Steven Samrock (PhD Counseling Psychology)

I am interested in international same sex couples, how racial and queer identity factor into dyadic stress coping. 

 

 

 

 

Brittany Sawrey (MA Counseling)

My main area of research is exploring the particular mental health concerns of conservationists and environmental professionals, and how best to support and foster their resiliency.

 

 

 

 

Stephanie Thibault (PhD Family & Human Development)

My research focuses on the impact of peer relationships on child development, particularly peer victimization (aka bullying) at school. 

 

 

 

 

Ellen Zheng (MS Psychology)

Interested in probing the psychophysiological mechanisms of emotion processing and regulation among the general population, people with traumatic experience, and people with functional neurological disorders.