RISE Initiative
Our students
RISE students
Our graduate students from both master’s and PhD programs throughout ASU represent the cutting-edge of resilience research.
Yukimura Mei
MS Psychology
Child attachment assessment, focusing on projective drawing measures (Star-Wave Test) and narrative-based methods (MCASA), applied to cross-cultural samples from Taiwan and Japan.
Carly Miller
MS Psychology
My research interests are social determinants of health, particularly for women, mothers, and children.
Ajmal Irshaad Mohammed
MS Psychology
Research interests include neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental disorders
Bella Moriarty
MS Psychology
I am broadly interested in researching violence against women and marginalized peoples.
Stephanie Morse
PhD Criminology and Criminal Justice
My work is focused on offender rehabilitation and promoting resilience and positive outcomes with correctional populations.
Amy Paice
MS Psychology
Elements of adult and child flourishing: resilience, post-traumatic growth, meaning, self-reflection, time spend in the wilderness, humor and play
Soyeon Park
MS Psychology
I investigate how relational systems and curiosity foster resilience and flourishing across development, focusing on positive psychological mechanisms, social-emotional well-being, and adaptive growth during key life transitions
Sydney Parker
PhD Law and Psychology
My research focuses on the mental health impacts of children who have interactions with the legal system by characterizing the context of children’s experiences, identifying risk and resilience factors, and developing appropriate interventions.
Mengting Peng
PhD Human and Family Development
My research interests center on how adolescents cultivate resilience through relationships with family, peers, and their broader social environment, and how these relational resources contribute to psychological adjustment and positive development
Rong Qin
PhD Communication
Interpersonal communication, family communication, romantic relationships, decision-making
Sarah Josephine Rajendra
PhD Developmental Psychology
Language development and acquisition processes in young children
Maddie Rumsey
MS Psychology
My research interests include parent-child relationships and the impact of parental stress on child development, physical health, and mental health.
Rhea Rungta
MS Counseling
My research interests center on how intersecting systems of oppression shape identity, belonging, and mental health among QT-BIPOC individuals — especially the ways authenticity, community resilience, culturally informed coping, and social support may protect well-being.
Steven Samrock
PhD Counseling Psychology
I am interested in international same sex couples, how racial and queer identity factor into dyadic stress coping.
Daniel Jose Sanchez
PhD Family and Human Development
Suicide Prevention Programs, Latinx Youth.
Ziyi Shen
PhD Nursing and Healthcare Innovation
My research interests include chronic disease management, healthcare innovation, and improving patient outcomes through evidence-based interventions.
Kate Skees
MS Psychology
I study prejudice, bias, and discrimination through a social psychological lens. My goal is to advance research that informs policy, promotes equity, and creates more inclusive spaces within Psychology and broader social contexts.
Orchee Syed
MS Psychology
Family systems and intervention science; improving and treating mental health in minority groups; adolescent health and psychopathology; efficacy of psychology practices across cultures
Darby Tarrant
MS Psychology
Positive psychological interventions to help cope with ADHD symptoms
Diana Than
PhD Social Psychology
My primary interests include how stigma and social identity impact marginalized communities, and the potential implications it has on policies.
Stephanie Thibault
PhD Family and Human Development
My research focuses on the impact of peer relationships on child development, particularly peer victimization (aka bullying) at school.
David Whitaker
MS Counseling
Research explores the intersection of health psychology and psychological stress and resilience among marginalized communities as a lens on well-being across the lifespan.
Cameron Wright
MS Psychology
I’m interested in researching ambiguous loss and grief and how people navigate loss when there isn’t always a clear sense of closure.
Dylan Young
MS Psychology
My research interests include social media and its relationship with mental health, along with mental health stigma and its effect on wellbeing.
RISE undergraduate students
| Diana Espinoza Aguilar | Psychology and sociology |
| Neha Francis | Biological Sciences |
| Hannah Huynh | Psychology |
| Arasely Villalobos Lopez | Psychology |
| Will Manley | English |
| Allison Miller | Psychology and sociology |
| Haley Patel | Medical microbiology and psychology |
| Aniyah Roberson | Psychology |
| Melanie Perez Saenz | Psychology and Sociology (minor) |
| Annielaura Shafer | Psychology |
| September Spotleson | Psychology |
| Christina Stewart | Psychology & Family and Human Development |