I am currently a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where I work in the Developmental Personality Neuroscience Lab led by Michael Hallquist. I earned my Ph.D. in Psychology and Neuroscience from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and B.A. in Psychology and Sociology from UCLA.
My program of research examines the neural and cognitive mechanisms underlying how adolescents learn from social experiences and use this information to inform their decision making, attitudes, and behaviors. I integrate experimental, neuroimaging, longitudinal, and computational approaches to characterize how such learning and decision-making processes change across social contexts and across development. Specifically, my dissertation research with Eva Telzer focusing on neurodevelopmental changes in parent and peer influence across adolescence led to my current postdoctoral work on formalizing learning and decision making dynamics in social environments. The ultimate goal of my research is to identify the mechanisms that help adolescents effectively learn from and adapt to their unique social challenges and opportunities to meet core developmental goals.
I am deeply committed to promoting diversity in and the accessibility of science, a goal that resonates with me as a female, ethnic minority, first-generation, low-income student. In my free time, I enjoy cooking, hiking/trail runs (especially in National Parks), playing volleyball, gardening, and finding any reason to celebrate.
