Where Are They Now?

Liu Bai

Liu Bai

Liu completed her PhD in Human Development and Family Studies working with Dr. Doug Teti and Dr. Kristin Buss at Penn State University in 2023. She received her B.S in Psychology and M.Ed. in Developmental Psychology from Beijing Normal University. For her master’s thesis, she compared different emotion regulation strategies using self-report, physiological measurements and eye-tracking. Her research interests include understanding how parenting and other environmental factors influence the trajectories of children’s emotional development, and the physiological and behavioral mechanisms of emotional regulation. Currently, she is working as a professor at Beijing Normal University.  

Austen Trainer

Austen Trainer

Austen completed his PhD in Developmental Psychology program working with Kristin Buss and the Emotion Development Lab at Penn State University in 2023. They received a BA in psychology from the University of California Riverside in 2016, and then spent time working as an RA in Kristin Lagattuta’s Mind-Emotion Development Lab. Their research interests include the efficacy of emotion regulation strategies across contexts and how parents’ understandings of their children’s emotions affect child development.

Kristin Woodlen

Kristin Woodlen

Kristin joined the Emotional Development Lab as a Project Coordinator in 2021 for the TEENS project after receiving her M.A. in Applied Clinical Psychology from Penn State Harrisburg. She received a B.S in Digital Forensics and a B.A. in Psychology from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania in 2017. Her prior research and clinical experiences include working in a neuroscience lab that studied stress and addictions and interning as a therapist at a psychiatric inpatient hospital for children and adolescents. Kristin is currently interested in researching risk and protective factors associated with racial and ethnic identity development and mental health for transnational adoptees. She is currently a graduate student at Loyola University Chicago.

Nora Tucker

Nora Tucker

Kathryn Gray

Kathryn Gray

Katie Gray joined as a project coordinator in 2021 after earning a B.A. in Psychology from Texas A&M University. As a coordinator at Penn State, she worked in both the Emotion Development Lab and the Cognition, Affect, and Temperament Lab and helped with the LAnTs and T.E.E.N.S. projects. Her research interests center on malleable factors in the prenatal environment and infancy that impact children’s cognitive and neural development through preschool. Currently, she is a graduate student working with Dr. Sonya Troller-Renfree at Columbia University.

Annika Kershner

Annika Kershner

Annika Kershner joined the Emotion Development Lab in 2020 as a Project Coordinator for the LAnT and TEENS projects. She received her B.S. in Psychology from Penn State Harrisburg in 2019, working as an undergraduate research assistant in the Emotion Development Lab with the TEENS project. In 2022, she received a Post-baccalaureate Certificate in Family Literacy through Penn State’s World Campus and the Goodling Institute for Research in Family Literacy and the National Center for Families Learning. She has a special interest in trauma and resilience, as well as other risk and protective factors involved in anxiety development and prevention in children and families. She enjoys being part of a team that works directly with families in the local community and is now working as a Foster Care Case Manager for Families United Network, Inc.

Frances Lobo

Frances Lobo

Frances Lobo received her PhD from The Pennsylvania State University Developmental Psychology program, then was a post-doc under Dr. Kristin Buss. She received her B. S. degree in Neuroscience and Psychology from Duke University in 2013 and spent the following three years studying self-regulation in adolescents and college students with Dr. Rick Hoyle. In our lab, she worked to understand how family systems promote or inhibit child self-regulation and resilience. Specifically, she is interested in the development of parent-child behavioral, affective, and physiological patterns. She hopes to investigate how dyadic interaction patterns are shaped by and influence the relationships among family risk factors, family protective factors, child temperament, and child outcomes. Currently, Frances works as a post-doc with Dr. Gabriela Stein at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Anna Zhou

Anna Zhou

Anna graduated from Penn State with a Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology under the mentorship of Dr. Kristin Buss and Dr. Jenae Neiderhiser. She graduated from Tufts University in 2015 with a B.S. in Cognitive Brain Science and Child Development. After earning her bachelor degree, Anna worked at the Labs of Cognitive Neuroscience at Boston Children’s Hospital with Dr. Charles Nelson on a longitudinal project examining the neural bases of emotion processing in infants and toddlers. Anna takes a biopsychosocial approach to her research, and is interested in the interplay between biological and environmental factors across development, and how they may be associated with children’s trajectories of socioemotional outcomes over time. Her master’s thesis focused on how maternal internalizing symptoms, child physiology and their interaction were associated with trajectories of internalizing symptoms in early childhood. Anna is now a post-doc at the University of Utah.

Yushuang Liu

Yushuang Liu

Yushuang graduated from Penn State with a dual-title Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology and Language Science. She received her B.S. degree in Psychology from Wuhan University, China and her M.A. degree in Psychology from San Diego State University, under the mentorship of Dr. Margaret Friend on language and cognitive development in monolingual and bilingual children. Currently, she is a post-doctoral fellow at The University of Connecticut.

Klaudia Kulawska

Klaudia Kulawska

Klaudia graduated from Bucknell University in 2021 with a B.A. in Psychology. Her prior research and community involvement include working as a research assistant at the Stress and Development Lab at Harvard University and working with various nonprofit organizations that focus on promoting positive youth development in Jiu Valley, Romania. She then worked on the PRESH project at the Parent Child Dynamics Lab and the TEENS project in the Emotion Development Lab in Harrisburg. These experiences led Klaudia to develop a research interest in the early childhood adversity and family and community-level protective factors associated with child resilience. Klaudia is now pursuing a PhD in child clinical psychology.

Aastha Soni

Aastha Soni

Aastha is a junior at Penn State pursuing a major in Biology and minors in Art and Psychology. At Penn State, she has worked as a Learning Edge Academic Program (LEAP) mentor to assist first-year students with their transition to college and has been a teaching assistant for BIOL 230W during the most recent spring semester. During her freshman year, Aastha was also involved in THON as a member of the Communications Committee. Outside of academics, Aastha loves to dance, bake, paint, and spend time with her friends and her two cats. She is trained in an Indian classical dance form, Kathak, and has taught younger kids at her dance studio for two years. After graduating, Aastha is considering attending a graduate school, but is still uncertain as to what field of study she would like to focus on.

Tennille Hill

Tennille Hill

Tennille Hill joined the Emotional Development Lab as a Research Coordinator on the T.E.E.N.S. Study. Tennille received her B.S. in Human Development and Family Studies from Penn State University and M.S. in Mental Health Counseling from Springfield College. She has 20+ years of mental health, social service, and clinical experience working with children, youth, & families and is interested in helping troubled youth find a successful balance between academics and skills. Tennille’s strong passion for helping others lead her to further her love for hair while obtaining her licenses in Cosmetology and as a Cosmetology Teacher. She recently opened a hair salon (Hair Counselors) where she can educate and counsel clients, stylists, and the everyday person on anything about hair.

Venus Ricks

Venus Ricks

Venus Ricks joined the Emotional Development Lab as a Lab Coordinator working with Dr. Kristin Buss on the LAnTs and T.E.E.N.S. project. Venus received her M.Ed in Higher Education Administration from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and her B.A. in Sociology from Susquehanna University. Her experience spans close to 20 years in social services, higher education administration as well as teaching and facilitating in the area of diversity, equity and inclusion. Venus has a strong passion for social justice and providing opportunities and experiences that improve the lives of marginalized populations. She is currently the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Samantha Leigh

Samantha Leigh

Samantha Leigh graduated from Christopher Newport University in 2018 with her B.S. in Neuroscience and Psychology, and minor in Writing. She worked in the Emotion Development Lab at the PACT Harrisburg site as a Project Coordinator for LAnTs and TEENS. Her previous experience includes working as a research assistant in Dr. Stephanie DeLuca’s Neuromotor Research Clinic at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, as well as using eye-tracking equipment in Dr. Laurie Hunter’s Face Processing Research Lab at CNU to study how students examine facial expressions. She is interested in the development of stress and anxiety, particularly in k-12 students. She plans to attend graduate school to study Educational Psychology and help schools improve student mental health. She is currently gaining more experience with research as a research assistant at Dartmouth College.

Andrea Cordero

Andrea Cordero

Andrea Cordero joined the Emotion Development Lab as a Research Coordinator working closely with Dr. Buss primarily on the TEENS Study. Andrea is a 2017 Penn State graduate with multiple B.A. in Psychology, Criminology, and Sociology and her M.Ed. in Higher Education. Prior research experiences include a project on social games for adolescents with autism, directed by Dr. Suzy Scherf and serving as a lab manager for the Child Attention and Learning Lab directed by Dr. Cynthia Hunag-Pollock. She is broadly interested in how negative family environments and adversities affect children’s temperament and biological regulations. She is currently a UC Davis PhD student.

Meghan McDoniel

Meghan McDoniel

Meghan received her PhD in Developmental Psychology from Penn State University in 2020. Meghan received her B.A. in Psychology with a Neuroscience concentration from Grinnell College in 2010. She also received her M.Ed. in Elementary Education with an Early Childhood emphasis from the University of Missouri-St. Louis in 2012 while teaching preschool with Teach For America. Her research interests focus on the multiple factors that influence social and emotional development of children in special populations (e.g. low-income populations, special needs populations). She is currently a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford University working with Jelena Obradović.

Elizabeth Shewark

Elizabeth Shewark

Elizabeth is a postdoctoral research fellow working with Dr. S. Alexandra Burt. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in psychology, summa cum laude, from the University of Mary Washington and attained her Masters of Arts in Applied Developmental Psychology from George Mason University (GMU) under the mentorship of Dr. Susanne Denham. She earned her PhD in Developmental Psychology from Penn State.  Elizabeth worked with Drs. Jenae Neiderhiser and Kristin Buss examining the development of children’s social and emotional competency, within the context of the family and schools using a behavioral genetics framework. Her dissertation work examined genetic influences on the child and how that association may evoke different or similar responses across the family and school contexts and subsequently impact later adjustment.

Elveena Fareedi

Elveena Fareedi

Elveena received her Masters’ degree in Clinical Psychology from Penn State Harrisburg, and she worked as a research coordinator with us from 2017-2019. She then worked as a Senior Research Coordinator for Northwestern University. Currently, Elveena is the Director of Research and Evaluation (Mental Health Policy) at the California Alliance of Child & Family Services.

 

Jin Qu

Jin Qu

Jin Qu worked as a post-doc scholar with Dr. Koraly Pérez-Edgar and Dr. Kristin Buss. She graduated with a Ph.D. degree in Human Development and Family Studies and her Ph.D. advisor was Dr. Esther Leerkes.  Her main research interests lie in infant social and emotional development (e.g., infant emotion regulation) in relation to children’s subsequent behavior problems. Jin is currently an Assistant Professor at Clarion University.

Nhi Thai

Nhi Thai

Nhi graduated with her PhD in Developmental Psychology under the mentorship of Drs. Perez-Edgar and Buss. She received her bachelor’s in Child Psychology and Biology from the University of Minnesota, where she conducted research with Dr. Philip Zelazo on the development and neural bases of executive function throughout the lifespan. For her doctoral work, she investigated the neurocognitive processes involved in emotion regulation and explore effective emotion regulation strategies toward adaptive behavior, particularly in the context of psychopathology. Nhi is currently an assistant teaching professor at Penn State, as well as a photographer in State College.

Xiaoxue (Jessie) Fu

Xiaoxue (Jessie) Fu

Jessie received her BSc in Psychology from Bristol University and MSc in Psychological Research from Oxford University, and recently finished her Ph.D. at Penn State University. For her master’s thesis, she employed psychophysiological methods to study the acquisition of fear and anxiety in anxious adults. While working with us she worked on projects that assess the efficacy of cognitive bias modification of interpretations training in ameliorating interpretation bias and negative mood in Chinese adolescents with subclinical and clinical anxiety. For her Ph.D., she studied how neurocognitive processes interact with genetic and environmental factors to contribute to the risk and resilience of developing social-emotional maladaptations in temperamentally at-risk youths. Jesse was a postdoc fellowship at the Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital (merged with OSU’s med program) working with Dr. Eric Nelson, and she is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the University of South Carolina.

Connor Destafney

Connor Destafney

Connor graduated from Penn State in May of 2016 with a B.S. in Psychology; Life Sciences. Connor worked as the lab coordinator from June 2016 to July 2018. While working closely with Dr. Buss and Dr. Perez Edgar, Connor focused on project coordination and harmonizing data through the Dot Probe Consortium. Afterwards, Connor worked at Berks County Children & Youth Services as a County Caseworker and investigated sexual abuse in minors, assured child safety, and built relationships with families within all areas of the county. He is currently an intake specialist and legal assistant at Mullen Coughlin LLC.

Santiago Morales Pamplona

Santiago Morales Pamplona

Santi was a graduate student from 2011 to 2017 and helped the lab with visits from 2011 to 2013. He completed his Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology in 2017, then was a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Nathan Fox at the University of Maryland in the Child Development Laboratory. Currently, he is an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Southern California.

Sydney Risley

Sydney Risley

Sydney is currently a doctoral student in Clinical Psychology at Miami University of Ohio, working with Dr. Elizabeth Kiel. She worked with the us as our Consortium Coordinator, starting in the summer of 2015. Her clinical interests include working with anxiety in young children and families, as well as eating disorders in adolescents and adults. She hopes to pursue a career in a hospital setting or academia in the future.

Anne Frank Webb

Anne Frank Webb

Anne worked with us since 2012 and after four years at Penn State in the School Psych program, then started a predoctoral internship with the Juniata County School District. While on an internship, she is completed her dissertation and continued her work as a school psychologist. 

Lucia Parry

Lucia Parry

Lucia is a graduate of Penn State – she earned her BA in Psychology in 2011. As an undergrad, she worked as a research assistant in Dr. Buss’s lab, and she returned as lab coordinator in 2016. After college, she joined Teach for America and spent five years teaching Kindergarten in Wilmington, DE. Lucia is pursuing graduate studies in Developmental Psychology at the University of Rochester in NY. She is also working as a Research Assistant, as well as teaching several courses as an adjunct instructor at universities in Rochester, NY. 

Elizabeth Davis

Elizabeth Davis

Elizabeth is currently an Associate Professor of Psychology at UC-Irvine.

Jessica Dollar

Jessica Dollar

Jessica is currently an Assistant Research Professor at UNC-Greensboro.

Martha Early

Martha Early

Martha is currently a Pediatric Psychologist at Unity Point Health, Des Moines Iowa.

Adam Schwartz

Adam Schwartz

Adam is a graduate of Penn State University with a Bachelor of Science degree and a Psychology minor. He worked in Dr. Buss’s lab from 2012-2015 as a volunteer research assistant and then lab coordinator. Adam’s research interests focus on early social-emotional development and related problematic trajectories and risk factors that might potentially contribute to anxiety-related psychopathologies later in development. 

Lauren Philbrook

Lauren Philbrook

Lauren was a member of the lab from 2011-2015 and helped with lab visits in 2012-2013. She completed her PhD in Human Development and Family Studies in 2015 and is currently a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Mona El-Sheikh’s Child Sleep, Health, and Development Laboratory at Auburn University. She is now an assistant professor at Colgate University.

Meghan Scrimgeour

Meghan Scrimgeour

Meghan completed her doctoral training in August 2015 in Developmental Psychology and is currently a Research Associate at 3C Institute in Durham, NC. While at Penn State, she worked with Dr. Kristin Buss in the Emotion Development Lab and with Dr. Alysia Blandon in the Family and Child Development Lab. Meghan received her B.A. in Psychology from Wheaton College in 2007 and her M.S. in Developmental Psychology from Penn State in 2011. She now works at Wake County Public School System as a research analyst.

Natalie Williams

Natalie Williams

Natalie is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Nebraska.

Charlie Beekman

Charlie Beekman

Charlie completed his graduate training, earning his Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology in May 2015. After graduation, he moved to Arizona to complete his Post-Doctoral fellowship at Arizona State University, then worked as a Research Analysis Manager at The John F. Kennedy Center of Performing Arts. He is currently the Director of Quantitative Analytics and Data Science at Gartner in Fairfax, Virginia.

Jeremy Armstrong

Jeremy Armstrong

Jeremy served as our lab coordinator and primary contact from 2008-2012. Jeremy earned his degree in Counselor Education from PSU in 2014, and he currently works as a Recruitment Specialist at Women’s Center & Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh.

Becky Brooker

Becky Brooker

Becky ran many of our lab visits from 2006-2011 before graduating with her PhD in Developmental Psychology in 2011. Upon graduation, she served 2 years as a post-doc with the Wisconsin Training Program in Emotion Research, and was an Assistant Professor at Montana State University and is the director of the Development of Mind and Emotions Lab. Becky is currently an associate department head and associate professor of psychology at Texas A&M.