Greater Richmond Region
I am a behavioral scientist specializing in health outcomes, holding a PhD in Psychology & Neuroscience with a focus on affective and creativity psychology. Backed by a foundational degree in statistics, my expertise lies in designing multimodal paradigms and analytical pipelines to comprehensively understand human behavior and performance. I specialize in integrating across diverse data streams–-including physiology, eye-tracking, and clinical/survey metrics–-alongside structured qualitative and quantitative datasets. By combining rigorous statistical modeling with a deep understanding of human behavior (especially health), I translate complex data into clear insights for cross-functional teams. Also informed by a Certificate in Teaching, my award-winning ability to craft meaningful narratives from messy data is demonstrated through a Best Dissertation Award (Natural Sciences) from Duke University, in addition to nine publications, one of which was recognized as the Best Article of its journal. More broadly, I love information, and I love sharing it: a passion reflected in my selection as a speaker at Duke’s 2026 Commencement Ceremony. I look forward to extending this unique blend of expertise in the emotion and creativity sciences, data science, and story-telling to drive high-impact research initiatives.
Following a successful preliminary exam (i.e., Master's thesis), I am currently a PhD Candidate interested in the intersection of emotion regulation and creativity. This includes how "outside-the-box" thinking can optimize positive emotions, as well as how creative activities like art can manage emotions, as measured behaviorally, physiologically, and in the brain.
PhD student in a competitive (3-5 students) doctoral admitting program for cognitive neuroscience research. Rotation-based structure permitted interdisciplinary research across a behavioral psychology lab studying creativity, an affective neuroscience lab measuring eye-tracking and physiological data, and a computational neuroscience lab.
Worked with Dr. Darya Zabelina's interdisciplinary psychology lab studying creative cognition and imagination using neuroimaging techniques. Assisted in recruiting community participants, running EEG studies, analyzing behavioral data, and organizing lab meetings.
Researcher under Dr. Elizabeth Margulis, studying the effect of music on human psychology and behaviorisms. As part of the lab, I helped to run and analyze interdisciplinary research studies, including my own Honors Thesis project on how listeners create imagined narratives during music. Presented results at multiple talks and conferences.
Hired by University of Arkansas Mathematics Department to grade (~20) students' weekly assignments for multiple semesters of proof-related mathematics courses.
Studied with Dr. Kenneth Norman's computational/theoretical neuroscience lab using advanced neural networks with fMRI data to understand how the brain implements learning and memory processes during music-listening. Participated in Python, MATLAB, GRE test prep, and other advanced workshops.