Graduate Accomplishments
Spring 2015
Sarah Edmunds’ (Child Clinical with Wendy Stone) poster was mentioned in an SFARI article about autism for "baby sibs.”
Karen Chang (Social Psychology and Personality with Yuichi Shoda) received an International Research and Study Fellowship, funded by the Chester Fritz and Boeing International endowments. During Autumn 2015, Karen is studying abroad in China! We asked her for a brief perspective on this experience thus far: "I am currently in Shanghai, China for the quarter, courtesy of the Fritz/Boeing International Research Fellowship, working with a lab in East China Normal University. I am here to extend my research on bicultural conflict among Asian Americans. Specifically, I look at the challenges of navigating between competing cultural values (e.g., family duty vs. autonomy). Data collection in Shanghai allows me to make a critical "monocultural Asian" comparison for my Asian American and European American samples in the U.S. I am also exploring concepts of race in China, and how they differ from our concepts of race in the U.S." Karen is also an active member of our Diversity Steering Committee.
Our 44th Annual Psychology Research Festival took place on Wednesday May 27, 2015 at the Waterfront Activities Center near Husky Stadium. Seventeen students presented their research to a packed venue. The weather was lovely for our afternoon awards ceremony which recognized the accomplishments of teaching, service, and excellence.
The 2015 Distinguished Teaching Award for Graduate Students was awarded to Adrian Andelin (Behavioral Neuroscience with Jaime Olavarria). Adrian has TA'd for the Psychology Department continuously until he recently was awarded a position on the Vision Training Grant! Two service awards were given from the Department and its graduate students. Karen Pang (Child Clinical with Elizabeth McCauley (Seattle Children's Hospital) and Lynn Fainsilber Katz) and Laura Brady (Social Psychology & Personality with Yuichi Shoda) were honored for their contributions to the Department and its students.
A number of students were recognized for their selection as recipients of the Hunt Fellowship, ALCOR, and as Psychology Department Scholars. These awards provide summer support (the Hunt also provides support in spring quarter), which includes stipend, tuition waivers, and health insurance. Congratulations are extended to Hunt Fellows, Stephanie Thompson (Child Clinical with Liliana Lengua) and Alissa Jerud (Adult Clinical with Lori Zoellner); ALCOR Fellows, Hollie Granato (Adult Clinical with William George), Teri Kirby (Social Psychology and Personality with Cheryl Kaiser), and Kristin Thimm (Child Clinical with Kevin King); Psychology Department Scholars, Colleen Harker (Child Clinical with Wendy Stone), Blake Pellman (Behavioral Neuroscience with Jeansok Kim), James Rae (Social Psychology and Personality with Kristina Olson), Solace Shen (Developmental with Peter H. Kahn, Jr.) and Emma Wampler (Cognition and Perception with Lee Osterhout).
The awards afternoon concluded the announcement of the 2015 Davida Teller Distinguished Faculty award for mentorship: Kristina R. Olson (Developmental)!
In Spring 2015, five students passed their general exams and advanced to candidacy for the Ph.D.: Bryan Kutner (Adult Clinical with Jane Simoni), Kelsey McCune (Animal Behavior with Renee Ha), Robert Mohr (Animal Behavior with Joseph Sisneros), Yiqin Alicia Shen (Social Psychology and Personality with Yuichi Shoda), and Brianna Yamasaki (Cognition and Perception with Chantel Prat).
Four students completed a thesis-based Master's of Science degree: Charlotte Brill (Adult Clinical with William George), Anne Fast (Developmental with Kristina Olson), Saethra Fritscher (Animal Behavior with Michael Beecher), and Bryan Kutner (Adult Clinical with Jane Simoni).
We had one student graduate with their Ph.D. during Spring 2015 quarter, Jessica Thomas (Cognition and Perception with Ione Fine). She accepted a position with XBox. Congratulations!
To conclude the academic year, the Psychology Department hosted its annual Hooding Ceremony at the Walker Ames room in Kane Hall. Ten recent Ph.Ds. attended with their family and friends to this special event.
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| Photo: Hooding Ceremony |
Summer 2015
The Huffington Post wrote a great article about a client's success with recent Ph.D. alumna, Anita Lungu (Adult Clinical with Marsha Linehan) using DBT. Anita earned the Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and currently a post-doctoral fellow at UC San Francisco.
Adrian Andelin (Behavioral Neuroscience with Jaime Olavarria) was selected for a predoctoral position supported by the Vision Training Grant.
Sonya Mehta (Cognition and Perception with Thomas Grabowski (Radiology) and Geoff Boynton) received an NRSA to support her research.
Natalia Garcia (Adult Clinical with Lori Zoellner) passed her general exam and advanced to candidacy for the Ph.D. during summer quarter. She was previously featured in an article for her NSF-funded research on fear.
A. Paige Peterson (Adult Clinical with Corey Fagan) completed a Master's Degree with her paper: "Psychometric Evaluation of the Brief Adjustment Scale-6 (BASE-6): A New Measure of General Psychological Adjustment."
Several students graduated with their Ph.D. (a number of them pictured above in the Hooding photo above): Amanda Gilmore (Adult Clinical with William George), Safia Jackson (Adult Clinical with Mary Larimer), Teri Kirby (Social Psychology and Personality with Cheryl Kaiser), Jeremy Luk (Child Clinical with Kevin King), Anita Lungu (Adult Clinical with Marsha Linehan), Danny O'Rourke (Adult Clinical with Ronald Smith), Erin Ward-Ciesielski (Adult Clinical with Marsha Linehan), and Sam Yard (Adult Clinical with Jane Simoni).
Autumn 2015
Three new NRSA fellows! Congratulations to Charlotte Heleniak (Child Clinical with Kate McLaughlin), Connor McCabe (Child Clinical with Kevin King), and, Elizabeth Neilson (Adult Clinical with William George). Charlotte was previously featured in this newsletter when she received a Doris Duke award. Check out the research feature on Connor McCabe in the other section of our newsletter!
Brianna Yamasaki (Cognition and Perception with Chantel Prat) received a 2015 American Psychological Association Dissertation Research Award of $1000 for her research on bilingual language.
Congratulations to all our students for their accomplishments these past several months.