Raised in: Long Island, New York
Attending: University of Michigan
Studying: Developmental psychology
Expected to graduate: April 2016
Dream career: Professor, because I love doing research, mentoring and teaching.
The three adjectives that describe me best: Industrious, genuine and passionate.
The annoying habit I wish I could change: Eating for fun.
What my fellow students don't know about me that would surprise them: I like learning to play pop songs on the guitar and ukulele. Some recent songs I've been playing are "Jealous" by Nick Jonas and "Blank Space" by Taylor Swift.
If everyone had superpowers, I would: I'd like it to be teleportation, so I could get to places faster. Even though no one has superpowers in real life, everyone has something that they're particularly good at. I think a key to success is to be able to identify those strengths and work toward building them up even more.
The psychologist or historical figure I like most and why: Urie Bronfenbrenner. My research is unified conceptually under his bioecological systems theory, which states that development takes place in embedded systems under multiple levels, starting from an individual's physiology, to their family and immediate environment, to the broader culture under which they live. A central piece of his theory is that there's a continuous interaction between nature and nurture — a person's own attributes and their environment — and this interaction over time contributes to development.
If I could clone myself, what my other self would do: Help me with my normal graduate student responsibilities, like doing research or teaching so I'd be able to accomplish everything so much faster.
My great hope for the psychology field: To continue to bring about real change in society.
Current research focus: Parenting and co-parenting in families with young children. My secondary interest is in using multiple methodologies, such as biomarkers, observation and longitudinal analyses to understand parenting and family processes.
What I learned from my latest research project: Sometimes your hypotheses don't quite turn out the way they're expected, but that's OK. As scientists, we should be open-minded enough to change our minds when presented with sufficient evidence.
How studying psychology has changed me: I've become more detail-oriented and developed a stronger sense of social responsibility.
Procrastination strategy of choice: Sometimes I work on a project with a later deadline than the one with an earlier deadline. I'm procrastinating on one thing but still being productive on another at the same time.
Greatest frustration: Conflicting reviews on research manuscripts. It's hard to know what's important or not.
Title of a book about my life as a grad student: "Variable Reinforcement: Just Keep Hustling."