APA PsycShorts

Dima Amso is an associate professor in the Department of Cognitive, Linguistic and Psychological Sciences at Brown University. She has a BS in psychology from Tufts University, was trained at Cornell University and received a PhD in psychology from New York University in 2005. She served on the faculty at the Weil Medical College of Cornell University before joining Brown University. Her research examines the development of attention and memory in typically and atypically developing populations, with an emphasis on how environmental variables shape these trajectories. Amso’s research has been funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of General Medical Sciences and the Brown Institute for Brain Science, and she is a recipient of the James S. McDonnell Scholar Award.

Kellina M. Craig-Henderson currently serves as the deputy assistant director of the Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE) Directorate of the National Science Foundation (NSF). At NSF, she previously served as the deputy division director of the Social and Economic Sciences Division of SBE and as director of NSF’s Tokyo regional office. Previously, she was a full professor in the psychology department at Howard University. Craig-Henderson has been involved in national and international activities that aim to broaden the participation of women and underrepresented groups in STEM. In addition, she has published reports on her own empirical research in peer-reviewed journals as well as two books on interracial relationships. Her research program includes studies of groups, gender and race issues, as well as aggression and expatriation processes.

Sonia Shechet Epstein is executive editor and associate curator at the Museum of the Moving Image in New York City. In this role, she produces all content for the museum’s website scienceandfilm.org and manages activities related to science and film at the museum, including curating the ongoing film series "Science on Screen," which pairs rarely-shown films with discussions between scientists and filmmakers. Prior to working at the museum, Epstein was a senior program associate at the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation in its Public Understanding of Science program, and worked for Nobel Laureate neuroscientist Eric R. Kandel, helping with his book "The Age of Insight" and to produce the "Brain Series" for PBS. Epstein has lectured internationally about the intersection of science and film. She is a founding mentor at the New Museum’s NEW INC. and is currently a master's candidate in experimental humanities at New York University.

Alan Lawson has served as vice-president (research) and pro-vice-chancellor (research and international) at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, where he was previously dean of the graduate school. He also chaired the Australian Council of Deans and Directors of Graduate Studies. In 2008, he and colleagues originated the Three Minute Thesis Competition (3MT^®).

Lawson's research interests include post-colonial theory and critical practice in relation to "settler" cultures and literary and cultural institutions. He also was a major contributor to "The Impact of Risk Management on Higher Degree Research Policy and Pedagogy in Australian Universities" and "PhD Graduates 3 to 5 Years out: Employment Outcomes, Job Attributes and the Quality of Research Training." Since retirement, he has been a consultant on research quality and research integrity and is a member of the Australian Research Integrity Committee.

Sharda Umanath is an assistant professor of psychology at Claremont McKenna College and the director of CMC’s Memory and Aging Lab. She earned her PhD in cognitive psychology from Duke University and did her postdoctoral work at Washington University in St. Louis. Umanath’s research focuses on how knowledge works in memory and explores related issues involving cognitive aging, autobiographical memory, collective memory, false memories and education. She fell in love with the field of memory as an undergraduate at Washington University in St. Louis through her philosophy-neuroscience-psychology major. Outside the lab and classroom, she spends her time painting, reading sci-fi/fantasy, traveling and climbing at Joshua Tree National Park.

Brad Wray has taught psychology for the past ten years at Arundel High School in Gambrills, Maryland. He has served as a reader for the Advanced Placement psychology exam and was elected to serve on the executive board of APA's Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools. In 2017, Wray co-chaired the Technology Strand at the APA Summit on High School Psychology Education. He is the creator of Xamplr.com, which helps students learn psychology vocabulary through examples. He is known for his many YouTube videos which leverage his musical abilities to communicate vital psychology concepts. His psychology teaching videos have been featured on Buzzfeed, Scientific American and the Freakonomics Blog.