How/Why Research? I was driven to research through my curiosity about why people behave and how our minds work. I got into research by searching through different research labs online that aligned with my different interests that had developed from the social justice work I had been working on in high school through early college. I love the way research helps me become more of a critical thinker, but research to me is my outlet for figuring out the “why” questions.
Research Experience: In Summer 2021, I joined the PEP Lab and spent the majority of my time getting to look into how research can have an intersection with different social topics like COVID-19. In Spring 2022, I completed an independent research project with the PEP Lab on whether nutrition could predict interoceptive awareness in the hope to draw connections to bigger social issues like food apartheid. I joined the QUEST project (within the school of social work at UNC) in the beginning of Spring 2022 looking at the queer identity development process and how it relates to mental health challenges. I joined the Herman Lab in the beginning of Summer 2022. During my Karen M. Gil internship, I interned at Research Triangle Institute International under Dr. Thomas Gamage doing more pharmaceutical research on THC isomers and their binding affinities to the CB1 and CB2 receptor. This summer (2023), I am doing a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship project in the Herman Lab looking at cFOS expression in the central amygdala using a novel transgenic mouse.
Student Organizations/Clubs: Women’s Ultimate Frisbee Club, Psi Chi, Nu Rho Psi, UNC Journey, Hospital Volunteering
Also Happy to Chat about: Finding Research Opportunities
Random Fun Fact: I was adopted.