Alumni

Anna is a second year graduate student in the Psychological Science Master's program at UTC. She graduated from the University of Memphis with her B.S. in Psychology with a concentration in cognitive science in 2021. Currently at UTC, Anna’s thesis focuses on the ecological validity of prospective memory experimentation. Her other research interests include strategic monitoring, individual differences in memory, aging, cognitive offloading, and applying cognition to education. Additionally, she is the graduate research methods coordinator for the psychology research method labs as well as an instructor for introductory to psychology. In her free time she loves to pet sit and buy more plants (that she doesn’t need).

Morgan is currently a second year student in the Psychological Science Master's program at UTC. She graduated from Dalton State College with her B.S. in Psychology in 2021, where she helped establish the institution's first psychology lab. At UTC, Morgan's research focuses on applying cognition to education and assessing how individual differences, such as motivation, resilience, and wellbeing, influence educational outcomes for students. Her thesis is exploring the impact of experiential service learning on undergraduate student engagement, motivation, and character development. Morgan previously instructed a Research Methods Lab and currently instructs an Introductory Psychology course at UTC, and these experiences have solidified her love for teaching and educational improvement. In her free time, she enjoys caring for her pets and plants as well as spending time in nature.

Christian is a second-year psychology graduate student at UTC. His thesis is examining the relationship between mystical experience, self-concept, and mental health. He is involved in a Faith Development project in the Ralph W. Hood Jr. Psychology of Religion Lab and a cognitive offloading project in Dr. Jill Shelton's Cognitive Aging, Learning, and Memory (CALM) Lab. Aside from that, he is working on various research projects with colleagues within the psychology of religion. Outside of research, he is teaching a couple undergraduate psychology courses and am working with our College of Engineering and Computer Science to enhance their digital marketing efforts. Personally, he recently got married and most of his free time is spent with his wife. They like participating in campus events and activities, especially those that offer free food. They also like watching K-dramas on Netflix, exploring Chattanooga bars, and trying new things.

Christopher Nuño holds a Master of Science in Psychological Science from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC). Chris is the former lab manager of the Cognitive Aging, Learning, and Memory lab at UTC. He is currently conducting research on prospective memory, but his interests also include mindfulness, metacognition, attention, perception, and consciousness. Chris is now teaching at UTC as a Visiting Lecturer in Psychology, where he teached Cognitive Science, Research Methods, and Introduction to Psychology. His future plans are to enter a PhD program in Cognition in the Fall of 2023. His hobbies include disc golf, running, yoga, and cooking.

Email: gbh984@mocs.utc.edu

Zach Swanson is a graduate of the Masters in Research Psychology concentration at UTC. He previously graduated from Christopher Newport University, where he received his B.S. in Psychology with minors in both Leadership Studies and Philosophy and Religious Studies. While at CNU he worked as a research assistant in two labs, where his primary interests were Psychology and Religion, Moral Psychology, and Social Psychology. In the Fall of 2019 he co-authored a chapter in Blackwells Philosophy and Pop-Culture series where he examined human’s potential for moral improvement. Once he arrived at UTC, he quickly got involved in a number of projects working with his advisors Dr. Jill Shelton and Dr. Ralph Hood. He is currently the lead investigator for the Philosophical Worldview Project, where his team works to identify the fundamental worldview differences in existential worldview beliefs and the consequences of worldview orientations on one’s openness to endorse diverse perspectives and tolerance towards conflicting worldviews. In the CALM lab, he was very active in a number of projects, including an investigation of teaching assistant’s competency development as part of a teaching assistant practicum course. He was also the project manager for the Intergenerational Character Development Project, where his team worked on grant applications to support their inquiry into the benefits of using intergenerational communication  as a catalyst to increase prosocial behaviors across generations, reduce ageist prejudices, and support generativity and identity formation in psychosocial development. He is currently attending a doctoral program at Claremont University in California.

Email: rbs972@mocs.utc.edu

Stephanie is a graduate student of the Research Masters program. A graduate from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Stephanie holds a B.S. in Biochemistry and a M.A.T. in Science Education. Though she has always been fascinated with the brain, Stephanie became especially interested in learning and memory while teaching high school chemistry and psychology courses. Following her time in education, Stephanie worked at the Atlanta Center for Medical Research where she was able to channel this love for the brain and its functioning into clinical research. Among her favorite studies were trials investigating pharmaceutical treatments for patients suffering from Parkinson’s Disease and Alzheimer’s. At UTC, Stephanie works as a research assistant in the CALM lab, as an instructor for Introduction to Psychology and Research Methods courses. Stephanie is also involved as a graduate advising assistant in the Psychology Department and a graduate program evaluation assistant in the STEM Education Department. In the CALM lab, much of her work has focused on  experiences of undergraduate teaching assistants, specifically perceptions regarding their own development of transferable skills. Recently, a paper Stephanie completed with Dr. Kristen Black on perceptions of anticipated career burnout was recently accepted for publication in the American Journal of College Health. Stephanie has continued this research line surrounding student success and development into her thesis project as well. This project examines the relationship between academic and self-care goals and the function of individual difference factors such as resilience, neuroticism, and need for cognition in goal setting and completion.

Email: ylt845@mocs.utc.edu

Thomas is recent graduate alumna of the Research Psychology program, after earning a BS in Psychology at UTC. Through his experiences in college, he acquired an interest in Geriatrics, and is pursuing further education in the study of aging. He works at an assisted/independent living facility, where he coordinates activities with the residents. He was a research assistant in the CALM lab for approximately 6 years, and the research projects he has worked on involved the influence of visual and auditory context on prospective memory using eye-tracking techniques. He conducted a thesis project with the goal of improving the memory self-confidence of elders in an continuing care retirement community through the use of an educational intervention which informed and taught elders memory strategies to improve everyday functioning. 

Email: tvorwerk95@gmail.com

Jessica now is a doctoral student at Louisiana State University (LSU).

Email: jhacke7@lsu.edu 

A recent graduate of the doctoral program at Perdue, Eddie returned to UTC to help teach Bayesian methods to graduate students in the UTC Master's program. 

Email: eddie_christopher@yahoo.com 

Lindsey's research interests are cognition, neuropsychology, malingering, and personality disorders. During senior year of her BS Psychology degree, Lindsey was a Research Assistant to the CALM lab where she worked on a thesis project on academic and self-care goal execution and how individual difference measures, COVID-19 effects, workload, and sleeping influence their efficacy. 

Mads Ledbetter is currently a senior in the Psychology department at UTC.  Mads has had a lifelong love of nature, particularly birds, bugs, and fungi.   Mads can most often be found in the woods foraging or getting lost following the trail of bird calls.  Her main focus currently is to combine her love of psychology and nature to pursue a career in environmental psychology. Her main goal is to focus on conservation work so the next generation can enjoy this incredible planet

Kay is a junior at UTC, majoring in psychology with an education concentration. She transferred to UTC from Chattanooga State Community College, where she received her A.S. in General Science. Her interests include studies of cognitive aging, clinical psychology, philosophy, sexuality, sociology, and spirituality. After obtaining her B.S. in Psychology, she plans to continue her education to earn her M.S. in Psychology at UTC. The CALM lab will allow her to be involved in meaningful research opportunities and will provide her with valuable experience for graduate school.

William is a third year undergraduate student pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Psychology at The University of Tennessee of Chattanooga. Currently, William's primary career aspirations lean towards mental health counseling but he has a strong intellectual enthusiasm for research. William's research interests include learning, task complexity stratification, and motivation. In his free time he enjoys hiking (during cool weather) and spending time with his dog, a Great Dane - Labrador mix named Bronx. 

McKinley is majoring in psychology with a concentration in natural sciences. She has hopes of going to Graduate School for Occupational Therapy after completing her undergrad. After taking the Research Methods course where she studied the effects of a waitress’ appearance on overall tips received, her interest in research as a whole grew exponentially. She now has specific research interest in self-care goals, resilience, mental disorders, and memory within all age groups.

Email: rvt558@mocs.utc.edu 

Sam is majoring in psychology with a concentration in natural sciences. He aims to be accepted into UTC’s Graduate School for Physical Therapy and focus on sports medicine and rehabilitation. He has previously served as a Teaching Assistant for Dr. Amye Warren’s Child Developmental Psychology course. Sam’s research interests were heightened upon completion of the Research Methods course where he studied intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and the effect that each source of motivation has on marathon completion times. His research interests are now primarily centered around motivation, goal setting, and resilience. 

Email: pyh777@mocs.utc.edu

Braden is now a Master's student in UTC's I/O Master's program. 

Email: jsm969@mocs.utc.edu

John Whittemore

Raiza is now a Master's student in UTC's I/O Master's program.

Kaitlin Ritter

Amelia Edwards

Daniel Ellis

Claudia Craig

Ashley May

Anna Splean