Research Team

Postdoctoral Scholar

Dr. Emine Ozturk

Ph.D., Technology, specialization in Quantitative Research, Assessment, and Evaluation in

Education and Psychological Statistics, Purdue University, 2020

B.A., Special Education, specialization in Teaching Gifted Children and English Language

Teaching, Istanbul University, 2012

B.A., Education, specialization in Science Education, Istanbul University, 2008

Dr. Ozturk is a postdoctoral scholar in the Social Development Lab with Dr. Kelly Lynn Mulvey (Department of Psychology) and Dr. Adam Hartstone-Rose (Department of Biological Sciences) at the North Carolina State University. Dr. Ozturk’s work centers on educational inequality, engineering career intentions of first-generation immigrant students, academic resilience, gender dynamics in STEM, multilevel and longitudinal modeling. Dr. Ozturk is also interested in designing culturally relevant professional development in engineering education. From 2020 to 2022, Dr. Ozturk completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the College of Engineering & Mines and the College of Education & Human Development at the University of North Dakota. She worked in NSF-funded Project ExCEED (Exploring Culturally Relevant Engineering Education Design) with Dr. Frank Bowman (Department of Chemical Engineering), contributed to FAA and NSF- funded projects, and has co(authored) peer-reviewed journals and national and international conference proceedings.

Graduate Research Assistants

Jacqueline Cerda-Smith

Graduate Student

Education:

Ph.D. Lifespan Developmental Psychology, North Carolina State University (2020-present)

B.S. Education, Miami University (2009-2013)

Jackie's research interests focus on understanding and promoting adolescent well-being and equity in schools. In particular, Jackie is interested in the development of critical consciousness, student perceptions of school racial climate, and students' sense of belonging. As a former National Board Certified high school teacher, Jackie uses research-practice partnerships to design and conduct research with adolescence in schools. You can learn more about Jackie's research and advocacy work by visiting her website.

Christina Marlow

Graduate Student

Education:

Ph.D. Lifespan Developmental Psychology, North Carolina State University (2021-present)

M.S. Experimental Psychology, College of William & Mary (2019 – 2021)

B.A. Psychology, University of Virginia (2015 – 2019)

Christina’s research interests focus on how children judge others’ moral behaviors, particularly those involving unfair advantage such as cheating. She is also interested in how children perceive privilege i.e. when others have an unfair advantage not due to rule breaking, such as in the case of cheating. By better understanding how children currently judge others' advantage-gaining behaviors, Christina hopes her research will be used to develop interventions and educational programs aimed at promoting equality and equity in childhood and beyond.

Martha Batul

Graduate Student

Ph.D. Lifespan Developmental Psychology- North Carolina State University (2023-present)

B.A. Psychology- University of Ghana (2012-2016)

Martha's interest is in career development across the lifespan. She is interested in understanding the factors that motivate career choice in early childhood, early adulthood and in late adulthood. She is also interested in identifying the mechanisms that sustain career choice from early years to adulthood. Martha hopes her research will be used to develop interventions geared towards encouraging and sustaining interest in STEM careers.

Current Undergraduate Research Assistants

Kylie Radford

Psychology

Sandhya Purohit

Psychology
Minor: Nutrition

Henry Smith

Applied Education and Psychology

Caroline Redman

Sociology

Minor in Global Health

Brooke Wilson

Psychology

Mariam Sanjak

Major: Psychology

Minor: Criminology

Lily Palmer

Psychology and Criminology

Minor in Statistics

Christopher Kha

Psychology

Minor in Biology

Khadeeja Ali Syeda

Psychology and Human Biology Major

Statistics Minor

Gouri Kallambella

Biology Major

Psychology Minor

Lab Alumni

Dr. Emily Herry

herry.2@osu.edu

Former Graduate Student

Current Position:

Postdoctoral Scholar, The Ohio State University

Education:

Ph.D. Lifespan Developmental Psychology, North Carolina State University (2019-2023)

B.S. Psychology, UNC Greensboro (2017 - 2019)

A.A. General Education, Alamance Community College (2015 - 2017)

Emily's research focuses on three primary areas, (1) social development in intergroup contexts, (2) bullying, exclusion and bystander intervention online and offline, (3) the impact of individual and contextual factors on marginalized people’s development, health, and wellbeing across the lifespan. Emily is primarily interested in the experiences of transgender and gender-nonconforming people within these contexts. Emily hopes to use their research to inform future theory, research, practice, and policy through community-based participatory research. You can learn more about Emily's research here.

Dr. Angelina Joy

ajjoy@purdue.edu

Former Graduate Student

Current Position:

Postdoctoral Scholar, Purdue University

Education:

Ph.D. Lifespan Developmental Psychology, North Carolina State University (2019-2023)

B.S. Psychology, University of Texas at Austin (2015-2019)

Angelina's research interests focus on racial and gender stereotyping in children. She aims to study how children form certain stereotypes and how these generalizations affect their educational attainment and interest in STEM fields. Angelina hopes to use her research to develop strategies to create more educational opportunities for underrepresented populations.

Dr. Channing Mathews

Former Postdoctoral Scholar

Current Position:

Assistant Professor, University of Virginia

Education:

PhD, Combined Program in Education and Psychology, University of Michigan (2014-2020)

MS, Psychology, University of Michigan (2017)

B.A., Psychology, Duke University (2005-2009)

Channing's research focuses on both the unique and overlapping contributions of Black and Latinx adolescents’ ethnic racial identity (i.e. the developmental process and significance of one’s racial self-concept) and critical consciousness (i.e.awareness, beliefs, and behaviors engaged to challenge social inequity) to their positive youth development. She is also interested in improving measures of ethnic-racial identity in order to support more rigorous psychometric approaches to capture the complexity of ethnic-racial identity development across adolescence. Channing aims to translate her research into intervention work that supports the positive development of Black and Latinx youth, particularly in schooling and STEM contexts.

Dr. Seçil Ghönültaş

secilgonultas@bilkent.edu.tr

Former Graduate Student

Assistant Professor, Bilkent University

Education:

Ph.D. Lifespan Developmental Psychology, North Carolina State University (2018-2021)

M.A. Developmental Psychology, Koç University, Turkey (2015-2017)

B.A. Psychology, Boğaziçi University, Turkey (2009-2014)

My research interest centers on investigating how social cognition (e.g., Theory of Mind) and group processes (e.g., prejudice, discrimination and threat perception) relate to intergroup decision making. I aim to broaden my focus on both Theory of Mind and group processes into different areas of social development and to advance theories concerned with explaining the development of social-moral decision making and reasoning in children and adolescents. My other research interest is to investigate bullying and bystander interventions in an intergroup context. I aim to translate this research agenda into policy-focused promotive intervention programs aimed at reducing prejudice and discrimination especially in school settings and fostering equity and social justice.

Dr. Adam J. Hoffman

ajh324@cornell.edu

Former Postdoctoral Scholar

Current Position: Assistant Professor Cornell University

Education:

Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2017

M.A. in Developmental Psychology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2014

B.A. Psychology, Quinnipiac University, 2012

Dr. Adam Hoffman was a postdoctoral research scholar in the Department of Psychology working with Dr. Kelly Lynn Mulvey and with Dr. Adam Hartstone-Rose in the Department of Biology. Broadly, Dr. Hoffman studies how contextual and socializing agents influence the development of ethnic-racial and gender identity in ethnic-racial minority youth and the influence of identity and identity development on youth’s academic and psychological outcomes. He is also interested in the development of interventions to ensure congruency between marginalized social identities and academic motivation and mental health. His research has appeared in Child Development, Developmental Psychology, and Journal of Educational Psychology. From 2017 to 2019, Dr. Hoffman completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Psychology and School of Education at the University of Michigan.

Dr. Eric E Goff

Former Postdoctoral Scholar

Current Position: Executive Director, Gills Creek Watershed Association

Education:

Ph.D. Biological Science: Biology Education Research (University of South Carolina 2013-2017)

M.S. Biotechnology (Johns Hopkins University 2009-2011)

B.S. Biology (University of South Carolina 1997-2001)

My postdoctoral position focused on students’ personal interactions with science through informal learning sites such as zoos and museums. This study is concerned with increasing STEM interest in young people though work/interaction at these atypical learning sites. The project arose from many recent calls to action concerning STEM learning and a need to increase interest in STEM topics, specifically amongst women and underrepresented minorities. The importance of such increased interest in STEM learning has been outlined in many national reports including Vision and Change and recent releases from the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. With such a public outcry, research such as this is on the rise and true reform is potentially an attainable goal for the future. In addition to the central focus of this study, I have also branched out to investigate the use of virtual reality and augmented reality as part of science learning in both formal and informal settings. With the recent advancements of technology and the popularity of virtual and augmented reality games such as Pokémon Go, I firmly believe in the usefulness of these technologies in the world of science learning. I am excited to see where these studies lead and hope to continue this work as part of my future research.