I was the first in my immediate family to travel abroad, the first to get a college degree, and the first to become a doctor. One side of my family is from Appalachia (West Virginia, Eastern Kentucky, and Ohio) and on the other side we are German-American (Southern Illinois). My immediate family has a long history of working in labor-intensive jobs, particularly within rural, impoverished regions of America where industry left or laid them off. This is the type of industry often detailed as being extractive and harmful to communities/environments. However, they wouldn't explain it to you that way (e.g., they didn't own companies; they were underground coal miners, steel mill workers, farmers, maids, printing press workers, welders, and mechanics). My extended family works/volunteers within churches preaching and doing charitable work across the Eastern United States (South & Appalachia). I was born on a military base, grew up in a military town, and many of my family members and friends were/are members of the U.S. military. The Southern town that I grew up in is technically just outside of Appalachia (depending on what map you use). It started rural and became more urban, and it was one of the fastest growing cities in America while also being extremely affordable (and near a large metropolitan city). I also spent a great deal of time being taken care of as a child by my family members and their church friends across the sides of my family -- some of this being a necessity due to the military. My family throughout my life has often asked if I'm embarrassed of them, and my friends have often been surprised to learn how "country" they are from photos. I had to learn in college that seeing your neighbor choke their brother over drinking too much milk wasn't normal. In college, I became passionate about immigration and cultural experience to a greater degree, partially because the town it was located within was a nationally designated refugee resettlement area. My own family has referred to themselves as "rednecks", but doesn't use the term "kin". Some enjoyed reading Hillbilly Elegy. I grew up hearing stories of taking care of animals on the farm, pig hooves and tails floating in soup, and lots of jokes about how smelly sauerkraut is. The Fourth of July means bratwursts for me. Before my grandmother died, I heard her tell me stories of putting coal dust on her face to dress as her German coal-miner father for Halloween alongside her sisters, getting the last of the bath water and hating it, and watched her cry as she tried to teach me how to make cabbage rolls like her mom. According to some definitions, I am Southern, Appalachian, and/or German. 

Because of my background and experiences, I am deeply passionate about diversity, equity, and inclusion as well as understanding cultural differences in how people think. My background has made me think about culture in a more nuanced and encompassing way than is sometimes characterized in the literature (including SES, within-culture variation and regional differences, and change in cultural values within individuals) and driven me to use methods that are accessible in regions like those of my family origins (e.g., EEG rather than fMRI). I am also highly invested in finding ways to improve educational and cognitive aging outcomes for under-served populations through strength-based and culturally-sensitive approaches.

I am a White, cis-gender woman, and the groups I study will often include other races, ethnicities, and cultural or gender identities. I hope to always consult with and give back to the groups I study, especially when I do not belong to them. In working with non-WEIRD populations, my intention is always to contribute better representation of the world's diversity in scientific literature and not to center my own voice as a WEIRD researcher.