People

Dr. Caroline Hornburg, an Assistant Professor of Human Development and Family Science at Virginia Tech, is the director of the Learning and Development Lab. Dr. Hornburg is also the Vice President of the New River Valley Chapter of VAAEYC (the Virginia Association for the Education of Young Children). Dr. Hornburg received her Ph.D. in May 2017 under the direction of Dr. Nicole McNeil in the Cognition Learning and Development Lab at the University of Notre Dame.  Following her Ph.D., she completed two years of postdoctoral training in the Cognition and Learning Lab at Purdue University.

Jisun Kim is a PhD candidate in Virginia Tech’s Department of Human Development and Family Science. She earned her bachelor's and master's degree in Human Development and Family Studies at Seoul National University. She also worked as a lead teacher at a childcare center in Seoul, Korea. Jisun is interested in children's use of interactive media (smart speakers, video chat, eBooks, etc.) in a learning context and how to support children's effective learning with media, which is closely connected to her work at the CoDeS Lab. Combining her experience at both the L&D Lab and CoDeS Lab, she explores in her dissertation how AI smart speakers can support preschoolers' learning of mathematical language through shared book reading activities.

Isabel Valdivia is a second year PhD student in the Human Development and Family Science, Child & Adolescent Development concentration, program. She graduated from Pontificia Universidad Catolica, Chile, where she majored in Biology. After that she taught in a high school as part of Teach for Chile, part of the Teach for All network. Hoping to know more about the learning process, she went to Harvard University and got a MEd in Mind, Brain, and Education. She then opened a PK-12 charter school in a rural area of Chile meant to serve low-income students and prepare them to succeed in college by achieving academic excellency and developing socioemotional skills. Being a former Vice Principal in that school led to broadening her interest from practice to research in order to better understand how executive functions interplay with emotions throughout the learning process in childhood and adolescence.

Maegan Reinhardt is a Graduate Research Assistant in the Learning and Development lab. She is a first year Ph.D. student at Virginia Tech, studying Human Development and Family Sciences with a concentration in Child and Adolescent Development. She earned her M.S. in Speech-Language Pathology from Vanderbilt University and B.A. in English and Spanish from McDaniel College. Previously, she served public school students in pre-K through 12 grade as a speech-language pathologist, where she developed an interest in the interplay between language and development of other cognitive skills. In the Learning and Development Lab, she hopes to explore approaches that help caregivers and educators support cognitive-linguistic development in typically developing children, as well as children with disabilities.

Elisa Lee is a junior majoring Childhood Pre-Education and seeks to pursue a career in elementary education. She plans to attend Virginia Tech's Graduate School program. She has always loved working with children and has been looking to pursue this career since she was in High School, working with many children through volunteer opportunities and jobs. This is her first year in the lab and is excited to see the differing procedures that will be taken to test different questions and theories on childhood education in the topic of Math.

Rachel Thompson is a senior majoring in Psychology and Human Development. During her third year, she voluntarily taught kindergarten at a local elementary school through a human development class. Her interest in working with children and in Cognitive Psychology drew her to the Learning and Development Lab. After graduation, she hopes to pursue a Psychology Doctorate in Clinical Psychology and later begin a career to treat families and children. 

Taylor Tuck is a junior double majoring in Human Development and Psychology with a minor in Adaptive Brain and Behavior. She joined the L&D lab because she wants to expand her knowledge of cognitive development in children and is interested in how working in a social science lab is.  After graduation, Taylor plans to attend grad school studying Occupational Therapy, and hopes to work as a pediatric occupational therapist.

Alexis Whitfield is a junior majoring in Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise as well as minoring in Disability Studies. She wanted to participate in the Learning and Development Lab at Virginia Tech to get a deeper understanding of cognitive development in children. After Undergrad, she hopes to attend graduate school in efforts to pursue a career in occupational therapy specializing in pediatrics. 

Rachel Castro is a senior double majoring in Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience and Psychology, with a minor in Literature. She joined the L&D lab because she is interested in working with children and learning how their cognitive processes develop. After graduation, she hopes to work towards a PhD program in Clinical Psychology or to go to law school. 

Brinn MacLellan is a senior majoring in Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience with a minor in Leadership and Social Change. She joined the L&D lab to expand her knowledge on cognitive development After graduation, she sees the possibility of attending graduate school to study the field of Educational Neuroscience. Her aspirations are to redesign the American education system in a more logical and effective manner in order to best cater to the needs of all students.

Lilly Nelson is a senior majoring in Human Development with a minor in Adaptive Brain and Behavior. She joined the L&D lab to expand her understanding of children's cognitive processes and the role of their environment in these processes. She is passionate about working with children and hopes to pursue a career in pediatric medicine.